The historic winter storm battering North America has killed at least 22 people.
One of those deaths hits particularly hard.
And a monster winter storm claims a 16-year-old Texas girl in a heartbreaking sledding accident.
Rare Texas Snow Turns Deadly In Frisco
Sunday afternoon in Frisco, Texas started like a gift for teenagers who rarely see snow.
A 16-year-old girl and her friend climbed onto a sled being towed behind a Jeep Wrangler driven by another 16-year-old.
The sled hit a curb and careened into a tree.
Frisco Police and Fire Department arrived at the scene around 2:25 pm to find both girls with life-threatening injuries.
One girl died from her injuries.
The second remains in critical condition fighting for her life.
The investigation continues but police say the driver cooperated fully as they work to piece together what happened.
For families across Texas, snow is rare enough that when it falls, everyone rushes outside to enjoy it while it lasts.
Kids beg their parents to let them play.
Neighborhoods come alive with sledding, snowmen, and impromptu snow games.
This storm brought that opportunity but also deadly consequences nobody saw coming.
Historic Storm Leaves Trail Of Death Across America
The Frisco tragedy is just one of at least 22 deaths nationwide attributed to the massive winter system that's been paralyzing the country since Friday.
The storm dumped 10 to 20 inches of snow across the Plains and Northeast while coating Southern states in dangerous ice.
In Arkansas, a 17-year-old boy died after being pulled by an ATV in the snow when he struck a tree.
Three people in Pennsylvania died while shoveling snow, ranging in age from 60 to 84.
In the Austin area, someone was found dead in an abandoned gas station parking lot from apparent hypothermia.
More than 700,000 customers remained without power Monday morning.
Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas bore the brunt of the outages as ice accumulated on power lines and tree limbs, bringing them crashing down.
The storm stretched over 2,000 miles from New Mexico to New England, affecting roughly 230 million Americans.
Sunday saw more than 11,000 flight cancellations, the worst single day since the pandemic.
President Trump approved federal emergency disaster declarations as nearly 20 states and Washington, D.C. declared weather emergencies.
Dallas woke up Monday to wind chills of minus 3 degrees.
Austin wasn't far behind at zero.
Little Rock and Nashville hovered just above zero.
The National Weather Service warned that these temperatures can cause frostbite within minutes.
Southern States Bear The Brunt
Texas and other Southern states simply aren't built to handle this kind of weather.
When snow or ice hits, everything shuts down for days.
Roads that would be cleared in hours up North remain impassable.
Power grids already stretched thin face cascading failures when ice brings down lines.
Cities don't have fleets of snowplows sitting ready.
Frisco officials used the tragedy to remind people that ice creates extremely slippery surfaces leading to serious accidents.
But the warning came too late for one Texas family who will never get their daughter back.
Snow days that bring joy to millions of kids also carry risks that most Southern families encounter maybe once or twice in their lives.
The girl who died Sunday was doing what teenagers across Texas were doing that same afternoon.
Having fun in rare snow that might not come again for years.
Sources:
- Jaja Agpalo, "Tragedy In Texas As 16-Year-Old Girl Killed In Sledding Accident During Monster Storm," International Business Times UK, January 26, 2026.
- "Winter storm live updates: At least 22 dead across the US," ABC News, January 26, 2026.
- "January 2026 North American winter storm," Wikipedia, January 26, 2026.
- "Winter storm leaves over a million people without power across US," Al Jazeera, January 25, 2026.
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