Snow records are falling right and left this week. But, it looks Mobile takes the cake so far. The six and a half inches that fell by mid day Tuesday topped the six inches of snow Alabama’s Port City saw in 1881. The town of Milton, Florida is making headlines for almost ten inches that broke a record in 1954. Pensacola’s snowfall topped the three inches back in 1985. New Orleans record from 1963 was also erased. Tuesday’s low of six degrees also tied Mobile coldest night in 1899.
The City of Mobile’s Civic Center reportedly caved in due to the weight of snow on its roof. The facility is being demolished to make way for a new venue. Local motorists are under a travel advisory until further notice. The concern is over cold temperatures and wind chills that remain dangerously low, and are not expected to stay above freezing long enough to prevent the melting snow from quickly refreezing as ice that can make roads slick. Baldwin County Public Schools will be closed for the remainder of the week and re-open Monday. Fresenius Kidney Care says it will resume operations today (1/23) at noon.
The major storm spread heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across the southern United States on Wednesday, breaking snow records and treating the region to unaccustomed perils and wintertime joy. From Texas through the Deep South, down into Florida and to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, snow and sleet made for accumulating ice in major cities such as New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Florida…