Images of the rare winter storm blanketing the South in snow

This comes as much of the US is experiencing the coldest temperatures of the season, with nearly 220 million residents in 40 states facing brutally cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills from an arctic air mass that has settled over a large swath of the country.

Other areas in the South are experiencing intense snowfall, including Houston, which saw more than 4 inches of snow Monday night into Tuesday morning. Parts of coastal Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle face winter storm warnings.

Meanwhile, several schools have i Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana will be closed through Wednesday. FlightAware reported that at least 95% of Tuesday’s flights leaving Houston airports have been canceled, while 89% of New Orleans International’s flights were canceled.

New Orleans officials have urged residents to stay home and avoid driving. The city itself does not own snowplows, but gets help from the Louisiana Department of Transportation to clear the roads and salt all the ice.

During a news conference Monday, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landy warned that if some areas like New Orleans experience more than “the critical threshold of 4 inches” of snow, it would “effectively shut down the state for at least a day or two.”