Snow totals were rivalling all-time records. Officials were urging residents to take precautions and stay off roads.

Schools are closed, snow is falling in places where it usually doesn't and freezing temperatures are sweeping across the South as a winter storm tracks across states including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi,

A National Weather Service office in Louisiana issued its first-ever blizzard warning on Tuesday amid snow and strong winds.

Local interstates and elevated bridges will close early Tuesday morning as freezing temperatures and snow impact the New Orleans area. Interstate 10 will be closed at 4 a.m. in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Charles parishes, according to DOTD.

The cold temperatures are coming from a not uncommon expansion in the Polar Vortex, which are counter-clockwise rotating air currents that typically hang over the Arctic.

Stay updated on road closures, power outages, and weather impacts as a rare winter storm brings snow and icy conditions to Louisiana.

A rare winter storm charging through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday has closed highways and airports and prompted the first blizzard warning for southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana.

A storm is bringing the first-ever blizzard warning issued for Beaumont, Texas, and Lake Charles and Lafayette, Louisiana.

A historic winter storm threatened natural gas shipments from one the biggest US export plants while heavy snow shut schools and airports in Houston and highways in New Orleans.Most Read from Bloomber

Snow flurries are continuing to rain down in Louisiana as inches of snow pile up on the ground across the state, already exceeding some previous predictions for the maximum amounts

Just over 8 inches of snow fell in New Orleans between Valentine's Day and Feb. 15, 1895, a record that remains unchallenged to this day, according to National Weather Service. Other cities in Louisiana saw even more snow, with 12.5 inches recorded in Baton Rouge, 14 inches in Lafayette and a whopping 22 inches of snow recorded in Lake Charles.

A winter storm was on a track to sweep through Texas and Louisiana, across the Gulf Coast and deep into Florida, significant snow and ice in tow.