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.

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.

As the historic winter storm that traveled across the southern U.S. heads east, it's leaving snowfall from Texas to North Carolina. This image was captured by a NOAA satellite showing several inches of snow left on the ground.