Trucker Alexis Barnett was trying to make the trip Wednesday from Destin to Sarasota when Florida shut down I-10 and re-routed traffic onto Highway 90. That’s when the driving started getting treacherous. “Going up the hills and down the hills, it was nothing but black ice. Just a sheet of ice,” she said.

Historic winter storm shatters records across the South, leaving millions grappling with extreme cold and unprecedented snowfall into the weekend.

Frozen temperatures created an icy mess overnight in Northwest Florida, but as the sun rose Thursday some roads and bridges began to reopen.

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 used to hurricane dismissals than snow days.

Milton saw 10 inches of snow - and Pensacola 8.9 - in a historic winter storm storm that shattered the previous 130-year record.

The National Weather Service said on Jan. 3, 2018, parts of north Florida, along with south Georgia, saw snow accumulate thanks to the first winter storm the Sunshine State had seen since 1989. Georgia of course saw the largest accumulations, up to 2 inches, but the snowfall in Florida was still measurable.

Snow totals in Louisiana have broken records. Parts of Florida, Texas and Georgia have also accumulated several inches of snow.

Officials are asking Panhandle residents to avoid being on the roads. Freezing temperatures mean icy, dangerous conditions.

It was so cold across Florida on Thursday morning that temperatures in at least four cities were colder than in Alaska, but a desperately needed warmup was on the way for millions of Americans from Texas to Florida following a deadly winter storm unmatched in decades.

I-10 is closed in both directions from the Alabama-Florida state line to US-90 (exit 192) due to lingering snow, ice, and water on the roadway.

Dangerous below-freezing temperatures with even colder wind chills were also expected to last over much of the week in the region.