According to national projections, almost 55 million people along the Gulf Coast are preparing for a historic winter storm that will deliver uncommon snow and extremely cold temperatures to the area until midweek.
By Monday evening, the storm is expected to bring ice and snow to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Houston, and other Southern cities.
According to projections, the majority of the region will get up to 4 inches of snow, but areas in Texas and Louisiana may see accumulations of up to 6 inches.
By Tuesday, icy conditions should be prevalent in Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Florida, and moderate snowfall is anticipated along the Interstate 10 corridor from New Orleans to the Florida Panhandle.
National experts warned that the winter storm may be devastating on the Gulf Coast, where the majority of communities lack snow plows.
Officials were laying out a strategy for potential road closures, and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development reported that it has 400,000 pounds of salt that it could apply to roads and bridges if necessary to deal with the snow and ice.
Houston officials asked citizens to limit their outdoor activities as both airports were scheduled to close early Tuesday.
Forecasters warned that freezing rain might spread northward into coastal North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
The Florida Peninsula may have significant rainfall later this week, along with snow off the Atlantic Coast.
With temperatures between 20 and 40 degrees below normal, forecasters issued cold alerts for 214 million people Monday, spanning from the Rocky Mountains to southern Texas and central Florida.
For more than 24 hours, temperatures in a number of Southern and Gulf Coast locations will drop below freezing, which could lead to infrastructure problems like widespread pipe breaks, experts warned.
Some areas of the Rockies, the northern Plains, and the Upper Midwest will experience temperatures as low as minus 55 degrees due to wind chills.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Northeast will experience wind chills below zero.
Finally, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama may set new chilly records.