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.

The storm that struck New Orleans this week left the Gulf Coast city under twice as much snow as Anchorage, Alaska has received in nearly two months. "New Orleans, we'd like our snow back," the NWS Anchorage office said.

New Orleans’ has received more snowfall since the start of meteorological winter than many cold weather cities across the county including Philadelphia, New York and Anchorage, Alaska.