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

MIAMI - A major winter storm is moving into northern Florida on Tuesday, bringing what will potentially be record-breaking snowfall totals in spots, the threat of accumulating ice and locally treacherous travel conditions.

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.