A man is going viral on TikTok after warning residents of the “Deep South” about a winter storm that may hit in early 2025.
Shannon Raffield (@weather_by_knowledge) said that people who live in a swath of southern states shouldn’t plan on traveling in early January.
“Don’t go anywhere,” Raffield warned the residents of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas, and South Carolina. He cited reporting suggesting that these states could see a cold front in the coming days. As of Sunday, Raffield’s TikTok video had amassed more than 3.3 million views.
Man warns southern dwellers about potential winter storm
In his video, Raffield, who has 103,000 followers, said that the worst of the storm should hit these eight states between Jan. 3 and 4.
He then showed viewers the Global Forecast System (BFS) weather prediction model, which suggested there might be a winter storm or snow during this period.
“Look at that,” Raffield said. “Snow right here where I’m at? Are you kidding me? Look at that snow right there.”
Raffield said that the forecast suggested a “strong” arctic front at the beginning of the new year. “We might have a while… New Year’s Day,” he said.
It’s possible, too, that these states won’t see snow—but something close to it.
“We might get quite a bit of mixed precipitation,” Raffield warned, adding these states might experience frozen rain or sleet.
What do other experts say?
Of course, the forecast could change over a few months, or even days. But other news outlets confirmed that a cold front could hit the South come 2025.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, Texas, in particular, could experience a cold weather event similar to the storm that caused millions to lose power in 2021. The outlet said that the supervisor for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Chris Coleman, recently warned that there’s a “greater possibility” for extreme cold this winter despite the state otherwise experiencing above-average temperatures.
“I don’t have a number to put on it, but I kind of would call this similar to a tornado watch,” Coleman said. “We’ll call this a ‘cold extreme watch.’”
Meanwhile, the Farmers’ Almanac predicted that the final week of January 2025 could bring strong rainfall and winds to parts of the South, including Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
“Winter will be warmer than normal, with the coldest periods in early and late November, from late January into early February, and in late February,” a write-up from its website read. “Precipitation will be above normal, with the greatest threats of snow in the north from late January into early February and in late February.”
@weather_by_knowledge Going to be interesting on January 3rdbto 4th 🤞#greenscreen #greenscreenvideo #fyp #winter #weather #south ♬ original sound – Shannon Raffield
Southern residents express skepticism
In the comments section of Raffield’s video, several Southern residents expressed doubt that snow would impact them.
“It snowed here in the panhandle in 2017, it was a cool 5 minutes,” one woman quipped.
“This happens almost every year,” another commenter wrote. “The cold starts on those days and just gets colder. I’m the one u be seeing in shorts and a sweater.”
“Well I’m in Alabama and it’s not been cold enough for snow to stick,” a third viewer added. “The ground is very warm.”
But others said they were scared of another, potentially deadly storm.
“Last time we got snow, we lost power and water for a week,” one user said.
“I would definitely be excited, but on our last winter storm… it wasn’t so good,” a second user added.
And some said that they hoped for a white New Year.
“I live in FL and I had a dream it was snowing last week,” one viewer said. “This would be a sight to see.”
“I’m in Dallas, TX,” another wrote. “I crave snow and rarely get it!”
“It snowed Jan. 3, 2018, on the day my daughter was born,” a third user added. “Would be so neat if it snows on her 7th birthday.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Raffield via TikTok comment.
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