Snow Dreams Shattered? Why the South Sees More Ice Storms

The Science Behind Southern Ice Storms

Ice storms can happen in many areas across the United States. But the South is definitely more prone to ice storms than huge snowstorms.

These not only make driving conditions impossible, dangerous conditions are also created due to falling tree branches and power lines. Sometimes, millions are left without power in the bitter cold.

While we can see significant snow in the South, like Winter Storm Enzo in 2025 that brought as much as 10 inches of snow as far South as New Orleans, it’s a rarity.

More often than not, it’s the ice variety that the South is dealt.

Here’s why:

Temperature

To generate snow, temperatures need to be below freezing in ALL layers of the atmosphere. From cloud to ground. This is the one thing standing in between a gorgeous snow day and a dangerous ice storm.

In the South, this is harder to achieve.

Many times the temperature is below freezing at the surface, but warmer higher in the atmosphere. This will result in freezing rain, the most dangerous of all winter weather types. This type of winter precipitation starts as rain, then freezes on contact.

It coats everything in a layer of ice: Cars, trees, powerlines, roads, sidewalks, park benches, the works.

It’s hard enough to walk in these conditions, much less drive. No one is going anywhere in a freezing rain event.

Other times, it might be below freezing near the clouds as well as the surface, but a warm layer of air sneaks in somewhere in between. Again, this will result in sleet, not snow.

So why does the South have a hard time getting temperatures below freezing at all layers?

The Gulf

The Gulf is a huge reason the temperature profile in the South has a harder time getting below freezing from cloud to ground.

The Gulf is a natural generator of warm air that is constantly pumping into the Southern states. Even during the winter, when temperatures are colder, the Gulf continues to provide a source of “warmer” temperatures and moisture.

In the middle of winter, Arctic cold fronts will sweep through, yet, it’s still difficult for the fronts to get rid of all that dense air that’s provided by the Gulf, so therefore ice and sleet is more likely to occur than snow.

The Appalachians

The Appalachian Mountains can also have an influence on the winter weather in the Southeast.

They can be blamed for major ice storms that have impacted portions of Georgia and the Carolinas.

Something that’s often referred to as “the wedge” occurs just east of the Appalachians. This is when cold air gets butted up against the mountains and trapped.

As storm systems ride over the mountains, they often pull warmer air from the Gulf along with it, creating the perfect ice storm ingredients: warmer air aloft and below freezing temperatures near the surface.

The result? Ice.

So while the South might be full of snow lovers and kids wishing for snow days filled with snowball fights and snowmen, unfortunately, many times the meteorology of the South favors ice.

Jennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.