Social media delights in snowball fights and sledding across Texas and the Gulf Coast

Social media went wild with heartwarming scenes: nuns and a priest enjoying a snowball fight in Metairie, Louisiana, and Houston firefighters and police officers engaging in friendly snow battles. Unusual sights included sledding in laundry baskets in Montgomery, Alabama, and tobogganing down snow-covered hills in Houston.

A rare snowstorm swept across Texas and the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday, blanketing cities like New Orleans and Houston with snow and causing disruption across the region. Motorways were shut, schools for over a million students were closed, and nearly all flights were grounded. Snowfall is expected to reach 12 cm in New Orleans, the most in over a century.

The storm produced unprecedented blizzard warnings in coastal Texas-Louisiana counties and transformed iconic spots like Gulf Shores, Alabama, and Pensacola Beach, Florida, into winter landscapes.

Forecasters warned the deep freeze could damage vegetation, burst pipes, and lead to power outages. Across the U.S., nearly 2,000 flights were canceled, with another 10,000 delayed.