SAN ANTONIO (CN) — More than 160,000 people in Texas and Louisiana remained without power Monday morning after the year’s first winter storm swept through the South over the weekend, forcing dozens of schools and government offices to close.
The blast of cold temperatures and snowfall – the largest amount recorded in the Austin-San Antonio area since Christmas Day 2004 – unloaded up to nine inches of snow in other parts of Texas and triggered slick road conditions and black ice warnings Monday morning.
“Most of the accumulations were more in the Austin area and into Round Rock,” according to National Weather Service meteorologist Yvette Benavides. “In Austin we had up to about six inches in some areas, generally it was about three to four inches on average.”
More than 110,000 residents in Texas and another 50,000 in Louisiana were still without power Monday morning, according to utility tracking website poweroutage.us.
Courts in the Lone Star State’s capital city were closed Monday. State government offices in 29 Louisiana parishes were also shut down and crews with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development spent the morning salting icy roadways.
“DOTD crews continue to work to ensure roads are safe for reopening today following last night’s snowstorm. Remember staying home is safest,” the agency said in a tweet.
Forecasters say the storm system will continue to move east into Arkansas and parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee throughout the day Monday.
Parts of Middle Tennessee saw anywhere from a dusting to an inch of snow, causing slick road conditions and forcing some schools to close.
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