A rare winter storm charging through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday has closed highways and airports and prompted the first blizzard warning for southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana.

A historic, dangerous and deadly winter storm stretching over 1,500 miles is blanketing the southern U.S. with heavy snow, including areas of the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coasts under their first-ever Blizzard Warnings.

Around 40 million people in the U.S. are under a winter storm warning from an unusual blast of severe winter weather.