Snow days

Enzo drops rare blanket of snow on Tyler County

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TYLER COUNTY – Last Tuesday morning, Tyler Countians, along with most residents within the East Texas region, awoke to a rare sight: white stuff on the ground.

Winter storm Enzo brought rare snowfall to the region, as well as throughout the entire deep South, with record snowfall reported in certain areas.

Texas, on average, received six inches of snow. Florida received a state record 8.8 inches, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). New Orleans also picked up eight inches of snow, making for a record for that area.

The practice of naming winter storms has been done by the Weather Channel to raise awareness of high-impact or significant winter weather events. Enzo fell between Demi and the next named winter storm, Freya, which takes its name from Norse mythology, for the goddess of love.

Snow began to fall in Tyler County late Monday night and fell throughout Tuesday morning. As a result, most businesses throughout the county were closed and all five Tyler County school districts closed Tuesday and Wednesday, with classes resuming on Thursday.

The snowfall for Tyler County was around three inches, and temperatures went from below freezing, to above, and back to below, for a two-day period. County emergency management officials urged residents to stay off the roads, if at all possible, during the storm.

At the state level, Gov. Greg Abbott deployed emergency response resources from more than a dozen agencies, statewide, to assist in any needs.