The rare winter storm that is hitting the southern portion of the United States became historic Tuesday morning when the Lake Charles National Weather Service office issued its first-ever blizzard warning.

A cold front is expected to bring showers and thunderstorms to the area as early as Wednesday — but the bulk of activity is expected to hit Thursday afternoon. National Weather Service Lake Charles said their confidence is increasing that a few storms could become strong to severe,

All data from the National Weather Service is considered preliminary until it is reviewed further, and that was the case with the previous measurement of 4.8 inches.

Though NWS forecasters are still collecting official snowfall counts, these reports give a good look at just how much snow Louisiana saw.

A National Weather Service office in Louisiana issued its first-ever blizzard warning on Tuesday amid snow and strong winds.

The cold temperatures are coming from a not uncommon expansion in the Polar Vortex, which are counter-clockwise rotating air currents that typically hang over the Arctic.

Joshua Wilson walks his dogs Caymus and Moose Tuesday, January 21, 2025, on Mall Street in Lafayette, La. For the first time ever, Lake Charles and much of Acadiana are under a blizzard warning as snow blankets the area Tuesday morning.

A "Freeze Warning" is in effect across southern Arkansas, northern Louisiana, Oklahoma and eastern Texas, as well as in small parts of Arizona, California and Florida, with temperatures falling as low as 27, and wind chills expected to feel as cold as low as 13 in some areas.

Louisiana residents young and old raced outside Tuesday to enjoy an extremely rare snow day, celebrating the chance to pull out their gloves, scarves and hats from the back of their closets as they hurried to play in the several inches of snow that poured down across the state.

Though the snow is quickly melting across Southwest Louisiana, chilly temperatures will persist for another couple of nights. National Weather Service Lake Charles Meteorologist Donald Jones said temperatures will be in the mid-20s overnight into Friday morning followed by a lighter freeze Friday night into Saturday morning.

After a historic winter storm hit the Interstate 10 corridor on Tuesday, parts of the vital east-west artery remain closed due to icy road conditions in

Louisiana's electric grid is struggling with mounting reliability issues and rising consumer costs as the state grapples with extreme weather and escalating electricity consumption, according to