A rare frigid storm is charging through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast, blanketing New Orleans and Houston with snow, closing highways and grounding nearly all flights.

Heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain are expected around the Deep South as a blast of Arctic air plunges much of the Midwest and the eastern US into a deep freeze.

A winter storm prompted a National Weather Service office in Louisiana to issue a first-ever blizzard warning. The storm is causing dangerous conditions from Texas to North Carolina.