Snowfall wasn't quite a record, but temperature hit a new low

A hurricane and a blizzard in less than a football season?
That was St. Mary Parish’s frigid fate this week, when arctic cold and arctic-like snowfall blanketed the area, not quite 4-1/2 months after Hurricane Francine made landfall nearby.
Officially, the National Weather Service at Lake Charles estimated St. Mary’s Tuesday snowfall at 6-8 inches. But, as with the rainfall from Francine on Sept. 11, you won’t have trouble finding people who believe the real number was higher.
The snowfall from Tuesday’s blizzard fell short of a very old record. The National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration says the record snowfall for St. Mary Parish was 10 inches Feb. 15, 1895, at Franklin.
But the arctic chill does seem to have been a record-breaker. The thermometer at Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport logged a low of 9 degrees Fahrenheit just before 6 a.m. Wednesday.
The temperature stayed below freezing throughout Tuesday and until nearly lunchtime Wednesday.
The record cold for St. Mary had been 10 degrees Dec. 23, 1989, in what became known as the cane-killer freeze.
The unaccustomed assault by winter weather brought travel and business to a near stop Tuesday and Wednesday.
The first sign of trouble came in the Amelia area, where the Boeuf bridge was closed by 7 a.m. Tuesday and eastbound traffic on U.S. 90 was halted.
Traffic was also blocked on the U.S. 90 bridge over the Atchafalaya for two days.
By Friday, much of the accumulated snow had melted away despite overnight lows in the 20s.
Even so, recovery from the snowstorm was taking some time.
Last week, St. Mary Parish schools announced parishwide closures Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was added to the closures as the severity of the storm became clear early this week.
And on Thursday, Superintendent Buffy Fegenbush announced that Friday would be a fourth snow day “due to ongoing water pressure issues and early morning transportation concerns.”
Classes are scheduled to resume Monday.
The St. Mary Parish Courthouse at Franklin was also closed Friday. Officials cited water system problems.
The remaining snow won’t last long. The National Weather Service forecast is for a high of 55 degrees Saturday and 68 degrees on Sunday