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 historic winter storm swept across the Gulf Coast on Tuesday, bringing heavy snow and icy conditions to the Southeast while most of the country was facing dangerously cold temperatures from an arctic blast that arrived over the weekend.

Widespread reports of 5″ to 12″ of snowfall were reported around Pensacola on Tuesday evening, which caused troopers to shut down a nearly 70-mile stretch of Interstate 10. National Weather Service offices along the corridor issued a rare Winter Storm Warning for counties from Pensacola to Jacksonville and warned of snow and ice accumulations that could make travel hazardous.