Weather forecasters and public agencies issued health and power loss warnings Tuesday as a “rare winter storm" gripped parts of the southern and eastern United States."A bitterly cold airmass will remain in place for much of the South and eastern U.

In addition, the strip of winter storm and blizzard warnings stretching from South Texas to Jacksonville, Fla. is something rarely seen, as a low pressure area traverses the central Gulf of Mexico, directing abundant moisture northward, into the frigid air mass.

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.