A major winter storm hits the southern United States, bringing record-breaking snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Thousands of flights are grounded, schools closed, and highways closed.

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 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.