This Is Home Fest is returning for its fifth year, featuring a celebration of food, music and community. This year’s festival will take place April 26 at the Civic Center in Lake Charles, according to a news release.

Though NWS forecasters are still collecting official snowfall counts, these reports give a good look at just how much snow Louisiana saw.

Though the snow is quickly melting across Southwest Louisiana, chilly temperatures will persist for another couple of nights. National Weather Service Lake Charles Meteorologist Donald Jones said temperatures will be in the mid-20s overnight into Friday morning followed by a lighter freeze Friday night into Saturday morning.

Lake Charles' lowest temperature on record is 3 degrees on Feb. 12, 1899. Records go back to 1895. We can thank clear skies, light wind and the snow for the frigid temperatures overnight.

Snow flurries are continuing to rain down in Louisiana as inches of snow pile up on the ground across the state, already exceeding some previous predictions for the maximum amounts

The cold temperatures are coming from a not uncommon expansion in the Polar Vortex, which are counter-clockwise rotating air currents that typically hang over the Arctic.

The Interstate 10 closure spans nearly the entire state, ending west of the Mississippi state line east of New Orleans.

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - For many in Southwest Louisiana, it was the most and the best snow they’ve ever seen, which explains the excitement at the Lake Charles Event Center where a humble hill became a recreational wonder.

Louisiana's electric grid is struggling with mounting reliability issues and rising consumer costs as the state grapples with extreme weather and escalating electricity consumption, according to

Some schools and offices are reopening as the ice clears from Southwest Louisiana roads. This story will be updated as we receive word of who will be open Friday. To report a closure, email closings@kplctv.

Since the weather has kept many bundled up at home this week, Visit Lake Charles has decided to extend Chuck Eats Restaurant Week through Wednesday, Jan. 29. The celebration of unique menus at Southwest Louisiana restaurants was originally scheduled for Jan.