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.

Dangerous below-freezing temperatures with even colder wind chills were also expected to last over much of the week in the region. Authorities say three people have died in the cold weather.

In January 1977, two Arctic blasts swept through Florida from Jan. 16-20, bringing the coldest temperatures and unprecedented snowfall as far south as Homestead on Jan. 19 — a first in South Florida recorded history. The temperature dropped to 23 degrees in Vero Beach, according to a previous TCPalm article.

The Florida Panhandle can expect icy temperatures in the days to come, according to a forecast from the National Weather Service.

Roughly 40 million people from Texas to the Carolinas are under winter weather alerts as a rare winter storm amid bone-chilling temperatures brings potentially historic snowfall to cities unused to

Preparations are underway from Houston to Atlanta as a rare winter storm sets its sights on the southern U.S., where it's expected to bring a messy mix of heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain that could have a major impact on travel and daily life.

A snowstorm of historic proportions walloped the Gulf Coast this week, delivering travel-snarling snow from Texas to the Carolinas and breaking records that have stood for more than a century. At least nine people have died across the central and eastern United States,

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A major winter storm that slammed Texas and blanketed the northern Gulf Coast with record-breaking snow moved east Wednesday, spreading heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across parts of the Florida Panhandle, Georgia and eastern Carolinas.

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.

Winter Storm Warnings stretch from the lower Rio Grande to the Mississippi coast ... the Alabama coast and Florida Panhandle. Snowfall and sleet accumulations are likely to be on the order not seen in these cities in decades. Houston could see as much ...

An historic January storm dumped more deep snow along the U.S. Gulf Coast on Wednesday after bringing Houston and New Orleans to a near standstill over the past two days and burying parts of Florida's Panhandle with accumulations more typical of Chicago.