O'FALLON, Ill. — Residents across the Bi-state woke up to several inches of snow. According to our Weather First Team, O'Fallon, Illinois had more than 4 inches of snow early Saturday morning.
For one family in O'Fallon, not even the snow was enough to stop them from holding a long-awaited celebration.
"He knows nothing about it," Reisha McKinney said.
McKinney and her family should've spent their Saturday morning in O'Fallon, Illinois, preparing a surprise.
"We have planned a surprise birthday party for my daddy he is 80 years old," McKinney said.
But one look outside the window left McKinney, an Atlanta, Georgia resident, surprised.
"But in Georgia, we don't have any of that. If you say snow, they shut the place down," she said.
With no more than a hoodie to keep warm, the East St. Louis native said this trip home reminded her of her childhood in the Bi-state.
"When I got off the Metro Link it felt like somebody was cutting my legs open because it was so cold."
Following weeks of shorts weather, many residents were shocked to see over 4 inches of snow.
"How did I go 24 hours ago blowing leaves, and now I'm blowing snow," O'Fallon resident Sabrina Skinner said.
Skinner told 5 On Your Side there are a few companions she prefers to spend her snow days with: her four dogs.
"We tend to stay inside on snow days," she said.
Meanwhile, McKinney said nothing, not even several states or snow, can come between her and her father.
"It's not like we are distant in spirit," she said.
So they geared up for his surprise party, after a surprise snowfall.
"To have someone around for 80 years is really enlightening, amazing, and we are truly blessed to still have him," she said.