Massive Winter Storm Brings Snow And Heavy Winds Across Large Swath Of Eastern Seaboard
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 4: A man plows the snow during a massive winter storm on January 4, 2018 in New York City. From Maine to Florida every state along the east coast is expected to have to deal with winter weather. Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris /Getty Images

A highly unusual southern winter storm will bring icy conditions all the way down to the Gulf Coast Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service.

It brings potentially dangerous conditions to locations where winter weather is generally a once-in-a-generation event.

It is all due to the arrival of the cold and frigid arctic air mass, experts say, and will set the stage for the onset of a winter weather danger on Friday and Saturday, from south Texas to Florida and to the Carolinas.

Freezing Rain to be Expected

According to the National Weather Service, the main threat in the area is expected to be sleet and freezing rain, which will likely frost roadways overnight, making travel "very hazardous or impossible" in south Texas.

Cities farther north, such as Austin and San Antonio, may only experience minor icing.

Farther east along the Gulf Coast, including southeast Louisiana, coastal Mississippi, Alabama, as well as the extreme western region of Florida's panhandle, are under winter weather advisories, with icy conditions posing a danger to drivers.

The winter storm will likely have the greatest impact on coastal portions of the Carolinas, said the National Weather Service, with the system coming just over a week after western areas of the Carolinas suffered the force of a winter storm that swept over most of the eastern United States.

An ice storm warning is in effect for the coastal areas of southern North Carolina and northern South Carolina, including Myrtle Beach, where freezing rain could cause up to half an inch of ice accumulation, which would be enough to break down power lines and cause tree branches to fall.

"Commerce will certainly be severely impacted," the Newport/Morehead City, North Carolina, National Weather Service office said in a bulletin.

"In case of an emergency, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water if you must travel."

In Texas, the winter weather is not expected to cause extensive power disruptions, as it did during the devastating winter storm in February.

Last year, the state's electricity generation systems froze in the harsh cold resulting in millions of people in Texas being left without power or heat, causing travel to be disrupted for days.

In order to meet new weatherization regulations, the Texas Electricity Reliability Council reports that 321 of its 324 electric generation units and transmission facilities have undergone inspections.

Due to infrastructure that is not equipped to manage icy and freezing temperatures, the South is particularly vulnerable to winter storms.

This year's winter storms have hit the eastern United States, following a sudden change in the weather pattern from December, which was the warmest on record in the country.

According to the Climate Prediction Center, temperatures in the East are predicted to continue below average for at least the next week.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

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