NEW ORLEANS, Jan 22, (AP): A major winter storm that slammed Texas and blanketed the northern Gulf Coast with record-breaking snow moved east overnight, spreading heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across parts of the Florida Panhandle, Georgia and eastern Carolinas. The weather warning areas included big cities like Jacksonville, Florida, which is expected to see snow, sleet and accumulating ice into Wednesday.

The Jacksonville International Airport closed because of the weather Tuesday evening and said it planned to reopen at noon Wednesday. Schools canceled classes, and government offices were closed Wednesday. "We are expecting some winter weather we're not used to in Northeast Florida," the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook. ”The safest place you can be Tuesday night and Wednesday is at home!"

In eastern North Carolina, drifting snow was expected with near-blizzard conditions in the state’s Outer Banks, where up to 8 inches (20.3 centimeters) were predicted to fall. Dangerous below-freezing temperatures with even colder wind chills were also expected to last over much of the week in the region. Authorities say three people have died in the cold weather.

The heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain hitting parts of the Deep South came as a blast of Arctic air plunged much of the Midwest and the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze. It had been more than a decade since snow last fell on New Orleans. Tuesday's rare snowfall set a record in the city, where 10 inches (25 centimeters) fell in some places, far surpassing its record of 2.7 inches (6.8 centimeters) set Dec. 31, 1963, the National Weather Service said.

"Wow, what a snow day!,” the weather agency said in a social media post. "It’s safe to say this was a historic snowfall for much of the area.” Snow closed highways, grounded nearly all flights and canceled school for more than a million students more accustomed to hurricane dismissals than snow days. Snow fell in Houston and prompted the first ever blizzard warnings for several coastal counties near the Texas-Louisiana border.