Cold snap loosens grip here

The new year cold snap is easing up on St. Mary Parish at midweek, but other portions of the South are expecting continued bitterly cold temperatures and even snow in places that rarely get frozen precipitation.
The high here was expected to reach 47 degrees Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Lake Charles. The weather will warm gradually until the mercury hits 67 degrees Sunday.
But low temperatures will remain below freezing until at least Saturday morning. A hard freeze warning is in effect for Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
No precipitation is expected here until a 30 percent chance of rain returns Sunday.
Meanwhile, brutal winter weather that’s brought subzero temperatures to parts of the U.S. is threatening to dump snow and ice across areas of the South that rarely see flurries, much less accumulation.
The National Weather Service said a wintry mix of snow and freezing rain was expected Wednesday mainly along the Atlantic seaboard from Florida to North Carolina. It warned that icy roads and low visibility could make driving treacherous across the region.
In Savannah, a coastal city that hasn’t seen measurable snowfall since February 2010, up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) of snow and sleet were forecast. As city officials filled dump trucks with sand to spread on major streets, Mayor Eddie DeLoach urged residents to stay home and keep off the roads.
“The streets will be slick,” DeLoach told a news conference Tuesday. “We could have some serious issues for folks who aren’t used to driving in this kind of weather.”
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency through Friday for 28 counties because of the frigid weather.
The weather service said up to an inch (2.5 centimeters) of snow could fall as far south as Tallahassee, Florida. Snow began falling in Tallahassee early Wednesday — a rare occurrence in the Florida city. Accumulation of 3 to 5 inches (8 to 13 centimeters) was possible in eastern North Carolina.
In central Florida, the state’s largest theme parks announced that water attractions such as Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, Universal Orlando’s Volcano Bay and SeaWorld’s Aquatica were closed Wednesday because of the cold snap.
In Brunswick, Georgia, on the Atlantic coast, law enforcement agencies reported freezing rain and ice on bridges early Wednesday in south Georgia as a winter storm revved up along the East Coast. Brunswick police reported on their official Twitter account that area bridges had begun to ice up.