A rare and powerful winter storm has brought the Southern United States to a standstill, blanketing cities like Houston and New Orleans in a thick layer of snow and ice. The storm, which stretched from Texas to Florida,

A winter storm that dropped record-breaking snow across the South moved into Florida. Some people are seeing snow for the first time.

A major winter storm slammed the US Gulf Coast Tuesday, blanketing parts of a region largely unaccustomed to extreme winter weather with record-breaking snowfall.

From Texas through the Deep South, down into Florida and to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, snow and sleet made for accumulating ice in New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Florida and other major cities.