What do Oxford, Mississippi, and Washington, DC have in common? On the surface, not much. With a bit of creative stretching, you could argue that both are college towns anchored by major universities—but that may be where the similarities end, aside from the fact that both were hit by the same large winter storm last weekend.
The impacts, however, tell very different stories. The reason, as with many of the things we write (perhaps with a bit of bias), comes down to geography.
This storm is a textbook example of how the same cold air mass can produce dramatically different outcomes depending on where it lands. In Texas, air travel was hammered—especially around Dallas—sending ripple effects through the national transportation system. In the Washington, DC region, a messy mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain led to dangerous road conditions and widespread closures. Many cities in the South are still without power due to extreme ice. Meanwhile, other parts of the country saw record-level snowfall over a short 72-hour window.
So why do some places appear “unprepared,” while others keep moving?
A city’s “normal” January tells you what it’s built for—because that’s what planners can justify funding year after year.
Look at the baseline winter expectations in the cities below:
- Buffalo, NY: Average January highs around 31–32°F, lows 19–21°F, and 24–28 inches of snow. Snow isn’t an occasional crisis—it’s a recurring operating condition.
- Washington, DC: Average January high ~42°F, low ~27°F, and about 4.9 inches of snow. Winter weather is expected, but not constant—so capacity exists, just not “Buffalo-level.”
- Nashville, TN: Average January high ~46°F, low ~28°F, and only ~1.5–2 inches of snow. It’s cold enough to freeze, but snow events are sporadic—often mixed with ice.
- Oxford, MS and Monroe, LA: January conditions lean wet and mild, with snowfall described as minimal or trace. These regions don’t experience enough winter precipitation in frozen form to justify building a standing fleet of plows and salt infrastructure.
- Dallas, TX: January is typically cool and wet, with only about 1.5 inches of snow in a season (often light). When winter storms hit, they tend to be disruptive precisely because they’re rare.
Those “normal” numbers are why Buffalo budgets for large-scale snow operations, while Monroe doesn’t. It’s not ignorance, it’s a rational investment decision.
For many of the cities hit hardest by this storm, the issue wasn’t snow at all—it was ice. That was especially true in places like Nashville, Oxford, and Monroe. Cities that sit near the freezing line, where daytime temperatures hover above freezing and overnight lows dip below, are often the most vulnerable. Precipitation falls as rain and then freezes on contact as temperatures drop.
The result is black ice on roads, ice-laden trees, and downed power lines—leading to outages that can leave neighborhoods cold and dark for days. Ice is far more destructive than snow, and unlike snow, it can’t simply be plowed away.
It’s tempting to argue that every city should invest in heavy winter fleets “just in case.” But for much of the South, that approach doesn’t make economic sense for the one or two winter storms a decade that bring frozen precipitation. Instead, many communities prioritize response strategy over ownership: targeted pre-treatment where feasible, contracted support, mutual aid agreements, and clear “stay off the roads” guidance when conditions deteriorate.
Even among cities accustomed to winter weather, outcomes vary. Buffalo doesn’t just get snow, it gets lake-effect snow, where frequent, heavy accumulation is part of the local baseline. Over time, that reality has created deep institutional knowledge and a mature ecosystem of equipment, routes, and operations.
Washington, DC sits in a very different zone, where storms often transition from snow to sleet to freezing rain. Recovery depends as much on temperature trends and road chemistry as it does on snowfall totals. Last week’s event was a prime example, producing conditions that were difficult to treat and leading to widespread closures.
In other words, “doing well” in a winter storm isn’t about toughness or competence alone. It’s about whether a place is engineered, staffed, and budgeted for the specific winter hazards it is most likely to face.