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.

A major winter storm prompts blizzard warnings, dumping heavy snow and sleet in a region where even flurries are a rare sight.

A record-breaking and rare winter storm hit the southern US Wednesday — dumping snow on New Orleans for the first time in15 years, and triggering the Gulf Coast’s first ever blizzard warning. The historic snowfall — which slammed areas from Florida to Texas starting Tuesday — snarled travel and brought daily life to a halt in regions unprepared for the freak weather event.