Areas of Southwest Louisiana broke all-time record lows overnight Tuesday that dated back to the late 1800s.

“It was quite the historic event for us,” said National Weather Service Lake Charles Storm Warning Meteorologist Doug Cramer. “We had a pretty good idea that we would drop to single digits — because that’s what snowpack does — but we actually dropped here at the airport (where their office is located) down to 6 degrees. Snowpacks cause a lot of heat to radiate out and cause temperatures to cool down, which is what happened overnight Tuesday.”

He said Lake Charles did not set an all-time record low — the record is 3 degrees, which was set on Feb. 12, 1899 — but did break an all-time temperature record for the month of January.

“That one was 12 degrees and since we dropped to 6 degrees, we smashed that record,” Cramer said. “It was just bitterly cold out there this morning.”

He said New Iberia — which broke their all-time record low — experienced 2-degree weather. The previous record was 9 degrees set on Jan. 11, 1962.

“Lafayette saw lows of 4 degrees at the airport there, which is also the lowest temperature on record since 1893,” he said. “That one was 6 degrees.”

As far as snowfall, Cramer said preliminary estimates are that Welsh received 8 inches on Tuesday while Grand Lake received 7 inches and Lake Charles got 6 inches.

He said travel continues to be strongly discouraged for Thursday morning as periods of melting snow Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon has resulted in hazardous icing across area roads as exposed asphalt warms.

“Parts of I-10 are still in pretty rough shape,” he said.

A Cold Weather Advisory has been issued through 9 a.m. Friday.

Temperatures were expected to fall below freezing again near or shortly after sunset Wednesday and another very cold night is expected with temperatures in the lower 20s. A weak, dry cold front is expected to push through the region Wednesday night turning brief southerly winds this afternoon back out of the north.

Temperatures Thursday afternoon are expected to climb into the low- to mid-40s under partly cloudy skies and this should melt off any remains of ice and/or snow on area roads and the vast majority of the remaining snow pack although its possible that some snow may survive the day in shady areas.

Temperatures Thursday night will again flirt with cold weather advisory criteria in some spots with lows in the low- to mid-20s. Another weak and dry frontal boundary will push quickly through the region Friday clearing skies, but the airmass in its wake will not be as bitterly cold.

Highs Friday will climb into the low 40s to lower 50s, which should melt any lingering snow across the region.