Once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm hits Gulf Coast, with record-breaking snowfall in Florida
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The Gulf Coast is digging out from a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm that struck from Texas to Florida, closing airports and crippling roadways.
Over 2,000 flights were canceled on Tuesday and more than 1,300 flights have been canceled on Wednesday.
Multiple fatalities have been reported due to car crashes and hypothermia.
In the Atlanta area, DeKalb County officials declared a state of emergency on Wednesday and are urging all residents to shelter in place due to the severe winter weather. Over 100 cars have been reported stranded on roadways, keeping crews from responding to emergencies, officials said.
Many areas saw more snow than they have in at least 130 years.
Florida saw its most snow on record, with a preliminary 8.8 inches of snow observed in Milton, north of Pensacola.
The southeast part of Houston saw over 4 inches, making it one of the top snowstorms to impact the area.
Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida, saw all-time record highs with 7.5 inches and 7.6 inches respectively.
In Louisiana, Baton Rouge saw 7.6 inches, New Orleans saw 8 inches and Lafayette recorded 9 inches.
New Orleans demolished its most recent highest snow total, which was 2.7 inches in 1963.
Snow is still falling early Wednesday in Georgia, Florida and the coastal Carolinas.
About 5 inches have so far been reported in parts of coastal North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
The snow is expected to end this morning but rain will continue in Florida.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on December 22, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Ten days ahead of his presidential inauguration, Donald Trump is scheduled to be sentenced Friday morning in New York for committing what the judge in his case characterized as a “premeditated and continuous deception” to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election.
President-elect Trump — who plans to attend the 9:30 a.m. hearing virtually from his Mar-a-Lago estate — is expected to receive the lightest possible sentence allowable under New York law, though the sentencing effectively finalizes his unprecedented status as the first former president to be a convicted criminal.
The sentencing hearing concludes an embarrassing and nearly decade-long ordeal for the former president, who has long maintained his innocence but sat through weeks of testimony detailing an alleged scheme to influence the 2016 election by paying off an adult film actress who said she had affair with Trump in 2006, three months after his wife gave birth to his youngest son.
“So I’ll do my little thing tomorrow. They can have fun with their political opponent,” Trump told reporters Thursday night ahead of the sentencing.
Trump was convicted by a jury in May following a six-week trial and was set to be sentenced in July, but a sweeping Supreme Court ruling and his successful presidential campaign helped his lawyers delay his sentencing three times. His lawyers attempted to accomplish the same feat this week but were denied four separate times — including by the U.S. Supreme Court — after arguing that Trump should be immune from criminal prosecution as president-elect.
“Forcing President Trump to prepare for a criminal sentencing in a felony case while he is preparing to lead the free world as President of the United States in less than two weeks imposes an intolerable, unconstitutional burden on him that undermines these vital national interests,” Trump’s lawyers unsuccessfully argued.
A narrowly divided Supreme Court denied the request on Thursday night, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Trump-appointee Amy Coney Barrett joining the court’s three liberal justices. The majority wrote that the hearing imposed a “relatively insubstantial” burden on Trump based on the anticipated sentence.
Judge Juan Merchan — who has overseen the case since April 2023 — suggested in a court filing last week that he plans to sentence Trump to an unconditional discharge, a rarely used option that allows the judge to finalize the judgment in the case without handing down punishment. If his sentence is unconditionally discharged, Trump would receive no jail time, financial penalty, or probationary period.
Though Merchan could have sentenced Trump up to four years in prison, he opted to give him the lightest possible sentence to “ensure finality” — including Trump’s right to appeal — while also respecting the principle of presidential immunity, which takes effect on Jan. 20 once Trump becomes president.
The sentencing is expected to take approximately one hour and include what’s called an allocution, in which Trump can make a statement to the court. Judge Merchan is also expected to comment on the nature of crime for which Trump was convicted. In a filing last week, the judge harshly criticized what he called Trump’s “disdain” for the judiciary.
“Defendant’s disdain for the Third Branch of government, whether state or federal, in New York or elsewhere, is a matter of public record,” Merchan wrote. “Indeed, Defendant has gone to great lengths to broadcast on social media and other forums his lack of respect for judges, juries, grand juries and the justice system as a whole.”
Since his conviction, Trump has maintained his innocence and has baselessly alleged that he is the victim of a political persecution directed by the federal government. Leaving the courtroom shortly after his conviction in May, Trump blasted the trial as “disgrace” and Judge Merchan as “corrupt.”
“The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people,” the newly convicted Trump declared.
(STARR COUNTY, Texas) — Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham is offering the incoming Trump administration 1,402 acres the state purchased along the Texas-Mexico border to be used in a mass deportation operation.
In a letter to President-elect Donald Trump, Buckingham said she’s offering the land “to be used to construct deportation facilities.”
The Texas General Land Office purchased the plot of land from a farmer in October to facilitate Texas’ efforts to build a wall.
“My office is fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the United States Border Patrol to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history,” Buckingham wrote in the letter, dated Tuesday.
The move shows that despite the Democratic governors of California and Arizona, two other southern border states, pledging not to aid the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans, the incoming administration will have allies in Republican-led states.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs told ABC News Live on Monday that she would not use state police or the National Guard to help with mass deportation.
“We will not be participating in misguided efforts that harm our communities,” she said.
Trump on Monday confirmed he would declare a national emergency to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations of migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission, and pledged to get started on the mass deportations as soon as he enters office.
A spokeswoman for the Trump transition team said the president-elect will “marshal every lever of power” to launch his mass deportation plans.
“Local and state officials on the frontlines of the Harris-Biden border invasion have been suffering for four years and are eager for President Trump to return to the Oval Office. On day one, President Trump will marshal every lever of power to secure the border, protect their communities, and launch the largest mass deportation operation of illegal immigrant criminals in history,” Karoline Leavitt said.
In an interview with Fox News, which first reported the news of the Texas General Land Office’s offer, Buckingham reiterated she is “100% on board” with the incoming administration’s promise to deport criminals.
The plot of land is in Starr County, about 35 miles west of McAllen, Texas.
“Now it’s essentially farmland, so it’s flat, it’s easy to build on. We can very easily put a detention center on there — a holding place as we get these criminals out of our country,” she told Fox News.
(NEW YORK) — Snow and rain are in the forecast for some parts of the U.S. as travelers hit the road and head to the airport for Thanksgiving.
Here’s your weather forecast for the holiday week:
Tuesday
Rain is sweeping across the East Coast from New York to Alabama on Tuesday morning.
There’s a slight chance for freezing rain in southern Vermont and the southern Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York before it warms enough to change to rain mid-day.
The rain will end in New York City and the Mid-Atlantic by mid-afternoon. Boston will be dry by 7 p.m.
In the West, 3 to 6 inches of rain is possible for the foothills of the southern Sierra Nevada mountain range through Tuesday morning.
Heavy rain is also hitting California’s San Joaquin Valley.
Snow is falling at higher elevations from California to Colorado, with winter storm warnings in effect.
California’s snow will end Tuesday night; totals could reach 3 to 5 feet in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains.
Treacherous travel is expected in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains as snowfall there continues through Wednesday. Up to 3 feet of snow is possible and avalanche warnings are in place.
Wednesday
The East Coast and West Coast will be dry on Wednesday, setting up a good holiday travel day for both coasts.
Interstate 70 will be the hardest-hit by rough weather, with snow in the Colorado Rockies and rain in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio.
In the South, temperatures will be well above average, with highs in the 70s and 80s. Houston may reach a record high for the second time this week.
Thanksgiving
Spectators heading to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City should bring umbrellas and raincoats, as the parade will be rainy with temperatures in the 40s. The breeze could reach 10 to 15 mph.
Rain will be falling across most of the East Coast Thursday morning, while snow hits northern Pennsylvania and upstate New York.
Much of the Interstate 95 corridor will be soggy throughout the day, especially north of Philadelphia where the rain will continue through the afternoon.
Meanwhile, temperatures will reach the 70s in Arizona and the 80s in Florida. But highs will only be in the 30s and 40s in the Midwest.
Friday
On Friday, snow will be falling from West Virginia to Pennsylvania to western New York.
Rain will move through north and central Florida, but it won’t reach Miami until Saturday morning.
Low temperatures may plunge to the single digits in Minneapolis for the first time this season Friday or Saturday morning.
High temperatures will only reach near freezing in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Omaha, Nebraska. The highs will only be in the 20s in Chicago.
