Snowfall has blanketed parts of the Deep South, including southern Texas, delighting schoolchildren and knocking out power to thousands.
Frigid temperatures behind a cold front combined with moisture off the Gulf of Mexico brought snow and sleet to communities on the border with Mexico.
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The weather band then moved towards San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Houston, which has not seen more than an inch of snow since 2009. In Austin, temperatures dropped as low as 27F (-3C).
About 5in (127mm) of snow fell on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station.
San Antonio received about 2in (51mm ) of snow, the largest amount to fall in that city since January 1987.
The weather conditions were so unusual that they spawned the hashtag #TexasSnow2017.
Many Texans were unsure about what to do with the cold white stuff falling from the sky.
See this is why God don’t give Texas snow we don’t know what to do with it #TexasSnow pic.twitter.com/KfSjY0xCmf
— Alex The 🦁 (@11_alexdeleon) December 8, 2017
Others struggled with another issue: ice.
#TexasSnow2017 #Snowday
— The Invisible Man (@invisibleman_17) December 8, 2017
Get in the car Suzanne....get in the car
🔊Sound on 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/pjoBJzbJcD
“It’s the first snow of the season and any time you even mention snow in the South, you’re going to get people a little panicky,” said David Nadler, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
Seeing snow in southern Texas was like spotting a unicorn. #SanAntonioSnow #TexasSnow2017 pic.twitter.com/tYoNqe7hlX
— Hannah (@jpghannah) December 8, 2017
A Christmas miracle y’all... Snow in Texas! pic.twitter.com/V2Fv9nZ12z
— Cody Johnson (@CodyJohnsonBand) December 8, 2017
A little winter wonderland here in Houston #TexasSnow2017 #HoustonSnow #houwx #txwx #Houston pic.twitter.com/9vUtDslZE1
— Michael Ciaglo (@MichaelCiaglo) December 8, 2017
Temperatures were expected to sink below freezing across much of the region overnight, and forecasters warned that black ice could make roads treacherous. Things were expected to thaw by Saturday afternoon, with sunnier weather and highs reaching into the 40s and 50s.
The cold conditions reached across the southern states, bringing traffic chaos to Atlanta, Georgia, and warnings of black ice in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Associated Press contributed to this report
