The rare winter storm that is hitting the southern portion of the United States became historic Tuesday morning when the Lake Charles National Weather Service office issued its first-ever blizzard warning.

A cold front is expected to bring showers and thunderstorms to the area as early as Wednesday — but the bulk of activity is expected to hit Thursday afternoon. National Weather Service Lake Charles said their confidence is increasing that a few storms could become strong to severe,

A National Weather Service office in Louisiana issued its first-ever blizzard warning on Tuesday amid snow and strong winds.

Though NWS forecasters are still collecting official snowfall counts, these reports give a good look at just how much snow Louisiana saw.

Areas of Southwest Louisiana broke all-time record lows overnight Tuesday that dated back to the late 1800s. “It was quite the historic event for us,” said National Weather Service Lake Charles Storm Warning Meteorologist Doug Cramer.

The cold temperatures are coming from a not uncommon expansion in the Polar Vortex, which are counter-clockwise rotating air currents that typically hang over the Arctic.

Joshua Wilson walks his dogs Caymus and Moose Tuesday, January 21, 2025, on Mall Street in Lafayette, La. For the first time ever, Lake Charles and much of Acadiana are under a blizzard warning as snow blankets the area Tuesday morning.

New Iberia and Lafayette saw the coldest temperatures on record Wednesday morning. Lake Charles saw the coldest temperatures ever recorded in January.

A "Freeze Warning" is in effect across southern Arkansas, northern Louisiana, Oklahoma and eastern Texas, as well as in small parts of Arizona, California and Florida, with temperatures falling as low as 27, and wind chills expected to feel as cold as low as 13 in some areas.

Louisiana residents young and old raced outside Tuesday to enjoy an extremely rare snow day, celebrating the chance to pull out their gloves, scarves and hats from the back of their closets as they hurried to play in the several inches of snow that poured down across the state.

A winter storm was on a track to sweep through Texas and Louisiana, across the Gulf Coast and deep into Florida, significant snow and ice in tow.

A photographer captured mesmerising footage of the US flag blowing in the wind in a snowy Lake Charles, Louisiana, on Tuesday, January 21, as a winter storm lashed the area. Video by Chad Casey shows the US flag standing prominently amid frosty conditions at Veterans Memorial Park.