Roughly 40 million people from Texas to the Carolinas are under winter weather alerts as a rare winter storm amid bone-chilling temperatures brings potentially historic snowfall to cities unused to harsh,

A historic, dangerous and deadly winter storm stretching over 1,500 miles is blanketing the southern U.S. with heavy snow, including areas of the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coasts under their first-ever Blizzard Warnings.

The first touches of Winter Storm Enzo arrived in Southeast Texas on Monday night as sleet began to fall in the Houston area . Residents from Waller County to Spring and Porter, Texas recorded sleet, wintry precipitation and flurries of now as the sun set and night swept over the region.