Icicles hung from a statue of jazz musicians in normally balmy New Orleans, and drivers unaccustomed to ice spun their wheels across Atlanta, which was brought to a near-standstill. The beach in Biloxi, Mississippi, got a light coating of snow. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill canceled classes as the storm unloaded at least 4 inches by late morning.

The snowfall sabotaged the morning rush hour before it even began, sending cars crashing into each other over a swath of the country with precious few snowplows. Officials urged people to stay off the roads if possible, and to bundle up if they ventured outside.

By midday, skies were bright and sunny in many places, but temperatures were expected to remain below freezing throughout the day in much of the region, and roads were likely to remain icy into Thursday.