Rare snowfall blankets New Orleans, parts of Mississippi

Rare snow covers south Louisiana, Miss. - Yahoo! News document.body.className = ‘js-enabled‘; Skip to navigation » Skip to content » U.S. U.S. Video Rare snow covers south Louisiana, Miss. Buzz Up IM del.icio.us Yahoo! Bookmarks By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press Writer – 7 mins ago AP – Snow falls in Jackson Square in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008.(AP Photo/Cheryl … Slideshow: Rare snowfall hits La., Miss. Pl Video: Thursday's Weather Briefing Related Quotes Symbol Price Change CNL 21.47 +0.26 ^GSPC 897.28 -1.96 ^IXIC 1,557.11 -8.37

Parts of Louisiana were expected to get up to four inches of snow. Snow also covered a broad swath of Mississippi, including the Jackson area, and closed schools in more than a dozen districts. The National Weather Service in Jackson said up to 8 inches was possible in the southern and eastern parts of the state.

Office workers stepped out of high-rises to catch a snowflake, snap pictures with cell-phone cameras and swap snow stories.

In Alabama, heavy rains prompted forecasters to issue a flood watch for parts of the state. Wintry precipitation also was possible later Thursday as temperatures were expected to drop.

In Louisiana, nearly 7,000 power outages were reported in south-central parishes as falling tree limbs snapped under the weight of ice and snow.

Forecasters said the mix of sleet and snow was expected to diminish later in the day as the weather system moved east.

The wintry weather is rare in south Louisiana, though the state‘s northern parishes see it about once a year. New Orleans‘ last snowfall, in 2004, was a dusting that came nine months before Hurricane Katrina struck. The record snowfall for the city is about 5 inches, recorded Dec. 30, 1963.

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