Dangerous below-freezing temperatures with even colder wind chills were also expected to last over much of the week in the region. Authorities say three people have died in the cold weather.

North Florida residents from Pensacola to Jacksonville are bracing for what is expected to be a historic, once-in-a-lifetime winter storm.

Universities and colleges along the First Coast are starting to close in a domino effect in advance of the Winter storm that is hitting Florida Tuesday into Wednesday. By Tuesday afternoon, the area’s three most prominent universities and colleges had called it quits for some operations starting late Tuesday or Wednesday.