Winter Storm Watches, Warnings in Effect for the Deep South

(Feb. 11) -- Old Man Winter must be more benevolent and generous than we've given him credit for. I mean, It seems as if he's willing to share his cold and snow with anyone -- and everyone -- this season. Just as northerners are digging out of record-breaking snowfall and massive snow drifts, he's decided to send some of his special white fluff to cities in the Deep South that rarely get snow.

A chilly storm system that brought generally light rain and mountain snow to California and the Desert Southwest from Tuesday through Wednesday will track through the Deep South today through Friday night. Winter storm watches, warnings and advisories are in effect from northern Texas through much of Louisiana, as well as central and southern (that's right -- southern) parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.

Weather Underground / AP

A satellite photo from Wednesday shows clouds rolling toward the Deep South. Winter storm warnings, watches and advisories are in effect from Texas into Georgia.

Southern residents can rest assured that no "Cajun Snowmageddon" is on the way, but areas unfamiliar with snow will have problematic amounts of snow today and Friday. Before the self-proclaimed "tough" northerners start to make jokes about how soft southerners are when it comes to snow, remember this: Southern cities don't have hundreds of salt trucks and snow plows lined up and waiting for a snowstorm days in advance. Cities have little or no snow removal equipment and supplies, and even small amounts of snow can cause dangerous travel conditions.

A couple of inches of snow is likely in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex from this afternoon through tonight, which is certainly enough to turn Interstates into parking lots. The storm will gain a little more moisture as it shifts eastward. New Orleans likely will have nothing more than a few ice pellets or snowflakes tonight and Friday, but as much as 6 inches of snow could accumulate in typically balmy Shreveport.

Other warm-weather cities likely to receive snow -- and perhaps multiple inches of it -- from tonight through Friday are practically a travel agent's list of pleasant winter destinations: Jackson and Meridian in Mississippi, Montgomery and Selma in Alabama, and even Atlanta and Macon in Georgia. Snow will also likely track across South Carolina on Friday night, with an accumulation of snow possible in Columbia and a few snowflakes possible in Charleston.

Once arriving along the Atlantic coast, the storm will move out to sea instead of moving northward into the snow-strangled Mid-Atlantic region.

Maybe Old Man Winter has a heart, too.