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 major winter storm slammed the southern US Tuesday, blanketing parts of the Gulf Coast with record-breaking snowfall in a region largely unaccustomed to extreme winter weather.

Deadly low temperatures and snowstorms across much of the entire US reached into Southern US Gulf states on Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing areas of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida to a standstill and killing at least 10 people.