Millions of people across the northern Gulf Coast braced Tuesday for a rare winter storm that’s expected to scatter heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain around the Deep South as a blast of Arctic air plunges much of the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze.

New Orleans' famous Bourbon Street was covered in snow during a rare winter storm that also impacted Southern states such as Florida and Texas.

At least three deaths were attributed to the cold as dangerous below-freezing temperatures with even colder wind chills settled in.

This expert says snowfall in the U.S. South shows'we can’t ignore winter' in changing climate::Houston, Texas:: Bob Henson, Meteorologist, Science writer“What happened this week in the Gulf Coast shows us we can't ignore winter either.