Interstate 10 in the Baton Rouge metro area reopened to both eastbound and westbound traffic Thursday afternoon, the Department of Transportation and Development announced.
Baton Rouge is under an extreme cold warning until 10 a.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service said. The high today is expected to be 31 degrees, with a low of 16 degrees.
Interstate 10 from the Louisiana-Texas state line to as far east as Sorrento or Gramercy could be fully open to traffic in both directions at some point Thursday afternoon, Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Joe Donahue said.
Louisiana DOTD officials have closed a large part of interstate 10 due to the icy conditions on the road. DOTD says that I-10 is closed in both directions from the Louisiana-Texas state line to Baton Rouge.
After a once-in-a-generation snowfall event Tuesday, DOTD spent Wednesday plowing and salting roads across the southern part of Louisiana. But with the large snow accumulation, subsequent snow melt during the day, and freezing temperatures at night, black ice remained a threat.
The LDH reported one winter weather-related death in the state this year—a 65-year-old man in Rapides Parish who died due to hypothermia—and advised people to stay inside during the extreme cold and to seek shelter if unhoused.
A significant portion of I-10 is closed in both directions in Louisiana west of Baton Rouge to the Texas border.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has released a list of roads previously closed due to the blizzard that have reopened.
Snow totals in Louisiana have broken records. Parts of Florida, Texas and Georgia have also accumulated several inches of snow.
Two college basketball powerhouses will face off Friday when the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks host the No. 5 LSU Tigers. The game was originally set for Thursday, but snowy conditions in Louisiana have pushed the game back to Friday at 5 p.m. ET.
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Roads closed in the Baton Rouge area after winter weather arrived Tuesday.
A rare winter storm buried the Deep South in a blanket of snow on Tuesday. Parts of South Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi saw more than 9 inches of snow on the ground, according to preliminary estimates from the National Weather Service.