A historic and deadly winter storm that stretches over 1,500 miles blanketed the southern U.S. on Tuesday with historic snow totals, including the first-ever Blizzard Warning for the Gulf Coast.

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.

A powerful and rare winter storm swept across the South on Tuesday, bringing the first-ever Blizzard Warning to the Gulf Coast and blasting communities from Texas to Florida to the Carolinas with record-shattering snow that snarled travel and brought daily life to a halt.