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.

A winter storm was on a track to sweep through Texas and Louisiana, across the Gulf Coast and deep into Florida, significant snow and ice in tow.

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.