( CNN ) -- Travelers along I-20 in South Carolina looked up in disbelief and amazement Saturday as white flakes fell from the sky . And when they looked ahead they saw red -- red taillights . The earliest-ever snow in Columbia and that area of the Palmetto State had traffic backed up for hours in several spots . `` ( I ) was just sitting and waiting , and not knowing ( how much snow would fall ) was the worst , '' Steven Crouch told CNN affiliate WIS . The station reported that it usually does n't freeze in Columbia until November 10 . Hundreds of customers were without power , WIS said . On Saturday , it only snowed a trace , according to the National Weather Service , but the slick conditions hampered travel . In other parts of the South , there was a lot more precipitation . Near Gatlinburg , Tennessee , there was 22 inches of snow , while areas around Asheville , North Carolina , received 5 inches . And man , was it cold -- at least for this time of year . It was a record low 41 in Daytona Beach , Florida , on Sunday . There was a hard freeze warning from Louisiana to North Carolina , and north to Ohio and Pennsylvania . Some parts of Florida were under frost advisories or freeze watches . The good news is , the cold spell should be short , CNN meteorologist Todd Borek said . Temperatures should moderate toward season averages beginning Monday , he said . Runners at the New York City Marathon are used to chilly temps , but the wind was terrible Sunday , with many gusts of more than 40 mph . One gust in Westchester County was recorded at 55 mph , the National Weather Service in New York said on Twitter . The culprit was a high-pressure system that was dragging air from Canada over the eastern half of the United States , Borek said .
It was 41 degrees in Daytona Beach , Florida , on Sunday morning . The temperature at the airport is about 100 degrees Fahrenheit ( 32 ° C ) and it's a bit more than an hour before sunrise here Temperatures should return to normal soon . Fierce winds hit New York City Marathon .