Winter storm lets Southern states enjoy a rare snow day

When life gives you a snow day, make a snowman.

Across the U.S. South, millions of residents woke up Friday to a rare chance to bust out the mittens and snow pants thanks to a cold snap that dumped snow in their parks, streets and backyards.

While the chilly conditions sparked warnings about treacherous icy roads and forced mass school cancellations, many stuck at home were determined to make the most of the heavy snowfall.

In Little Rock, Arkansas, Tyshae Sanders and her boyfriend, Terrell Bryant, decided to build an igloo in the front yard of their home, using a plastic bin to mold snow blocks for the structure. The goal was to build one 5 feet (about a meter and a half) tall by the end of the day.

“Why couldn’t this happen when we was kids?” Bryant, 34, said with a laugh.

“It could be more,” Sanders, 30, said. “I’m still wishing for a blizzard.”

In a hilly southeast Atlanta neighborhood, where 3 or 4 inches (about 7.6 to 10 centimeters) fell in the early morning, kids and some adults grabbed sleds and anything else that might slide. Like in much of the South, streets remained unplowed, and the few drivers who braved the snowy conditions crept along at cautious speeds.

“My first thought was, ‘Wow!’” Mikayla Johnson, 12, said of awakening to a blanket of white. “We haven’t had snow since I was, like, 4 — good snow, at least. So I was really happy.”

“I thought, ‘I can’t believe all the hype was true,’” her dad, Nate Johnson, said after predictions over the last few days varied and forecasts in recent years have promised snow that never materialized.

Jason Hogan, a 45-year-old Atlanta fire captain, and his 17-year-old son, Jonas, took advantage of day to recreate a memory.

Exactly 14 years ago — Jan. 10, 2011 — Jonas was 3 years old and enjoying his first real snow. His father grabbed his snowboard, and they headed out to a hill.

“I was like, ‘OK, I don’t have a sled, but we can sit on this and slide down,’” Jason said.

Someone shot a photo of Jason carrying his snowboard with one arm and Jonas with the other. That photo popped up on his phone Friday, prompting him to try to recreate it by, somewhat awkwardly, bracing Jonas on his hip.

Over in Tennessee, Markus Eberl and his 3-year-old daughter, Lulu, went to a street known as a local sledding hill where other neighborhood children were congregating.

“Everything is closed, so I’m happy to spend time with my daughter and enjoy the snow,” said Eberl, a native of Germany who has lived for 15 years in Nashville. “It’s so rare to have a full day of snow here. So this is great.”

It was Lulu’s first time sledding, but Eberl said that was not what she was most interested in at the moment.

“She’s right now taken to making snowmen and building snowballs and snow angels,” he said.

Using both hands, Lulu hoisted a giant snowball larger than her head and then licked it.

In Louisville, Kentucky, Chris Steiner brought his daughter Chloe in the afternoon to Cherokee Park, a popular sledding destination near downtown.

“Its great. Best sledding snow you can get right now,” Steiner said before putting his daughter on his back and slipping down the hill.

About 50 people were out sledding at one of the park’s larger hills, which has been covered with snow since 8 inches (20 centimeters) fell last weekend. Steiner’s daughter has been out of school all week and came to the hill the day before, too.

Others saw the snow as an opportunity to earn a little cash. Fourteen-year-olds Sydney Lasher and Zoe Russell, also in Nashville, posted on Facebook that they were offering to shovel driveways and steps.

“We did this last year, and it was a lot of fun,” Sydney said, adding that they will knock on doors to find any takers.

As to how much they charge, “We kind of let the people decide,” Zoe said, adding that they earned about $500 last year.

Nearby, Darnell Ramey made snowballs at a bus stop and encouraged others to join in.

“This is a one-opportunity thing to get out and come and enjoy some of this snow that’s coming down,” he said. “Not run from it, but run into it!”