As they sat down for Christmas in 2004 many folks in New Orleans were surprised if they happened to look out the window. Out there, near the sidewalk and on the bushes and car hoods, there was a strange substance. It was white and flaky. According to seasoned elders it was something rarely seen by the local next generationers – it was called snow.
Beginning almost exactly at noon that day, the substance gradually began to paint the outdoors a sparking white. Many of the dinner tables were abandoned for the moment as diners rushed outside to become frolickers.
Other than a light snow fall in 1953, the ’04 event was the only other recorded local white Christmas. In 1989, the landscape had been covered with ice because of a winter storm that blew in from Texas a few days earlier, but by Christmas day the ice was beginning to melt, which was good news; the bad news was that the frozen pipes were thawing and many were discovered to be cracked. That season the most coveted visitor was not in a sleigh but a plumber’s truck.
In 2004, the snow had been gentler. There were a few frozen pipes but enough visual wonders to fill the afternoon with picture taking.
But it did not last long. By late afternoon the temperature was rising and the snow was melting leaving a trail of drips and puddles.
Still, locals rejoiced in the good fortune that nature had allowed for that day. Measurements would show that, in ’04, the region had been covered by one inch of snow.
For the holidays of ’05, however, the mood would be far different.
There were few colored lights; and little joy; no boughs of holly. The landscape was an icky gray. The most common conversation line at dinner tables was Hurricane Katrina stories.
New Orleans, and most of the area, was still recovering from the hurricane that broke the levees that previous August.
By Christmas of 2005 some people joked; others took seriously, the idea that Katrina had been nature’s payback for the previous Christmas having been white.
In the future, we may be able to worry less knowing that, because of Katrina, the levees have been made stronger; but still, the next time there is a white Christmas, consider purchasing a generator by August.
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BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS: Errol’s Laborde’s new book, “When Rex Met Zulu: And Other Chronicles of the New Orleans Experience,” (Pelican Publishing Company, 2024) is now available at local bookstores and websites.
Laborde’s other recent publications: “New Orleans: The First 300 Years” and “Mardi Gras: Chronicles of the New Orleans Carnival” (Pelican Publishing Company, 2017 and 2013), are available at the same locations.
WATCH INFORMED SOURCES, FRIDAYS AT 7 P.M., REPEATED AT 9:30 A.M. Sundays. WYES-TV, CH. 12.
