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.
The National Weather Service forecast between 3 and 7 inches (7.5 to 15 centimeters) of snow and sleet for parts of southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana, including New Orleans, heading into Tuesday. In Texas, both Houston airports announced flight operations would be suspended starting Tuesday in expectation of hazardous conditions from the severe winter weather taking aim at a huge swath of the South.
