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Snow in Texas Is ‘Pretty Cool’ for Children Seeing It for the First Time

Ben Platt with a surfboard at a park in Corpus Christi, Tex., after snow fell for the first time in 13 years on Friday.Credit...Courtney Sacco/Corpus Christi Caller-Times, via Associated Press

In his 10 years, Vincent Rivera of Corpus Christi, Tex., knew snow only as something experienced by others.

“My mom has been to places like Chicago and Washington, D.C., when it’s snowing, and she would tell me about it and I wish I could be there to see it,” he said in a phone interview on Friday night.

When snow was forecast for parts of Texas late Thursday night, he stayed up until midnight. His wait was in vain. But five hours later, he awoke to two inches at his home and as much as five inches in other parts of his neighborhood.

The snowfall, which Vincent described as a “pretty cool experience,” was the first recorded in Corpus Christi since 2004.

It was part of a storm system that also brought snow to Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi; knocked out electricity to more than 40,000 customers in Alabama; and was expected to reach parts of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut by Saturday, officials said.

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A cardinal stands out against the snow in central Alabama on Friday.Credit...Joe Songer/AL.com, via Associated Press

Kevin Wagner, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Corpus Christi, said one inch of snow was officially recorded at the Corpus Christi International Airport, with some unofficial readings of six to seven inches south of the city.

Snow was last recorded in Corpus Christi on Dec. 24 and 25, 2004, with a two-day total of 4.4 inches, Mr. Wagner said. San Antonio, about 140 miles northwest of Corpus Christi, received 4.5 inches of snow, he said.

The snow did not linger. Mr. Wagner said the temperature was in the upper 40s by late Friday afternoon, and forecast to climb to the mid-60s in the days ahead.

The unusual storm was a delight for children like Ruben Garza, 10, of Corpus Christi, who boasted in a telephone interview of building a snowman five feet tall. For others, the snow was more problematic.

About 22,000 Georgia Power customers were without electricity as of Friday evening, Andrew Vickery, a company spokesman, said in a phone interview. The outages were concentrated in the northern part of the state. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Atlanta until 10 a.m. on Saturday.

The Associated Press reported that as much as five inches of snow left about 45,000 homes and businesses without power in Alabama.

The storm moved up the East Coast and was expected to bring three to five inches of snow to parts of New York and New Jersey and as much as six inches to parts of Connecticut, according to the National Weather Service.

Jonah Engel Bromwich contributed reporting.

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