Residents across parts of the Gulf Coast and South are bracing for a rare winter storm expected to drop heavy snow and create treacherous conditions.

A powerful and rare winter storm swept across the South on Tuesday, bringing the first-ever Blizzard Warning to the Gulf Coast and blasting communities from Texas to Florida to the Carolinas with record-shattering snow that snarled travel and brought daily life to a halt.

Weather forecasters and public agencies issued health and power loss warnings Tuesday as a “rare winter storm" gripped parts of the southern and eastern United States."A bitterly cold airmass will remain in place for much of the South and eastern U.

Parts of Central and Southeast Texas woke up to snow Tuesday morning. See photos of videos shared on social media.

A rare winter storm churned across the U.S. Gulf Coast on Tuesday, breaking snowfall records more than a century old in a southern region where flurries are unusual, as much of the United States remained in a dangerous deep freeze.

A rare frigid storm charged through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday, blanketing New Orleans and Houston with snow that closed highways, grounded nearly all flights and canceled school for more than a million students more accustomed to hurricane dismissals than snow days.

New Orleans' famous Bourbon Street was covered in snow during a rare winter storm that also impacted Southern states such as Florida and Texas.

This expert says snowfall in the U.S. South shows'we can’t ignore winter' in changing climate::Houston, Texas:: Bob Henson, Meteorologist, Science writer“What happened this week in the Gulf Coast shows us we can't ignore winter either.