Winter Weather — Upper Jefferson, Louisiana

2018-01-17 · Upper Jefferson, Louisiana

Event narrative

An 8 month old child was killed and his mother critically injured when their vehicle slid off an icy bridge into a canal in Metairie.

Wider weather episode

A strong arctic cold front moved through southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana during the afternoon hours of the 16th. The cold air behind the front changed the precipitation from rain to freezing rain and snow across portions of the area to the north of Interstate 10. After the precipitation ended, roads remained icy across much of the area through the day on the 17th and roadways were not fully cleared of ice until the afternoon of Jan 18th when temperatures warmed into the upper 30s and lower 40s. The Arctic airmass that spread into the region behind the front brought some of the coldest temperatures to the region in the past 10 years. Low temperatures on the morning of the 17th ranged from the mid teens in interior parts of southeast Louisiana to low and mid 20s along in coastal area. Record low temperatures on the Jan 17th included 20 degrees at New Orleans International Airport and 14 degrees at Baton Rouge Airport. High temperatures only went above freezing for a few hours on the afternoon of the 17th. Due to unusually cold temperatures and bursting of water pipes occurred in many locations in coastal parishes, especially elevated houses. Bursting of pipes and residents running water to prevent pipe freezing caused low water pressure in many areas resulting in boil water advisories in several coastal parishes including the City of New Orleans. Many schools and businesses, especially in coastal parishes were closed from the Jan 16th -18th due to either icy roadways or lack of water pressure.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 735409. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.