Yoon replaces the defense minister as South Korea's parliament moves to vote on their impeachments

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president replaced his defense minister Thursday as opposition parties moved to impeach both men over the stunning-but-brief imposition of martial law that brought armed troops into Seoul streets.

The Democratic Party and other small opposition parties submitted a joint motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday over his martial law declaration the previous night. Martial law lasted about six hours, as the National Assembly quickly voted to overrule the president, forcing his Cabinet to lift it before daybreak Wednesday.

Jo Seoung-lae, spokesperson of the Democratic Party, said it will push for a National Assembly vote on Yoon's impeachment motion on Saturday, calling his martial law declaration an “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup.”

On Thursday, Yoon’s office said he decided to replace Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun with Choi Byung Hyuk, a retired general who is South Korea’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Yoon’s office didn’t provide any further comments by him. He hasn’t appeared in public since his televised announcement that martial law was lifted.

The opposition parties earlier submitted a motion to impeach Kim, alleging he recommended that Yoon impose martial law. Kim had offered to resign and apologized for causing disruption and concern to the public. Kim said that “all troops who performed duties related to martial law were acting on my instructions, and all responsibility lies with me,” according to the Defense Ministry.

During a parliamentary hearing Thursday, Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho said the decision to deploy troops at the National Assembly came from Kim Yong Hyun. Army chief of staff Park An-su, who served as head of the martial law command, said he didn't know how the troops were sent to parliament.

Kim Seon Ho also said he wasn’t informed about Yoon’s decision to impose martial law until the announcement was reported by the media. He said he didn’t know who wrote the military proclamation announced after Yoon’s martial law declaration, which stated that the activities of political parties would be suspended. Park said he proposed a legal review of the proclamation to Kim Yong Hyun, and Kim said a review had been completed.

“I had fundamentally opposed the deployment of troops over this martial law and I expressed a negative opinion about it,” Kim Seon Ho said. “I would like to apologize to our citizens once again, and, on a personal level, I feel devastated.”

Prosecutors in Seoul said they imposed an overseas travel ban on Kim Yong Hyun on Thursday.

Separately, opposition parties on Thursday voted to impeach Choe Jae-hae, chairman of South Korea's auditing board, and three senior public prosecutors. The four will be suspended until the Constitutional Court rules whether to remove them from office. Members of Yoon's governing People Power Party boycotted the votes, leaving the totals far over the threshold to impeach them.

Choe has been accused of softening a review of Yoon’s 2022 decision to move the presidential office from a downtown palace to the Defense Ministry compound, which critics saw as inexplicable waste of money. The prosecutors face accusations that they watered down an investigation into suspected stock price manipulation involving Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee.

During his martial law announcement, Yoon described the Democratic Party’s continued attempts to impeach senior officials and prosecutors as “anti-state activities” and “paralyzing the government.”

The PPP said Thursday it has decided to oppose the motion to impeach Yoon. Observers say it could boycott a floor vote or cast ballots against the motion.

Impeaching the president would require support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties together have 192 seats. Parliament's rejection of martial law passed unanimously Wednesday with support from 18 PPP lawmakers who belong to an anti-Yoon faction in the party.

But PPP leader Han Dong-hun, head of the anti-Yoon faction, told reporters Thursday he would work to defeat the impeachment motion even though he criticized Yoon’s declaration as “unconstitutional.” Han said there is a need to “prevent damage to citizens and supporters caused by unprepared chaos.”

Experts say PPP factions could unite to avoid what happened after the 2016 impeachment of conservative President Park Geun-hye with the votes of some lawmakers in her own party. After she was removed from office, the liberals easily won the presidency in a by-election as conservatives remained in disarray. She went to prison but was eventually pardoned.

If Yoon is impeached, he would be suspended until the Constitutional Court rules on whether to remove him from office or restore his presidential power. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would take over presidential responsibilities.

The impeachment motion against Yoon says he failed to meet the constitutional requirement that martial law should only be considered in wartime or a comparable severe crisis. It alleges he attempted a “self-coup” by mobilizing the military and that suspending political party activities and deploying troops to seal the National Assembly amounted to rebellion.

Thousands of protesters marched in Seoul's streets Wednesday, carrying candles and signs calling for Yoon to step down, and another large anti-government gathering was expected Thursday evening.

Reflecting the country’s deeply polarized politics, hundreds of Yoon’s conservative supporters rallied in downtown Seoul on Thursday afternoon, holding signs criticizing Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, seen as a potential successor to Yoon despite facing trials over various corruption allegations.

With Yoon’s declaration sparking concerns about South Korea’s democratic status, officials have been trying to mitigate backlash.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong said the ministry sent diplomatic notes to foreign missions emphasizing that martial law was lifted through democratic procedures and that travel advisories need not change, as public safety remains stable.

When asked about the U.S. Embassy in Seoul's move this week to cancel routine consular operations, including visa and passport interviews, based on its assessment that South Korea’s “situation remains fluid,” Lee said Seoul was maintaining “necessary communication” with the Americans. The U.S. Embassy later on Thursday said those services were resumed.

Yoon’s martial law declaration came hours after his summit with Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov, who traveled to Seoul on an official visit. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson reportedly canceled a plan to visit South Korea this week.

“We are continuously trying to ensure a seamless and consistent implementation of our ministry’s diplomatic policies,” Lee said.

Protesters shout slogans during a rally against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Police officers stand guard during a rally against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Protesters hold up banners that reads "Impeach Yoon Suk Yeol " at a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Protesters march after a rally against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, with the posters read "Resign Yoon Suk Yeol", in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Protesters hold up banners that reads "Impeach Yoon Suk Yeol " at a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Protesters hold up banners that reads "Impeach Yoon Suk Yeol " at a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Police officers file past supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol before a rally in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

South Korean marine veterans get their heads shaved during a rally against President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

South Korean marine veterans get their heads shaved during a rally against President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A South Korean marine veteran gets his head shaved during a rally against President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean marine veterans stage a rally against President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean marine veterans stage a rally against President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

FILE - South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, right, looks on as South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, on Nov. 1, 2024. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

This undated photo shows newly appointed South Korean Defense Minister Choi Byung Hyuk, a retired four-star general who is South Korea's ambassador to Saudi Arabia. (Yonhap via AP)

An elderly man holds up a candle during a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

People hold signs with writing reading "Resign Yoon Suk Yeol" and shout slogans as they march to the presidential office after a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A woman looks up near a police barricade with rows of police officers blocking a protest march to the presidential office after a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

People hold candles and signs with writing reading "Resign Yoon Suk Yeol" during a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A protester holds up a sign with writing reading "Resign Yoon Suk Yeol" as he joins others in a march to the presidential office after a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A protester holds up a candle and a sign with writing reading "Resign Yoon Suk Yeol" near a police barricade set up to block a protest march to the presidential office after a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A woman walks near banners depicting the strong relationship between South Korea and the United States, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Attendees light each other's candles during a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

People hold candles during a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A major storm spread heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across the southern United States on Wednesday, breaking snow records and treating the region to unaccustomed perils and wintertime joy.

From Texas through the Deep South, down into Florida and to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, snow and sleet made for accumulating ice in New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Florida and other major cities. In Alabama on Wednesday, the weight of the snow collapsed the dome of the Mobile Civic Center, which was being demolished to make way for a new entertainment facility.

At least three deaths were attributed to the cold as dangerous below-freezing temperatures with even colder wind chills settled in. Arctic air also plunged much of the Midwest and the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze, grounding hundreds of flights. Government offices remained closed, as were classrooms for more than a million students more accustomed to hurricane dismissals than snow days.

New Englanders know what to do in weather like this: Terry Fraser of Cape Cod, Massachusetts didn't have her trusty windshield scraper while visiting her new granddaughter in Brunswick, Georgia, so she used a plastic store discount card to remove the snow and ice from her rental SUV in a frozen hotel parking lot.

“This is what we do up north when you don’t have a scraper,” Fraser said. “Hey, it works.”

Frasier had one additional bit of advice: “Don’t use your credit card, because then you can’t go shopping.”

In Tallahassee, Florida, the Holmes family set their alarms early on Wednesday and found a snow-covered slope before it melted away. Nine-year-old Layla and 12-year-old Rawley used what they had: a boogie board and a skimboard.

“Gotta get creative in Florida!” mom Alicia Holmes said.

The record 10-inch (25-centimeter) snowfall in New Orleans was more than double what Anchorage, Alaska, has received since the beginning of December, the National Weather Service said.

“We’d like our snow back,” the weather service office in Anchorage joked in a post on X on Wednesday. “Or at least some King Cake in return.”

It also was warmer Wednesday morning in Anchorage than in New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville or Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the weather service.

Dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills are forecast to persist through southern areas Thursday morning with widespread frost continuing in some places through the weekend, the weather service said. High temperatures are expected to rebound well above freezing Thursday in places like New Orleans, and by Friday in Tallahassee and the coastal Carolinas.

The snow and ice also closed highways — including many miles of the nation’s southernmost interstate, I-10, as it stretches from Florida to Texas. Especially prone to freezing were the elevated roads and bridges that run over Louisiana's bayous.

“Louisiana, if you can, just hang in there,” Gov. Jeff Landry said, warning that Tuesday’s “magical” snow day would turn dangerous Wednesday as conditions worsened.

Highways were deserted along long stretches in Louisiana and Georgia, where a jackknifed truck closed part of the snowy interchange between Interstate 16 and Interstate 95.

In Charleston, South Carolina, it took crews nearly 16 hours to reopen travel in one direction along the massive 2 1/2 mile (4 kilometer) Ravenel Bridge that carries about 100,000 vehicles a day.

The icy conditions plagued motorists in Georgia, where troopers responded to more than 1,000 calls for help. Hundreds of trucks backed up near a crash on Interstate 75 between Macon and Atlanta. Some motorists slept in their vehicles overnight as even a fire truck got stuck on the ice, DeKalb County authorities said. And police appealed to the owners of dozens of cars abandoned at the bottom of a glazed-over hill in Snellville to retrieve their vehicles as soon as it’s safe.

Some people took advantage of the Ravenel bridge’s steep overpasses, turning them into impromptu sled runs. On the Outer Banks, children sledded down snow-covered sand dunes near where the Wright Brothers first took flight, while adults tried to navigate waist-high snow drifts that had piled up on the Kitty Hawk Pier. A ferry system suspended service between the barrier islands.

“It’s maybe once every 10 years that we get a good one like this,” said Ryan Thibodeau, 38, co-owner of Carolina Designs Realty, a vacation rental company.

The storm that prompted the first ever blizzard warnings for some places along the Texas and Louisiana coast also covered the white-sand beaches of normally balmy Gulf Shores, Alabama, and Pensacola Beach, Florida. Snow covering South Carolina sand from Hilton Head Island to the giant Ferris wheel in Myrtle Beach created more opportunities to turn surf gear into sleds.

“It didn’t have the speed of a toboggan,” Alex Spiotta said as his family glided on a boogie board in Isle of Palms, South Carolina. “But in the South, you have to use what you have.”

Others went sledding in a laundry basket in Montgomery, Alabama, and pool-tubing down a Houston hill. A car pulled a skiier down a street in Pensacola, Florida. In Metairie, Louisiana, several nuns enjoyed throwing powdery snow at a priest. In New Orleans, a hockey player skated down Canal Street, while urban skiing was attempted along Bourbon Street and people went sledding down the snow-covered Mississippi River levees on kayaks, cardboard boxes and inflatable alligators.

Nearly 2,000 U.S. flights were canceled and 2,300 more were delayed by midday Wednesday, according to online tracker FlightAware.com.

Record demands for electricity to stay warm were met by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides power to more than 10 million customers in seven states, and PJM Interconnection, which operates the 13-state mid-Atlantic grid. But more than 100,000 customers were without power across the region Wednesday morning, including about 46,000 in Georgia and 37,000 in Florida, according to the website PowerOutage.us.

Two people died in the cold in Austin, Texas, which said emergency crews responded to more than a dozen “cold exposure” calls. In Georgia, authorities said one person died from hypothermia.

The storm prompted several sports-related postponements Wednesday night, including the NBA game between the Milwaukee Bucks at the New Orleans Pelicans, and the women’s college basketball game between No. 5 LSU at No. 2 South Carolina.

In Southern California, where blazes have killed at least 28 people and burned thousands of homes, Santa Ana winds and dry conditions worsened by climate chaange remained a concern.

Even as the United States, which is about 2% of the Earth’s surface, shivers through abnormally cold temperatures, the world as a whole is breaking heat records. So far, 2025 has had the hottest first 20 days of a year on record, according to Europe’s Copernicus climate service, breaking last year's record, according to data going back to 1940.

So far this year, U.S. weather has set or tied 697 daily records for coldest temperature, not much more than the 629 daily records reported so far this year for warmest temperatures for the date. In the past 365 days, U.S. weather stations have recorded five times as many heat records than cold, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Scientists say they seem to be seeing more frequent cold air outbreaks — but not cooler weather in general — and theorize that a warming Arctic is altering the jet stream and polar vortex to allow cold air to escape and plunge further south.

Payne reported from Tallahassee, Florida, and Bynum from Brunswick, Georgia. Associated Press Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C., and AP writers Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; Jack Brook in New Orleans; Sara Cline in Key Largo, Florida; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Jeff Martin in Kennesaw, Georgia; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, contributed.

CORRECTS CITY TO HARAHAN NOT HARHAN People walk from the snow covered Mississippi River levee the day after a rare and record setting snowstorm in Harhan, La., a suburb of New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Snowplows clear snow from Jefferson Highway the day after a rare and record setting snowstorm in River Ridge, La., a suburb of New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The entrance to the Hwy 146 Seabrook Kemah bridge over Clear Lake is closed Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 following severe winter storms Tuesday. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)

An ice covered fountain sits in front of a Mardi Gras festooned skeleton the day after a rare and record setting snowstorm in River Ridge, La., a suburb of New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Stacy Centanni refreshes their, Mardi Gras festooned snowman as it melts in the sun, the day after a rare and record setting snowstorm in River Ridge, La., a suburb of New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Alex Spiotta, from the Isle of Palms, S.C., uses a boogie board to sled across the beach after a winter storm dropped ice and snow Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, on the Isle of Palms, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Lina Rojas prepares her dachshund Petunia with a warm vest and gloves for her first walk in snow, in Tallahassee, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kate Payne)

A beach walker heads to the ocean after a winter storm dropped ice and snow Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, on the Isle of Palms, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Motorists drive in heavy snow on N. Davis Highway on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Pensacola, Fla. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Gumbo Carlin, off New Orleans, takes a photo of his wife Tezrah Carlin in front of Jackson Square during a very rare snowstorm in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Johnathan Duval, visiting from Jacksonville, Fla., takes in the snow during a very rare snowstorm in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

People walk on Bourbon Street during a very rare snowstorm in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A man bundles up as he walks along the shore of snow-covered Lake Michigan during a cold day in Chicago, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Heavy snow falls onto the Florida Welcome Center on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Pensacola, Fla. (Luis Santana /Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Icicles hang from a sign pointing the way to Houston during an icy winter storm on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Galveston, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Cars backup near a hill with snow and ice on the road during a winter storm on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Tucker, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Workers plow snow off the roadways at the closed George Bush Intercontinental Airport Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

People walk in the French Quarter as snow falls in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Kristyn Tramel walks her dog Bluey with her 8-year-old son Penn in the French Quarter, in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A person pushes a wheelchair across Bourbon Street as snow falls in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A person walks on a snow covered street Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Adrian Santos, left, and Aaron Kenigsberg make a snowman along Buffalo Bayou in downtown Houston, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Alvaro Perez, who spent a night at the closed George Bush Intercontinental Airport, waits for the next flight out Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

People shovel snow off the sidewalk Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in downtown Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

People walk by the empty Cafe Du Monde restaurant in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Kristyn Tramel walks her dog Bluey with her 8-year-old son Penn in the French Quarter as they stop at the memorial for the victims of a deadly truck attack on New Year's Day in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

People take a walk in the neighborhood Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Abel Allen, in a Spider-Man suit, and Angel Tircuit walk on a snow covered bridge in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Braedon McCants hits Thomas Pickell with a snowball as they snowball fights at Rice University campus Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Cars travel on a snow covered highway Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

An empty terminal is seen at the closed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

All cancelled flights are shown on the flight board at the closed George Bush Intercontinental Airport Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

A United Airlines plane is parked at the closed George Bush Intercontinental Airport Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Icicles hang down from a vehicle during an icy winter storm in Galveston, Texas, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Snow falls as the memorial for the victims of a deadly truck attack on New Year's Day in the French Quarter is seen in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A person stops to take a picture at Jackson Square as snow falls in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

People take a walk in the neighborhood Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

People walk around on Bourbon Street as snow falls in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A person sleds down a hill at Herman Park Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Heavy snow falls onto palm trees and the Florida Welcome Center on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Pensacola, Fla. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A man walks down Bourbon Street during a very rare snowstorm in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

People walk as snow falls in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

This photo provided by Michael Grimes of 409 Dronegraphy shows snow over Galveston Tx on the morning of Jan. 21, 2025. (Michael Grimes/409 Dronegraphy via AP)