North Carolina's coast was the "winner" for this snowstorm, with Kitty Hawk getting 9 inches!
Snow began falling Tuesday around 4 p.m. at Jennette's Pier in Nags Head. It is the first time the coast has seen snow in more than two years – and they got their money's worth. Kill Devil Hills got 8 inches.
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With their first measurable snow in years, Outer Banks residents are beyond excited.
"My 7-year-old has never played in the snow, so we're gonna build a snowman and make snow cream," one resident told WRAL. "When I was younger we'd always make snow cream; that was a big deal."
Some residents are passing down their winter family traditions.
"Lincoln's grandmom bought him a sled two years ago, and we said we would never use it," another resident told WRAL. "Today we're eating our words. We're very happy he has it; we dug it out of the shed, [and] it's working pretty good."
The snow left behind beautiful views across the Outer Banks, including at the Bodie Island lighthouse, which became a hot spot for snow photos Wednesday morning.
While residents here are enjoying the snow in their backyards, others traveled to the coast to see the rare sight.
WRAL News spoke with photographers who came to the Outer Banks specifically to capture the snow. Others brought their dogs to play on the snow-covered beaches.
George Everett, said his family history got him on the road from Virginia Beach. He remembered a story his parents told him about a blizzard at the beach years ago.
"Their memories of that, and them talking about that, just really got me interested to come down here," Everett told WRAL News.
Photographer Ryan Imperio drove all the way from Durham to get the perfect shot.
"I thought it would be worth the trip to come out here last night to see the Outer Banks in the beauty of the snow," he said.
Imperio said it was absolutely worth the drive.
Matthew Marsh said he came to the area from High Point for what he thought was going to be a quiet vacation. He will now be hunkering down inside his hotel room.
"[I] came here to fish and right after I booked it, I got the polar vortex coming in," he said. "It's just my luck."
It’s a rare event for the area. The last time the coast saw several inches of snow was on Jan. 3, 2018, when Wilmington saw 3.4 inches. That was also the last time the area got more than an inch of snow.
The North Carolina coast is one of the areas around the southeastern United States experiencing winter weather.
Most of the snow in the Deep South is part of a winter storm moving through Texas and the Gulf Coast on Tuesday. The storm has dropped several inches of snow on places not accustomed to it, including Houston and New Orleans, and several traffic cameras captured New Orleans residents playing the snow on Bourbon Street.
Dare County schools and government offices are closed Wednesday, and NCDOT advised all drivers to stay off the roads.