Ice Storm — Calcasieu, Louisiana

2014-01-23 to 2014-01-24 · Calcasieu, Louisiana

Event narrative

Snow flurries began in Calcasieu Parish during the late afternoon of the 23rd, but soon changed over to light freezing rain after sunset. Traffic accidents began during the early morning hours of the 24th with one being fatal as all bridges in the Parish became iced and eventually closed. A large portion of the parish received around 1/4 of an inch of ice accumulation; however some southern sections received more as the transition to sleet and snow never occurred. All schools and public offices were also closed due to icing on area roadways.

Wider weather episode

A cold air mass plunged south to the gulf coast while an upper level disturbance moved across the region. Rain, snow, and sleet moved into the region during the late afternoon of the 23rd and gradually turned to all snow across Central Louisiana. Farther south along highway 190 and Interstate 10 sleet and freezing was the dominate precipitation. At the coast mostly rain and freezing rain occurred. Area bridges and overpasses iced over and most were closed. Around 200 traffic accidents occurred during the event with 2 becoming fatal.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 489110. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.