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Snow made a rare appearance in South Texas this week, blanketing everything from cars and homes to area roadways.
USA TODAY

A band of cold air that delivered a rare blanket of snow to parts of southern Texas rolled through the Deep South on Friday bringing threats of more weekend snow, sleet and dicey travel conditions from the Mid-Atlantic to New England.

Parts of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi reported snow flurries before dawn. In Georgia, nearly two dozen school systems closed ahead of the wintry weather.

“It’s the first snow of the season and any time you even mention snow in the South, you’re going to get people a little panicky,” said David Nadler, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s office south of Atlanta.

This first taste of winter will vary along the path across the South, with sleet and snow expected — but not certain — in much of Virginia on Saturday, , but likely producing snow in larger amounts farther north in New York City, Massachusetts and Maine.

The National Weather Service said a half inch to an inch of snow is forecast across many areas of the South by Friday night. Winter weather advisories have been posted for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas. The advisories were issued for cities including Baton Rouge, La., Hattiesburg, Miss., and Birmingham, Ala.

The wintry blast could produce especially hazardous driving conditions for Friday evening commuters in southern cities such as Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., and Richmond.

Meanwhile, a second storm moving across the upper tier of the United States out of the Midwest could bring patchy snow, and the chance of a small accumulation to parts of the interior Northeast from Saturday night to Sunday, AccuWeather says.

The amount and intensity of snow activity depends on if and when the northern storm merges with the southern band and how much moisture it carries as it gets closer to the Atlantic Ocean.

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Frigid temperatures behind a cold front combined with moisture off the Gulf of Mexico have yielded a rare snowfall in many parts of South and Southeast Texas. Snow continued falling in the Houston area on Friday morning. (Dec. 8)
AP

“It may be a close call with accumulating snow versus melting snow from New York City to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.,” according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Houk. “New York City will have a better chance at an inch or two accumulation, since some of the snow will fall during Saturday night.”

The storm’s unpredictable nature was on full display in Texas, particularly near the Gulf Coast, as a band of heavy snow slowly moved over Austin and San Antonio on Thursday, eventually reaching Houston and Corpus Christi.  

Contributing: Associated Press