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.

A winter storm prompted a National Weather Service office in Louisiana to issue a first-ever blizzard warning. The storm is causing dangerous conditions from Texas to North Carolina.

Areas of the country that don’t regularly deal with freezing temperatures are now in the middle of a cold snap. Several states including Georgia and Florida are under states of emergency declarations because of the winter weather. A blizzard warning was issued for southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana, the first for that area.