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It’s a winter wonderland in Bainbridge, with Winter Storm Enzo bringing snow as far south as Florida. The snow blanketed everything several inches deep. It has been years since Bainbridge has seen snow.

Lindsey Hayes, County Extension Coordinator, stated, “The last few days of wintery precipitation in the southwest Georgia region came in a range of 5-8 inches with a few areas receiving 10 inches of snow,” She continued. “Temperature lows also stayed in the low to mid-20s with several days decreasing to the mid to upper teens.”

Pam Knox, UGA Agricultural Climatologist, also explained how the La Nina, a natural climate phenomenon that occurs when sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean (near the equator) are cooler than average for an extended period, significantly impacts the weather patterns in January. She stated, “La Nina was not officially declared until earlier in January, so we have been skirting with neutral to weak La Nina conditions for most of the past few months.” She continued, “Neutral years and weak La Ninas both have the capability of having cold outbreaks occur because the circulation around the North Pole is weak, and so lobes of the coldest air can push down into the mid-latitudes, and that is what we have been seeing.”

Hayes stated that for people who live on farms and are worried about their crops or livestock, “Winter grazing for cattle will be slow for a few days until temperatures rise. Snow acts as an insulator against cold temperatures so that plants do not get burnt from frost as they would have in cold temperatures without snow coverage,” She continued. “With the forewarning of the impending storm, snow possibility, and extended cold temperatures, farmers increased the amount of feed given to cattle to offset the amplified energy expenditure they would need to create body and maintain warmth.”

Due to the snow and ice covering roads, Bainbridge Public Safety escorted a GDOT truck to plow some of the area. Nita Birmingham, Georgia Department of Transportation Communication Specialist, stated, “The GDOT truck was in Bainbridge because Governor Kemp issued a state of emergency to submit a request for state assistance.”

Even after the snow ended, many roads were still coated with ice. Though this began to melt over the following days, with the temperature dropping below freezing, the melting snow refroze, creating more dangerous ice patches. In response, Bainbridge Public Safety placed Bainbridge on a 7:00 PM-7:00 AM curfew from January 22-23 to keep cars off the road after they received multiple calls of cars and semis sliding off the road.

Additionally, some Bainbridge residents had frozen pipes or burst PVC pipes. Douglas Griffin Well, Manager of Well Drilling LLC, said, “There were 20 calls of frozen pipes, and 15 of the calls had busted PVC. I want to advise people who have frozen pipes to either be patient and wait until the sun gets up, boil some water and dip a towel and place it over the pipes, get a heat lamp or torch or get a little bit of warm water in the pipes, and it’ll melt the frozen area.” He continued. “For a frozen pipe or busted PVC not to occur, it’s best to leave a small pressure of water running so the pipes don’t freeze.”

While the winter weather brought disruption to locals’ routines, for some it was a break from the mundane. Families enjoyed the winter dream by resting, relaxing, or creating memories.