Winter weather: Freezing temperatures cause dangerous conditions from the Midwest to the South

Florida State University's baseball diamond is hardly visible under a blanket of snow.

The baseball team posted drone footage of the winter whiteout on social media. In the video, several different trails of footprints peppered what appeared to be several inches of snow.

The season is still weeks away: The Seminoles' first home game is Feb. 14 against James Madison University.

Matchups in the NBA and women's college basketball that were scheduled to take place in southern parts of the country have been postponed due to the weather.

The Milwaukee Bucks will no longer play at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans against the Pelicans tonight, the NBA said in a news release. The game will be rescheduled and the new date will be announced at a later time, the release said.

South Carolina hosting LSU in a rematch of the SEC's women's college basketball title game will now happen on Friday due to travel issues caused by the winter storm. The showdown, originally scheduled for tomorrow, will air at 5:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Two people have died from weather-related incidents in Dale County, Alabama, the coroner confirmed to NBC News.

Caleb Green, 37, died in a house fire.

"He was apparently using the stove for heat," the coroner said.

The other death was of a driver who hydroplaned while traveling along U.S. Highway 231 in Ozark and was ejected from the vehicle. The coroner did not provide the driver's name, but said it was a woman.

A total of four people have now died as a result of this winter storm.

Jacksonville International Airport reopened this afternoon. It had closed last night due to the winter weather.

"Travelers are encouraged to check flight status with their airline and for rebooking options," the airplane said in a post on X shortly after noon.

Mobile Regional and Mobile International airports in Alabama will remain closed today due to the weather conditions and possibly reopen tomorrow at noon, the Mobile Airport Authority said on X.

"We plan to reopen at noon on Thursday, January 23, if runway conditions allow," it said in the post.

The airports were initially scheduled to reopen today after closing yesterday due to the "winter weather."

The two airports are 15 miles apart and service the Gulf Coast area.

Vehicles that were abandoned overnight due to icy road conditions are sitting in the middle of Mink Livsey Road at Harley Beth Drive in Gwinnett County, Georgia, blocking the roadway from being used.

The county announced the blockage on X, asking people to "please make an effort to remove your abandoned vehicles as soon as it is safe to do so."

The county's police department handled about 1,600 calls for service overnight.

Over 100 vehicles were stranded in DeKalb County, Georgia, after temperatures plummeted leading to icy roadways.

"Residents are strongly urged to avoid travel to prevent further incidents and delays," county officials said in a news release declaring a state of emergency.

Crews were continuing to treat the roadway conditions but said "progress is slow due to the freezing temperatures." County emergency services said they've received hundreds of 911 calls, including one for a pregnant woman who needed to be rescued while en route to the hospital.

"Crews continue to prioritize urgent incidents despite challenging conditions," county officials said.

DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said the situation is "serious."

"We are asking for everyone's patience and cooperation as our teams work around the clock to ensure public safety," he said in a statement. "Staying off the roads is critical — not only for your safety but to allow emergency responders to reach those in need."

A 65-year-old Texas man was killed in a weather-related crash that also injured two others, officials said.

According to a preliminary investigation, a 2018 Toyota Tundra was traveling eastbound and veered into the westbound lane, where it struck a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado head-on, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a news release.

The driver of the Toyota, James Ball, of Stratford, was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials said the driver did not have a seatbelt on and it appears that he was "traveling at an unsafe speed for the roadway conditions." Texas DPS said it was snowing and there were patches of snow on the road when the crash occurred.

The 36-year-old driver of the Chevrolet and his 44-year-old passenger were both injured in the crash.

Several high-traffic bridges across Jacksonville, Florida, are closed because of multiple car crashes and ice concerns, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office announced this morning.

The Main Street, Hart and Mathews bridges will remain closed until further notice, according to the statement. The office said it is "working as quickly as we can with state and local and state partners to get the bridges back open," and reminded Jacksonville residents that the "the safest place to be today is at home!"

The office urged residents to stay off the roads today if they are able to, and noted that it would announce when the bridges are open again as soon as possible.

One Pensacola, Florida, woman braved the cold weather to enjoy rare winter weather after a storm dumped a few inches of snow on the area.

The woman, wearing a bathing suit, went outside to play in the snow but only for a minute.

"OK, inside we go, inside we go, inside we go," she said after flopping down into the fluffy snow.

Snowfall may have subsided in New Orleans, but officials cautioned that roadways are still compacted with snow. The NOLA Ready Emergency Alert System warned drivers of the slick and icy conditions.

"Please, stay off the roads," the alert said.

Louisiana authorities pleaded with the public to stay safe and warm indoors, after having to rescue two duck hunters yesterday when they got stuck in a lake.

Hunters in Henderson Lake, near Lafayette, "tried to leave when they couldn’t get the motor to start," forcing Cpls. Jason Marks and Michael Blanchard to rush to their aid, according to a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries statement.

The region is under an extreme cold warning today with the mercury hovering at about 16 degrees at 9 a.m. CT.

"I want to continue to urge everyone to stay off the roads and stay warm inside," Gov. Jeff Landry said in a statement late last night.

New Orleans residents woke up this morning to Canal Street completely covered in ice, NBC affiliate WDSU of New Orleans reported.

The street is usually bustling but was quiet because of the frigid temperatures. Heavy winds were also sweeping through the area, WDSU reported.

A dusting of snow greeted this sheriff's deputy squad car in Jacksonville this morning. A winter weather warning is in place for the city and much of northern Florida until 1 p.m. today, with snow and sleet accumulation expected of up to an inch, plus a quarter-inch of ice.

NBC News' Al Roker casts an eye over the latest forecast, with freezing weather to come for much of the South and the East.

Arctic air and dangerous wind chills are plunging the Midwest and the Northeast into record-breaking subzero temperatures, with officials urging people not to spend too much time outdoors. NBC’s Maggie Vespa reports for "TODAY" from Chicago.

The National Weather Service office in Texas has warned that melting snow and below-freezing temperatures can create black ice that is hard to spot, making road travel perilous.

"Watch for spots of pavement that appear dark and glossy, the road may just appear 'wet'," the service said on X.

Do you know the signs of hypothermia? That's the question the National Weather Service is asking today, with several areas across the United States facing subzero temperatures.

A rare blast of wintry weather has prompted a cold weather warning for parts of Texas, where forecasters say it could lead to temperatures approaching minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit, cold enough to cause frostbite or hypothermia to uncovered skin.

The signs of hypothermia include confusion, shivering, difficulty speaking, sleepiness and stiff muscles, the weather service said.

After a few days of dangerously cold temperatures in the Chicago area, the mercury will finally begin to slowly rise today — though it comes with sporadic snowfall, as well.

There won’t be an immediate reprieve from bone-chilling cold however, with increasing winds after midnight leading to wind chill readings likely well below zero this morning.

Between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., wind chills of minus 13 degrees in Chicago to as low as minus 18 degrees in Valparaiso are expected.

Snowfall is likely to begin in the morning hours in areas north of Interstate 88 and last into the evening, with accumulating snow of up to an inch possible.

Read the full article at NBC Chicago.

The greater Houston area has been hit by historic levels of snow and ice this week — but the threat of even worse winter weather remains. “The ice is going to worsen as temperatures drop overnight,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told a new conference last night.

Forecasters expect 3 to 4 inches of snow in the Houston/Galveston area overnight, with wind chill bringing temperatures down to minus 10 Fahrenheit. An extreme cold weather warning is in place until 9 a.m. CT.

The mayor warned that as well as the risk of accidents, residents may encounter frozen water pipes or fires caused by space heaters and chimneys.

There have been at least 168 road accidents since the winter weather began across Harris County, which includes Houston, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.

A man removes a layer of snow from his windshield as others play outside their home in Tallahassee, Fla., in the early hours of today. The National Weather Service has placed North Florida under a winter storm warning, with some predicting the Gulf’s biggest snow and ice storm in more than 100 years.

Dangers posed by this week's wintry blast have prompted three Louisiana parishes to issue curfews and urge people to stay off the roads.

Lafourche Parish began is curfew at 8 a.m. yesterday, it will remain in place while icy conditions persist.

St. Bernard Parish started its curfew at 6 p.m. yesterday because of the high levels of snow, and it is due to last until noon today.

The city of Picayune issued a curfew at 6 p.m. yesterday and it is due to expire at 7 a.m. today.

Several parts of Louisiana recorded 10 inches of snow yesterday in the rare winter storm that has gripped the Gulf Coast, making travel hazardous or impossible.

As NBC affiliate WDSU of New Orleans reported, 6 to 10 inches fell across the Big Easy and many bayou parishes that are more used to baking sunshine. The storm outperformed forecasters' predictions, which said up to 8 inches of snow would fall.

This week's unlikely winter storm has left more than 90,000 energy customers without power this morning, including 36,000 in Florida and 34,000 in Georgia, according to PowerOutage.us.

The worst-affected counties include Wakulla in coastal northwest Florida, where more than 11,000 connections are down,

Beneath the hanging Mardi Gras beads, locals stopped to watch snow fall in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans yesterday, as others passed by the famous Cafe Du Monde beignet stand in the historic French Quarter.

Several states declared emergencies as temperatures are expected to be 20 to 30 degrees below the January average in much of the South and the East. NBC News’ Priscilla Thompson details what officials are doing to make sure residents and travelers stay safe.