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Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather: Blizzard paralyzes Gulf Coast communities with record-breaking snow

Top weather news for Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025: Historic, once-in-a-generation, rare, unbelievable. Each can describe this incredible winter storm, which rewrote the record books and will be remembered for generations to come after heavy snow fell Tuesday from Texas to Florida to the Carolinas.

By Chris Oberholtz Source FOX Weather

Weather in America: January 22, 2025

FOX Weather has you covered with the breaking forecasts and weather news headlines for your Weather in America on Wednesday, January 22, 2025. Get the latest from FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin.

Welcome to the Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather. It’s Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. Start your day with everything you need to know about today's weather. You can also get a quick briefing of national, regional and local weather whenever you like with the FOX Weather Update podcast.

Blizzard blasts Gulf Coast paralyzing communities with record-breaking snow from Texas to Florida to Carolinas

A powerful and rare winter storm swept across the South on Tuesday, prompting the first-ever Blizzard Warning for the Gulf Coast and blasting communities from Texas to Florida to the Carolinas with record-shattering snow that snarled travel and brought daily life to a halt.

"Honestly, it’s been a jaw-dropping 24 hours," FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said. "I mean, to see some of the images that we have shown you on FOX Weather is something that you only see once in a generation. This truly will be a storm that decades from now we’ll have a new generation of kids being like, ‘Where were you in 2025 during that time?’"

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The iconic St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter is barely visible in the heavy snow on January 21, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. A winter storm brought rare snowfall to the city shutting down schools and businesses and drawing out locals, many of whom had never seen snow before. (Photo by Michael DeMocker/Getty Images) ( )

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People make their way down a snowy Canal Street on January 21, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. A winter storm brought rare snowfall to the city shutting down schools and businesses and drawing out locals, many of whom had never seen snow before. (Photo by Michael DeMocker/Getty Images) ( )

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Snow blankets Canal Street and the Central Business District in New Orleans on Jan. 21, 2025 during a major winter storm. ( )

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Snow along Orange Beach, Alabama on Jan. 21, 2025.  (@superdavealob/X)

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GALVESTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 21: People take photos of the 1900 Storm memorial sculpture on Seawall Blvd. during an icy winter storm on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Galveston.  (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle)

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An ATV drives past residents sledding in the snow during a winter storm in Houston, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025.  (Mark Felix / Bloomberg)

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Statues are covered in snow inside New Orleans Musical Legends Park on Bourbon Street on January 21, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. A winter storm brought rare snowfall to the city shutting down schools and businesses and drawing out locals, many of whom had never seen snow before. (Photo by Michael DeMocker/Getty Images) ( )

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BONIFAY, FLORIDA - JANUARY 21: A sign displays a winter storm warning on January 21, 2025 in Bonifay, Florida. The National Weather Service has placed North Florida under a winter storm warning with some predicting the Gulf’s biggest snow and ice storm in more than 100 years. (Photo by Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images)

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Wintry mix reported at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida ( )

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People take photos of the Mississippi River during heavy snowfall by a docked riverboat on January 21, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. A winter storm brought rare snowfall to the city shutting down schools and businesses and drawing out locals, many of whom had never seen snow before. (Photo by Michael DeMocker/Getty Images) ( )

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Snow at Houston's IAH Airport on Jan. 21, 2025. (Houston Intercontinental Airport)

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Texas State Sen. Paul Bettencourt shared photos of the snow in Houston as a winter storm slammed the region on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (@TeamBettencourt/X)

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Snow covers US 51 Robert E. Mayers Jr. Memorial Bridge in Manchac, LA, on Tuesday.  (@La_DOTD)

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Snow blankets Canal Street and the Central Business District in New Orleans on Jan. 21, 2025 during a major winter storm. ( )

Snow blankets New Orleans during historic Gulf Coast winter storm

A major winter storm brought blizzard conditions to Louisiana on Tuesday, turning New Orleans into a snow town. The record-breaking snowstorm blanketed palm trees in fresh flakes and halted the normally bustling Big Easy.

The powerful and deadly winter storm swept across the South on Tuesday, dumping heavy snow across areas that rarely see flakes or bitterly cold conditions. The storm prompted the National Weather Service to issue the first-ever Blizzard Warning for southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas.

New Orleans shattered its one-day snow total record by noon when Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport recorded 8 inches of snow. The new record breaks the Dec. 31, 1963, record of 2.7 inches.

A man dressed in a cowboy hat and Santa outfit, with snow-covered palm trees behind him in New Orleans. (Brandy Campbell / FOX Weather)

Florida sees heaviest snowfall in state’s history as winter storm slams South

Florida spent Tuesday preparing for its most significant bout of winter weather since 1989, with airports closing and officials calling for residents in the western Panhandle to stay off the roads.

Widespread reports of 5-12 inches of snowfall were reported around Pensacola on Tuesday evening, which caused troopers to shut down a nearly 70-mile stretch of Interstate 10.

The all-time greatest snowfall in the Sunshine State was 4 inches in Milton, outside of Pensacola, on March 6, 1954, which was eclipsed on Tuesday by the measurements around Pensacola.

This image shows a "Welcome to the Free State of Florida" sign as snow falls during a historic winter storm on Monday, Jan. 21, 2025. (@MyFDOT/X)

See it: Unusual snowy sights across South as once-in-a-generation winter storm drops snow

From kayaking in the snow to sledding on a cookie sheet, Texas and Louisiana residents found a number of creative ways to enjoy the historic winter storm that walloped the South on Tuesday.

Parts of Texas and Louisiana saw their first-ever Blizzard Warning as the powerful storm marched across the region and dumped more than a half-foot of snow, according to reports.

Texans and Louisianans alike took advantage of the unusual winter weather. 

Louisianans drag kayak behind truck in historic winter storm

These Louisianans got creative in their snow recreations by hitching a kayak to the back of a truck and taking a ride through the freshly fallen powder.

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