Staff reports

For the first time in recorded history, more than five inches of snow fell in St. Tammany Parish, a number that officials believe could be the heaviest snowfall on the Northshore.

The blizzard-like snowfall shut down businesses, closed schools, made roads impassable, caused power outages and contributed to extreme congestion on the interstates.

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Officials with the National Weather Service predicted a slight wintry mix was possible sometime Thursday morning but they were not expecting any real accumulations.

Unexpectedly, the low pressure system that brought several inches of snow to the Houston area Wednesday, intensified over night, which caused surface temperatures to drop lower than first expected as it raked its way across the state with heavy snow, NWS meteorologists said.

NWS officials said they didn’t have any precise records of when the last measurable snowfall occurred in St. Tammany, but one unofficial report registered 3 inches of the white stuff in Covington back in 1973.

They also said this could be the most snow the Northshore has ever seen with preliminary measurements made Thursday morning showing Mandeville recording over 2.5 inches of snow while other places like Covington in the western half of the parish had yet to be measured. Surrounding areas like Bogalusa and Hammond saw well over 5 inches of snowfall.

While snow played havoc with the west end of the Parish, the east end was luckier thanks to less snowfall that turned into rain.

Still parts of Slidell, especially on the west side of town, did turn into a winter wonderland for a while. The white stuff coated trees, homes and front lawns. Some kids stayed home from school to gambol in the snow, making snowballs and snowmen.

The blanketing of snow also caused thousands of power outages across the area thanks to downed limbs and trees knocking out power lines. By noon yesterday, Cleco officials reported nearly 5,000 customers were without power in the St. Tammany and Washington parish area. Most of the power outages occurred in the west end of St. Tammany, Robbyn Cooper, Cleco spokeswoman said. Crews were expected to have most of the power back on by Thursday night.

Unlike neighboring Tangipahoa and Washington parishes, St. Tammany School officials did not officially close school although students who stayed home will not be counted as absent, spokesperson Meredith Mendez said.

By the time it started snowing, some schools had already started and busses had picked up students for other schools, she said.

“It caught us by surprise,” Mendez said.

Power outages were reported at six schools by mid-morning and parents were notified and given the option to pick up their students.

The thick snow also caused dozens of vehicles throughout the parish to skid into ditches and swerve off roads but no major injuries were reported as law enforcement officials patrolled major thoroughfares and blitzed the media with driving tips.

“The citizens in our area are really heeding our warnings,” State Police Troop L spokesman Louis Calato said, referring to a public relations campaign that started at 5 a.m., well ahead of the storm’s height. “We’re not really having as much chaos as we expected. We’re lucky.”

In one accident however, an 18-wheeler jackknifed on Interstate 12 near Airport Road in Tangipahoa Parish that choked the roadway and caused a near standstill for drivers heading toward Hammond. One motorist reported waiting at least four hours long. No one was seriously injured, Calato said.

In its effort to curb such accidents, State Police Troop called up seven troopers from its nightshift and added five more troopers from its special enforcement team. About 19 troopers in all patrolled the roads, up from about 9 or 10 typically on the day shift, Calato said.

Meanwhile, Sheriff’s Office deputies patrolling parish roads said everything was surprisingly safe. Sheriff Jack Strain spent the morning zig-zagging to all ends of the parish, east to west, north to south, as he surveyed the area.

In the Folsom/Lee Road area, he estimated about seven inches of snow, the highest report in the parish, where many of the parish’s traffic incidents occurred.

And while dozens of vehicles slid into ditches, and tree limbs toppled under the white powder, there were “no injury reports, all minor stuff,” Strain said. “Our residents are just not equipped to drive in this type of weather.”

He added the Sheriff’s Office did not close any roads, but many may have been impassable because of fallen trees.

Weather officials said while snow in this area is a rarity, it’s more common for the flakes to fly in January and February.

The latest major winter event to hit the area brought half an inch of snow to New Orleans and several inches of sleet to St. Tammany Christmas day in 2004.

“This is just so uncommon,” Strain said. “In my 42 years, I’ve seen four measurable snow events and this by far exceeds them all. It truly looked like a postcard from the north.”

Don’t put the snow shovels away just yet. Meteorologist with the NWS said the chances are good that St. Tammany could see another snow event later this year or early next year.

More snow news in Sundays edition.