A historic winter storm in south Alabama on Tuesday broke Mobile’s 130-year-old snowfall record and brought a rarely seen covering of snow to the beaches of Gulf Shores. But while it gave folks in Mobile an exceedingly uncommon opportunity to build snowmen, it also caused more than a few problems around the state.

A major storm spread heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across parts of the Florida Panhandle, Georgia and the coastal Carolinas on Wednesday after breaking snow records in Texas and Louisiana, treating the region to unaccustomed perils and wintertime joy.