A major storm spread heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across the southern United States on Wednesday, breaking snow records and treating the region to unaccustomed perils and wintertime joy.
From Texas through the Deep South, down into Florida and to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, snow and sleet made for accumulating ice in New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Florida and other major cities.
At least three deaths were attributed to the cold as dangerous below-freezing temperatures with even colder wind chills settled in. Arctic air also plunged much of the Midwest and the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze, grounding hundreds of flights. Government offices remained closed, as were classrooms for more than a million students more accustomed to hurricane dismissals than snow days.
New Englanders know what to do in weather like this: Terry Fraser of Cape Cod, Massachusetts didn’t have her trusty windshield scraper while visiting her new granddaughter in Brunswick, Georgia, so she used a plastic store discount card to remove the snow and ice from her rental SUV in a frozen hotel parking lot.
“This is what we do up north when you don’t have a scraper,” Fraser said. “Hey, it works.”
Frasier had one additional bit of advice: “Don’t use your credit card, because then you can’t go shopping.”
In Tallahassee, Florida, the Holmes family set their alarms early on Wednesday and found a snow-covered slope before it melted away. Nine-year-old Layla and 12-year-old Rawley used what they had: a boogie board and a skimboard.
“Gotta get creative in Florida!” mom Alicia Holmes said.
Anchorage wants its snow back
The record 10-inch snowfall in New Orleans was more than double what Anchorage, Alaska, has received since the beginning of December, the National Weather Service said.
“We’d like our snow back,” the weather service office in Anchorage joked in a post on X on Wednesday. “Or at least some King Cake in return.”
It also was warmer Wednesday morning in Anchorage than in New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville or Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the weather service.
Even the interstate closes
The snow and ice also closed highways — including many miles of the nation’s southernmost interstate, I-10, as it stretches from Florida to Texas. Especially prone to freezing were the elevated roads and bridges that run over Louisiana’s bayous.
“Louisiana, if you can, just hang in there,” Gov. Jeff Landry said, warning that Tuesday’s “magical” snow day would turn dangerous Wednesday as conditions worsened.
Highways were deserted along long stretches in Louisiana and Georgia, where a jackknifed truck closed part of the snowy interchange between Interstate 16 and Interstate 95.
In Charleston, South Carolina, it took crews nearly 16 hours to reopen travel in one direction along the massive 2 1/2 mile Ravenel Bridge that carries about 100,000 vehicles a day.
The icy conditions plagued motorists in Georgia, where troopers responded to more than 1,000 calls for help. Hundreds of trucks backed up near a crash on Interstate 75 between Macon and Atlanta. Some motorists slept in their vehicles overnight as even a fire truck got stuck on the ice, DeKalb County authorities said. And police appealed to the owners of dozens of cars abandoned at the bottom of a glazed-over hill in Snellville to retrieve their vehicles as soon as it’s safe.
Who needs a beach when there’s snow
Some people took advantage of the Ravenel bridge’s steep overpasses, turning them into impromptu sled runs. On the Outer Banks, children sledded down snow-covered sand dunes near where the Wright Brothers first took flight, while adults tried to navigate waist-high snow drifts that had piled up on the Kitty Hawk Pier. A ferry system suspended service between the barrier islands.
“It’s maybe once every 10 years that we get a good one like this,” said Ryan Thibodeau, 38, co-owner of Carolina Designs Realty, a vacation rental company.
The storm that prompted the first ever blizzard warnings for some places along the Texas and Louisiana coast also covered the white-sand beaches of normally balmy Gulf Shores, Alabama, and Pensacola Beach, Florida. Snow covering South Carolina sand from Hilton Head Island to the giant Ferris wheel in Myrtle Beach created more opportunities to turn surf gear into sleds.
“It didn’t have the speed of a toboggan,” Alex Spiotta said as his family glided on a boogie board in Isle of Palms, South Carolina. “But in the South, you have to use what you have.”
Others went sledding in a laundry basket in Montgomery, Alabama, and pool-tubing down a Houston hill. A car pulled a skiier down a street in Pensacola, Florida. In Metairie, Louisiana, several nuns enjoyed throwing powdery snow at a priest. In New Orleans, a hockey player skated down Canal Street, while urban skiing was attempted along Bourbon Street and people went sledding down the snow-covered Mississippi River levees on kayaks, cardboard boxes and inflatable alligators.
Flight cancellations, fatalities and sports postponements
Nearly 2,000 U.S. flights were canceled and 2,300 more were delayed by midday Wednesday, according to online tracker FlightAware.com.
Record demands for electricity to stay warm were met by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides power to more than 10 million customers in seven states, and PJM Interconnection, which operates the 13-state mid-Atlantic grid. But more than 100,000 customers were without power across the region Wednesday morning, including about 46,000 in Georgia and 37,000 in Florida, according to the website PowerOutage.us.
Two people died in the cold in Austin, Texas, which said emergency crews responded to more than a dozen “cold exposure” calls. In Georgia, authorities said one person died from hypothermia.
The storm prompted several sports-related postponements Wednesday night, including the NBA game between the Milwaukee Bucks at the New Orleans Pelicans, and the women’s college basketball game between No. 5 LSU at No. 2 South Carolina.
And yet, the planet is getting warmer
In Southern California, where blazes have killed at least 28 people and burned thousands of homes, Santa Ana winds and dry conditions worsened by climate chaange remained a concern.
Even as the United States, which is about 2% of the Earth’s surface, shivers through abnormally cold temperatures, the world as a whole is breaking heat records. So far, 2025 has had the hottest first 20 days of a year on record,
according to Europe’s Copernicus climate service, breaking last year’s record, according to data going back to 1940.
So far this year, U.S. weather has set or tied 697 daily records
for coldest temperature, not much more than the 629 daily records reported so far this year for warmest temperatures for the date. In the past 365 days, U.S. weather stations have recorded five times as many heat records than cold, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Scientists say they seem to be seeing more frequent cold air outbreaks — but not cooler weather in general — and theorize that a warming Arctic is altering the jet stream and polar vortex to allow cold air to escape and plunge further south.
Payne reported from Tallahassee, Florida, and Bynum from Brunswick, Georgia. Associated Press Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C., and AP writers Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; Jack Brook in New Orleans; Sara Cline in Key Largo, Florida; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Jeff Martin in Kennesaw, Georgia; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, contributed.
A woman poll worker was yelled at by a police officer at a Cedar Lake polling location after she asked him to conceal his “TRUMP Make America Great Again” T-shirt, according to an election complaint.
The Lake County Board of Elections and Registration will review two election complaints in which voters refused to remove or cover clothing with President Donald Trump’s name or Make America Great Again.
Madison Jostes said she saw Jason Allande wearing a “Trump Make America Great Again” shirt at the Knights of Columbus polling location in Cedar Lake. Jostes asked him to go to the bathroom to turn the shirt inside out or to go to his car for a jacket to cover the shirt.
Jostes, who filed a written complaint, said Allande told her “I’m not doing that” and continued to look at his phone. Jostes explained that because Trump was on the ballot his political attire couldn’t be worn inside the polling location.
Jostes told Allande that he would have his voice heard when he cast his ballot. Allande raised his voice and said, “What are you gonna do about it?”
When Jostes told her she would call the police and county officials, Allande said “Go ahead, call the police. I am the police.” Allande took out his Cedar Lake police badge and “shoved it in (her) face,” Jostes said.
Ultimately, another inspector came over and was able to convince Allande to flip his shirt inside out “because she’s his neighbor,” according to the complaint.
The board voted to defer the complaint to its March meeting because Jostes and Allande didn’t attend Tuesday’s meeting. Allande did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Jostes couldn’t attend Tuesday’s meeting, but Jeff Biel, the Cedar Lake and Hanover Township Democratic party chair, went on her behalf. Biel told the board Tuesday it’s unfortunate that Jostes had to go through this.
Mary Joan Dickson told the board Tuesday that she’s been a poll worker in Cedar Lake for more than 50 years and has encouraged younger people to work the polls.
“What I am asking you now is to make sure that they feel safe and protected when they’re working the polls,” Dickson said.
Dickson was working at a different polling location on Election Day but she received many calls about what happened to Jostes, she said. Jostes has been a poll worker since she was 17 years old and is very professional, Dickson said.
“I believe in all my heart that she did 100% what she needed to do and she was threatened. I really hope that you’ll take care of that situation. I don’t want to ask one of the youth of our community to come back to work the polls and be a victim of that – ever,” Dickson said.
Poll workers from the Schererville early voting site filed a complaint against Martin Sorice for wearing clothing supporting Trump to the polling location.
Sorice did not attend the meeting and he didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Susan Greenberg, a poll worker, told the board Tuesday that she and another worker saw Sorice inside the polling place wearing a Trump sweatshirt. When a poll worker approached him to tell him to either take off the sweater or turn it inside out, Greenberg said Sorice became “belligerent.”
In the complaint, the workers stated Sorice “wanted it in writing that per the Bill of Rights he was being violated by being asked not to wear” the sweatshirt. He kept demanding every poll worker write their names on a piece of paper for him, according to the complaint, and they gave him contact information for the Lake County Board of Elections and Registration Board.
“He didn’t like it. He was loud, obnoxious,” Greenberg said. “He kept saying over and over again it’s his right to vote and he’s going to vote.”
Greenberg said after a few minutes, she went outside to get the chute sign that lists the rules for voters to follow. She showed him the rule that states he couldn’t wear political attire into a polling place.
Sorice kept getting louder, Greenberg said, and that’s when police were called. While Sorice “gave them some lip” he ultimately listened to the police officers and turned his sweater inside out, she said.
The officers walked with Sorice through the polling place, waited on the other side of the machine as he cast a ballot and then escorted him out, Greenberg said.
Darnell Carter, who was working the poll pad at the time, told the board Tuesday that what she witnessed was police officers calming Sorice down, Sorice turning his sweater inside out before voting and police officers remaining on scene until he left.
“He didn’t physically do anything, but he was belligerent and he scared all the people around him,” Carter said. “We had to contain the situation.”
One of the police officers asked Greenberg to explain what occurred, she said. Greenberg told the officer that while in line in the polling location, people can’t wear political attire, she said, and showed him the sign posting the rule.
“He said, ‘I don’t agree with that.’ That really made me angry,” Greenberg said.
Another poll worker called the police chief about what the officer said, Carter said. The officer came back to apologize to the poll workers, Greenberg said, but he didn’t apologize to her.
Board chairman Kevin Smith said the situation was resolved that day and doesn’t seem to rise to the level of an election law violation.
“It sounds like overall you guys did a great job trying to explain the rules to everybody,” Smith said.
Ultimately, the board voted to continue the hearing on the complaint and send a subpoena to Sorice to come to the next board meeting to address it.
An Aurora man has been found guilty of child sex abuse and possessing and manufacturing child pornography, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office announced in a news release on Tuesday.
Kane County Judge David Kliment found Ronald J. Lye, 54, of the 1600 block of Fairwood Place, guilty of 13 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, 19 counts of possessing child pornography and 13 counts of manufacturing child pornography, the release said. Lye waived his right to a trial by jury.
Prosecutors said Lye met the 13-year-old victim on a social media app, according to the news release. On multiple occasions between April and May 2020, he drove the victim to his home in Aurora, had sexual contact with the victim and recorded it, the news release said.
Lye will appear in court on Feb. 28 at the Kane County Judicial Center for sentencing, according to the release. He faces a minimum sentence of 81 years in state prison, officials said.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) is mulling a run for South Carolina governor, her spokesperson confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday.
Mace in an interview with The Associated Press
said she’s “seriously considering” a bid to replace term-limited Gov. Henry McMaster (R).
“I’ve been in the state Legislature before, I have great relationships in Washington now, and I’ve acquired the leadership necessary to be bold, to make sure that we are moving forward with conservative policies,” she told the AP.
“I have made a difference in the work that I have done up here, and know that I could do even more at the state level,” she added.
Mace represents South Carolina’s Lowcountry in the 1st Congressional District. A staunch supporter of President Trump, she backed him over her fellow South Carolinian, former Gov. Nikki Haley (R), in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
Trump and Mace haven’t always seen eye to eye. Trump backed a primary challenger to her during her first reelection bid after Mace criticized him following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
But Mace survived the primary challenge, and another one waged last cycle after she voted alongside a small group of Republicans and Democrats to oust then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
“I don’t see eye to eye perfectly with any candidate. And until now I’ve stayed out of it. But the time has come to unite behind our nominee,” Mace said in a post last
January when announcing her endorsement of Trump in the primary.
“To be honest, it’s been a complete shit show since he left the White House. Our country needs to reverse all the damage Joe Biden has done,” she added.
Mace more recently has garnered attention for legislation that would block transgender people from using the bathroom and other facilities that align with their gender identity in federal buildings, and for another bill that would bar transgender women from using facilities in the Capitol that align with their gender identity — a move that came after Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) became the first openly transgender lawmaker to serve in Congress.
Comedian Andrew Schulz chalked up Elon Musk’s controversial hand gesture at an inauguration rally for President Donald Trump to the billionaire “spazzing out.”
While thanking the crowd at the inauguration event, Musk appeared to twice make a Roman salute similar to the salute used among Nazis in World War II to the crowd. The Anti-Defamation League and conservatives have defended
Musk, while critics have accused
him of explicitly making a Nazi salute to the crowd — citing his recent endorsement of Germany’s far right party.
“It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge,” the ADL said in a statement following the moment.
On the latest episode of the Flagrant podcast, on which Trump was previously a guest
, released Wednesday, Schulz argued Republicans should just admit it was some “goofy shit” and move on.
“I don’t think he was actually doing it. Here’s the shit that annoys me and this is what Democrats do all the fucking time, they just defend absurd shit and that’s what exhausts us,” he said, calling it a “little spastic moment.”
Musk, Schulz added, is “filled with autism” and acts strangely in front of crowds.
“Just say what it is. He did some dumb shit because the guy is filled with autism and you put him in front of a crowd and he just spazzed out,” he said.
Schulz
, who also hosts the Brilliant Idiots podcast, argued that people finding the moment to be strange and notable is understandable.
“I don’t think any rational person thinks he’s a Nazi,” he said. “I don’t think anybody rationally believes that.”
Watch above via Flagrant
podcast (relevant portion begins 1:08).
Bringing Cook County resources such as vaccination clinics into communities is a priority of Kisha McCaskill, the new Cook County commissioner for the 5th District, which covers several south suburbs.
McCaskill, the executive director of the Harvey Park District, was picked
by Democratic leaders Jan. 10 to replace Monica Gordon, who was sworn in last month as Cook County clerk.
A formal swearing in for McCaskill took place Jan. 16. She is filling the unexpired term of Gordon and would be up for election in 2026 to a full term.
McCaskill said she also wants to take up a goal of Gordon’s in working to secure a Level 2 trauma center for the district.
The district includes all or parts of Chicago’s 9th, 10th, 19th and 21st wards, and all or portions of Blue Island, Calumet Park, Country Club Hills, Dixmoor, Hazel Crest, Markham, Olympia Fields, Park Forest and Robbins.
McCaskill said she is scheduling meetings with mayors in the district, and wants to bring Cook County resources into district communities.
That will include flu and COVID-19 vaccinations at park district facilities and assisted living or long-term care sites, as well as informing elected officials about Cook County grant programs.
She said Wednesday she is talking with Hazel Crest and Robbins officials about bringing vaccination clinics into neighborhoods.
McCaskill said while Cook County has three health clinics in her district, including Robbins, “bringing those services to the neighborhood level” is important.
McCaskill, a 52-year-old lifetime Harvey resident, has been the Park District’s executive director since May 2015 and is co-founder of the Democratic Women of the Southland Region.
She said a goal of Gordon’s she wants to pursue is bringing a Level 2 hospital trauma center to the 5th District. Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn is the only Level 1 trauma center in the south and southwest suburbs.
“If you have a severe gunshot wound you are going to Christ, which is an issue,” she said. “We want to make sure people get those services immediately.”
The state Level 1 designation indicates the highest level of trauma care, although there are also hospitals with Level 2, such as Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, and Level 3 designations. Level 1 trauma centers offer round-the-clock care with on-site specialists.
The University of Chicago Medical Center in Chicago is also a Level 1 trauma hospital, as is Cook County’s Stroger Hospital
McCaskill said it is possible a hospital such as UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey might be established as a Level 2 trauma center, and that the hospital had that designation in the past.
In the area of economic development, McCaskill said she wants to work to ensure communities have access to grant programs offered by the county, and that small business owners can participate in bidding for county work.
“They know the opportunities exist but there is no connectivity on how to make it happen,” McCaskill said as far as small business bidding. “We’re going to take the misinformation out of it and ensure equitable access.”
She said she is also connecting with Chicago aldermen in the 5th District and south suburban mayors to determine what their needs are, and that she has her first meeting Thursday in Dixmoor.
“My goal is to meet with each mayor one-on-one to find out their goals and what I can do to help,” McCaskill said.
She was one of five candidates competing for the county board vacancy.
Gordon had been tabbed by the county’s Democratic leaders to run for the clerk’s job after the death last spring of Karen Yarbrough.
Hazel Crest Mayor Vernard Alsberry, who is not up for reelection this year due to term limits, was among the candidates. He is also Bremen Township Democratic Committeeman and had a vote in picking Gordon’s replacement.
Dolton Trustee Kiana Belcher, Chicago Heights Ald. Kelli Merrick and Rich Township Highway Commissioner Dennis White also sought to fill the board vacancy.
