Millions of people across the northern Gulf Coast braced Tuesday for a rare winter storm that’s expected to scatter heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain around the Deep South as a blast of Arctic air plunges much of the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze.

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

A winter storm sweeping through the southern U.S. this week dumped snow at levels many in those regions have never seen before, but how does it compare to Chicago? The answer is surprising.

For example, Lake Charles, La., along the Gulf Coast, showed snowfall rates of over 1 inch per hour this morning and early afternoon and visibility down to a quarter of a mile with blowing snow. This is one of the reasons why blizzard warnings were posted briefly for that region earlier.

A winter storm pummeled the southern United States with ice and snow Tuesday. Here's how much snow fell in Florida, Texas, Alabama and more.

A historic and dangerous winter storm stretching over 1,500 miles is blanketing the southern U.S. with heavy snow, including areas of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana under Blizzard Warnings.

As Florida braces for impacts from a winter storm, schools and universities in northern Florida are canceling classes ahead of the winter weather.

But this snowstorm wasn’t just a New Orleans phenomenon. Across the Gulf Coast, cities saw unprecedented snow totals. In Florida, Milton (north of Pensacola) recorded 8.8 inches, the most snow the state has ever seen, smashing the previous record of 4.4 inches back in 1954.

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As the historic winter storm that traveled across the southern U.S. heads east, it's leaving snowfall from Texas to North Carolina. This image was captured by a NOAA satellite showing several inches of snow left on the ground.