In 1865, record-breaking snowfall was measured in Audubon Park. New Orleans experienced the same amount during Tuesday's blizzard.

A rare, historic snowfall blanketed parts of the southern U.S. on Tuesday, allowing residents to play in the rather unusual weather. Families went snow tubing in Houston. People made snowballs and snow angels. People were even seen skiing on Bourbon Street.

A rare winter storm churned across the U.S. Gulf Coast on Tuesday, breaking snowfall records more than a century old in a southern region where flurries are unusual, as much of the United States remained in a dangerous deep freeze.

By noon, the National Weather Service had reported about 4 inches of snow in New Orleans. The storm prompted the first ever blizzard warnings for several coastal counties near the Texas-Louisiana border, and snow plows were at the ready in the Florida Panhandle, according to the Associated Press.

A rare winter storm charging through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday has closed highways and airports and prompted the first blizzard warning for southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana.

Many roadways were impassable, classes were canceled in local schools, and many businesses could not open as a winter storm essentially brought New Orleans to a standstill.

A rare winter storm has hit the southern United States bringing widespread snowfall to areas like New Orleans, that hasn't seen snow in years.

It has been more than a decade since snow last fell on New Orleans, where schools are closed through Thursday.