28 January 2025
This photo of a car in a snow drift was not taken in Minnesota. It was in New Orleans, Louisiana on 21 January 2025!
The winter storm that brought these blizzard conditions and 30-40 mph wind gusts had passed by the time this satellite image was taken on 22 January. Snow etches the contours of the Mississippi Delta.
During the storm it really did look like Minnesota in photos by Infrogmation on Wikimedia Commons — at top and below.
The storm left behind …
- 200 miles of Interstate 10 closed due to snow and ice.
- 8 inches of snow in New Orleans.
- 7°F in Baton Rouge, the lowest temperature ever recorded in their 95 years of keeping track.
- Frozen, broken water pipes …
- and everyone huddled indoors!
The rare storm brought more snow to New Orleans than has fallen in Anchorage, Alaska, since the start of meteorological winter, noted the National Weather Service.
— from NASA MODIS Image of the Day 24 Jan 2025
The entire episode was quite a shock to a city that stays green all winter. Without snowplows Louisiana had to clear I-10 using backhoes.
Today’s high in New Orleans will be near normal at 61°F. This is what is should look like in January.
