A major winter storm slammed the US Gulf Coast Tuesday, blanketing parts of a region largely unaccustomed to extreme winter weather with record-breaking snowfall.

A powerful Arctic blast is bringing life-threatening cold to the Midwest and Northeast, while a rare winter storm blankets the Gulf Coast.

A major storm spread heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across the southern United States on Wednesday, breaking snow records and treating the region to unaccustomed perils and wintertime joy.

Forecasters said it was too early to tell whether the ice and snow would approach or beat Tallahassee’s all-time snowfall record of 2.8 inches set in 1958.

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All Houston airports will reopen Wednesday after shutting down on Jan. 21 as a winter storm barreled through South Texas.

The National Weather Service issued an updated winter storm warning at 10:38 p.m. EST on Tuesday valid from Wednesday 7 a.m. EST until Thursday 1 a.m. EST for Leelanau, Benzie and Manistee counties.

Parts of Atlanta and elsewhere in the South faced chaotic conditions after a historic winter storm that crippled travel by road and air. Atlanta was dealing with abandoned cars, and DeKalb County declared a state of emergency.

Part of a legal description of a boundary line of Dixie County, for instance, says it goes "southerly down the thread of the main stream of said Suwannee River to the Gulf of Mexico; thence along said Gulf of Mexico, including the waters of said gulf within the jurisdiction of the State of Florida, to the mouth of the Steinhatchee River."

Houston first responders found two people dead Wednesday in separate locations. Autopsies will determine causes of death; it’s unclear if the cold was a factor.

Editorial: This week's snowstorm was fun for many. We are grateful that many heeded official warnings and stayed off the roads.