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 was falling in New Orleans, where as much as 8 inches were expected to accumulate by the end of the day, threatening to tie a record set in 1895.

A winter storm dumped snow across the Deep South Tuesday, leaving areas that rarely see this kind of weather with dangerous travel conditions, widespread airport closures and snow days. Here’s what it looked like from Texas across Louisiana,