Atlanta , Georgia ( CNN ) -- It so rarely snows in Mobile , Alabama , that the city 's public works department does n't bother keeping road salt on hand . So with 2 to 4 inches of snow expected to fall there starting Thursday afternoon , road crews were filling trucks with the sand that 's typically reserved for filling cave-ins and for sandbagging during floods . `` We do n't know what to do , '' said John Windley , Mobile 's superintendent of public works . `` We just tell everybody to stay home . '' As forecasters predict up to 8 inches of snow across a swath of the Southeast that has n't seen more than an inch of snow in at least a decade -- including parts of Alabama , Arkansas , Louisiana and Mississippi -- public officials are reacting with a mix of trepidation and helplessness . Hundreds of flights into and out of Atlanta have been canceled for Friday as snow bears down on the area . Texas struggles ; East starts to dig out . Delta Air Lines canceled about 800 flights into and out of Atlanta 's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport , and AirTran Airways canceled 32 flights ahead of the storm , according to representatives of the airlines . Downtown Atlanta could get as much as 5 inches of snow Friday , beginning at mid-morning , according to CNN weather modeling . Many residents of the Deep South , meanwhile , are expressing disbelief . `` I 'm dubious , '' said John Hogan , a college professor who 's planning to lead a Mardi Gras parade in Baton Rouge , Louisiana , Friday night despite forecasts of up to 2 inches of snow and ice there . `` It snows here once every 15 years , so what 's the likelihood ? '' John DeMiller , owner of the Petit Bois Grocery in Biloxi , Mississippi , was also skeptical . iReport : Share your winter weather pictures , stories . `` To be honest , we do n't believe it 's going to snow , '' he said . `` It just never does . '' Yet it was already snowing in parts of the South by Thursday afternoon and forecasters were calling for more to come . The storm system moving across the Deep South in the next few days will bring 3 to 6 inches of snow to Jackson , Mississippi , up to 2 inches to Biloxi , Mississippi and 2 to 4 inches to Mobile , Alabama , said CNN meteorologist Sean Morris . `` These are cities that rarely see a flake all winter long , '' he said . With most of the accumulation expected overnight , school and workplaces across the region are bracing for closures Friday . Because temperatures are expected to rise into the 30s and 40s across much of the South on Friday , road crews are worried about melting and refreezing on roads over the next couple of days . A representative of the Federal Aviation Administration said the agency is too focused on responding to the double-punch of Northeast snow to say how the expected Southern snow would affect travel in the region . But by Thursday night , Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport had already measured a snowfall of 9.4 inches , which broke the record of 7.8 inches set on January 14 , 1917 , and matched on January 15 , 1964 , the National Weather Service reported . In Shreveport , Louisiana , where snow had been falling since dawn , the staff at the Naked Bean Cafe said it had only six customers by noon , down from around 30 on a typical day .
Forecasters predict up to 8 inches of snow across a portion of the Southeast . Hundreds of flights at airports were cancelled because of snow . Many in South not used to seeing much snow skeptical about forecast . Dallas / Fort Worth airport already has received more than 9 inches of snow .