ATLANTA (AP) – Snowfall shrouding much of the Deep South began tapering off early Saturday, but freezing temperatures kept roads slick and thousands without electricity throughout the region while planes remained grounded at the world’s busiest airport.
Forecasters warned that moisture on the roadways could freeze and cause black ice to form. The National Weather Service said that while snow flurries would end by midday in areas including metro Atlanta, temperatures at or below freezing could cause transparent layers of thin ice to form on bridges and other elevated roadways.
The frigid temperatures behind a cold front combined with moisture off the Gulf of Mexico to bring unusual wintry weather to parts of the South.
Heavy snow weighs down shrubs in front of a home, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017, in Kennesaw, Ga. The frigid temperatures behind a cold front combined with moisture off the Gulf of Mexico to bring unusual wintry weather to parts of the South. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Preliminary reports to the weather service showed up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snowfall in northwest Georgia, with 7 inches (18 centimeters) of accumulation in parts of metro Atlanta. Another 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow was reported in Anniston, Alabama, while up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) were reported in Mississippi. Rare flurries were even reported in New Orleans.
“It’s very, very abnormal and rare that we would get totals like that this time of year,” said Sid King, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in the Atlanta area. “It’s really not even winter yet. I would not be surprised if we broke a lot of records.”
But the snow wasn’t expected to outlast the weekend. King said warming temperatures and sunny skies should melt most of it in time for shivering Southerners to return to work and school Monday.
Officials at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which holds the world record for annual number of passengers, said delays and cancellations were expected.
“Passengers should monitor their airline’s media channels for flight info,” the airport said via Twitter. Airport spokesman Reese McCranie said more than 400 flights were cancelled Saturday morning.
Not everyone was anxious to flee, though. Members of a central Florida family found their way to Atlanta specifically to witness the white drifts.
“It’s beautiful,” said Tim Moss, while his two sons and wife threw snowballs at each other near a McDonald’s parking lot early Saturday. He said the family – including his mother – made a spontaneous decision late Friday to leave 80-degree weather in Florida and drive seven hours to see snow for the first time.
“A lot of people who live here are staying in,” said Moss. “They don’t want to get out in it. But we want to get out and run around in it.”
The snowstorms knocked out electricity to thousands across the South. More than 382,000 homes and businesses were still without electricity Saturday in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Southern Pine Electric Co-operative has more than 12,000 customers without power Saturday in south Mississippi. The co-op had about twice that many outages at their peak, utility spokesman Brock Williamson said. Getting everyone’s electricity restored could take days.
“This may be the first time we’ve ever dealt with a winter storm that’s created so many outages,” he said.
In Atlanta, a fallen power line was blamed for electrocuting a man late Friday. Bystanders tried to warn the man before he walked into the dangling live wire, Atlanta police Sgt. John Chafee said Saturday. He said it was unclear if the wire was downed because of the icy weather.
A freeze warning was in effect Saturday for parts of northern Florida, southeast Alabama and southwest Georgia. The weather service said freezing temperatures can harm vulnerable plants and animals.
Snow had moved further east by Saturday, dumping up to 14 inches (35 centimeters) in parts of North Carolina before heading into the Mid-Atlantic. Virginia State police reported hundreds of crashes blamed on icy weather. Parts of the Northeast and New England are also expecting a share of the snowfall this weekend.
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Associated Press writers Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, Jeff Martin and Don Schanche in Atlanta and Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama contributed to this report.
Tom Virgili surveys the damage from broken limbs of pine trees after a heavy snow fall, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017, in Kennesaw, Ga. The frigid temperatures behind a cold front combined with moisture off the Gulf of Mexico to bring unusual wintry weather to parts of the South. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Jimmy Squibb and his son Nash ride an all-terrain vehicle as they survey their neighborhood after a heavy snow fall, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017, in Kennesaw, Ga. The frigid temperatures behind a cold front combined with moisture off the Gulf of Mexico to bring unusual wintry weather to parts of the South. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
People walk down a snow covered road after a heavy snow, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017, in Kennesaw, Ga. The frigid temperatures behind a cold front combined with moisture off the Gulf of Mexico to bring unusual wintry weather to parts of the South. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Laura Washington shovels her walk after a heavy snow, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017, in Kennesaw, Ga. The frigid temperatures behind a cold front combined with moisture off the Gulf of Mexico to bring unusual wintry weather to parts of the South. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Toulon Avard shovels a neighbor’s walk after a heavy snow fall, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017, in Kennesaw, Ga. The frigid temperatures behind a cold front combined with moisture off the Gulf of Mexico to bring unusual wintry weather to parts of the South. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
An SUV drives ice and snow covered streets after a heavy snow fall, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017, in Kennesaw, Ga. The frigid temperatures behind a cold front combined with moisture off the Gulf of Mexico to bring unusual wintry weather to parts of the South. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A child sleds down a hill, Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, in Kennesaw, Ga. The snow that blanketed parts of the Deep South on Friday delighted schoolchildren with an unexpected holiday but also revived panicky memories for many adults of past storms that trapped commuters on interstates for hours. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Allen and Cooper Alexander, 4, spin around while sledding down a hill Friday Dec. 8, 2017, in Vicksburg, Miss. Heavy snow fell across several Southern states Friday. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post via AP)
Emmaline Dendinger enjoys a hearty bite of snow in her mid-Jackson, Miss., neighborhood, Friday, Dec. 8, 2017. The forecast called for a wintry mix of precipitation. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Gavin Joyner, left, and Payton Harrell, both 9, enjoy a sleigh ride down a hill with Ella the dog after snow fell in Collinsville, Miss., Friday, Dec. 8, 2017. (Paula Merritt/The Meridian Star via AP)
Canon Satcher, 11, rolls in the snow down a hill Friday Dec. 8, 2017, in Vicksburg, Miss. Heavy snow fell across several Southern states Friday. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post via AP)
Snow blankets the grounds of the State Capitol, Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, in Baton Rouge, La. (Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate via AP)
Elliott Runion,, enjoys his first look at snow with his father Joshua as they walk along Walnut Avenue as snow falls in Dalton, Tenn., Friday morning, Dec. 8, 2017. (Tim Barber/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)s
Christopher Johnson, 9, gets his first taste of snow this winter as Marion Elementary School in Shelby, N. C., is dismissed early on Friday, Dec. 8, 2017. (Brittany Randolph/The Star via AP)
American flags wave as snow falls, blanketing vehicles in a car sales lot, Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, in Jackson, Miss. The forecast called for a wintry mix of precipitation across several Deep South states. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Traffic moves south in a moderate snow, Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, in Kennesaw, Ga. The forecast called for a wintry mix of precipitation across several Deep South states. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Planes line up on the tarmac as snow falls delaying travel at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, in Atlanta. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
A traveller makes their way to a vehicle as snow covers the parking decks at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, in Atlanta. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Traffic moves along southbound Interstate 75 as snow falls in Dalton, Tenn., Friday morning, Dec. 8, 2017. (Tim Barber/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)
Kasey Brown, 11, left, and her friend Destiny Minor, 7, make snow angels on a lawn on their street, West Grant, Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, after an unusual snowfall in Baton Rouge, La. Kasey’s father Dlaniger Brown said the girls were enjoying the snow, and had been outside several times already, but were especially happy just to be home from school for the day. (Travis Spradling/The Advocate via AP)
A person walks under a street light as snow falls, early Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
North Bay Elementary School student Vivian Moore, 7, of Biloxi, Miss., braces against the cold weather as she walks to her bus after school on Wednesday, Dec., 6, 2017. Forecasters say conditions could be right for snowfall in South Mississippi late Thursday or early Friday. (John Fitzhugh/The Sun Herald via AP)
St. Richard Catholic Church liturgy director Suzan Cox salts down the walkway leading to the church as snow falls before morning services, Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, in Jackson, Miss. The forecast called for a wintry mix of precipitation across several Deep South states. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Worshippers link arms to avoid slipping as they walk along a snow-covered walkway to St. Richard Catholic Church to attend morning services, Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, in Jackson, Miss. The forecast called for a wintry mix of precipitation across several Deep South states. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
A Jackson, Miss., resident wipes snow off the windows of a vehicle as a heavy morning snow falls, Friday, Dec. 8, 2017. The forecast called for a wintry mix of precipitation across several Deep South states. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
A heavy morning snow falls in Jackson, Miss., Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, as an electronic sign posts a winter weather advisory for drivers along I-55. The forecast called for a wintry mix of precipitation across several Deep South states. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
A Belhaven University student prepares to defend himself in a snowball fight, as coeds blow off some final exam anxiety with snowball fights campus wide Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, in Jackson, Miss. The forecast called for a wintry mix of rain and snow across several states in the south. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
A football blocking sled is coated with snow at Murrah High School, Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, in Jackson, Miss. Forecasters anticipate continued snowing throughout much of the central and southern Mississippi until noon. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
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