Historic winter storm shatters records across the South, leaving millions grappling with extreme cold and unprecedented snowfall into the weekend.

A rare frigid storm charged through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday, blanketing New Orleans and Houston with snow, closing highways, grounding nearly all flights and canceling school for millions of students more used to hurricane dismissals than snow days.

Milton saw 10 inches of snow - and Pensacola 8.9 - in a historic winter storm storm that shattered the previous 130-year record.

I-10 from the Alabama and Florida State Line in Pensacola to Exit 192 in Madison County will close in both directions Wednesday at 7 p.m., according to Florida 511. Authorities expect ice and snow to freeze on the roadways creating dangerous conditions.

Snow totals in Louisiana have broken records. Parts of Florida, Texas and Georgia have also accumulated several inches of snow.

The National Weather Service said on Jan. 3, 2018, parts of north Florida, along with south Georgia, saw snow accumulate thanks to the first winter storm the Sunshine State had seen since 1989. Georgia of course saw the largest accumulations, up to 2 inches, but the snowfall in Florida was still measurable.

Record-breaking snow accumulation was reported across the Florida Panhandle and prompted the Florida Highway Patrol to shut down some major roadways by early Tuesday evening.

As heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain hit parts of the Deep South, a blast of Arctic air plunged much of the Midwest and the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze.

Officials are asking Panhandle residents to avoid being on the roads. Freezing temperatures mean icy, dangerous conditions.

Trucker Alexis Barnett was trying to make the trip Wednesday from Destin to Sarasota when Florida shut down I-10 and re-routed traffic onto Highway 90. That’s when the driving started getting treacherous. “Going up the hills and down the hills, it was nothing but black ice. Just a sheet of ice,” she said.

Frozen temperatures created an icy mess overnight in Northwest Florida, but as the sun rose Thursday some roads and bridges began to reopen.