It's actually turning out worse than forecasted. Blizzard warnings in TX through LA.. New Orleans has ~10-12 inches on the ground in and near the city. Friend watching someone with a plow driving the highways around the area pulling out drivers and cops.. Rush hour and the highways are thankfully empty. From New Orleans to Pensacola, FL is going to get about ~10-12 inches. Then from the southeastern-eastern half of Georgia, all the way up through outer-eastern areas of SC and NC will get 6-8, with some areas maybe getting even more. It is and was snowing almost ~100 miles out into the gulf. Insane. The water temp is still probably in the upper 70s-80s. People having to clear snow off of gas and oil rigs in the gulf. Air travel pretty much shut down because no airports have snow removal equipment. Roads and highways closed too for the same reasons.
Then the same arctic cold front is bringing us up north -0 temps. Tonight it's going to get into the minus double digits without windchill here in the great lakes area. (tonight my windchill is going to be <-20) I'd rather have the snow.. Those numbers are nothing up here where i am.. The super cold is less fun.
I remember the freak inch and half snow storm back like ~10 years ago in the NC area.. where 8 lane highways were shut down for days with cars bumper to bumper, abandoned. Schools with shelter in place orders 12-16 hours. lol This is like an order of magnitude worse, and in a place even less prepared!
They are calling it a once in a lifetime event. We thought the last two winter storms were pretty far south.. nature be like "hold my beer" The most amazing part is that it isn't just the gulf states, it's the southern half of them, going well out to sea! With temps in the low 20s.