Satellite imagery captures the historic
© NOAASatellite imagery captures the historic winter storm early Wednesday, with a cloud shield extending over 1,500 miles from the Gulf of Mexico to southern Canada.
As historic snowfall — in some places more than double-digit totals — fell Tuesday along the Gulf Coast and in the Deep South and Southeast, meteorologists ran out of adjectives to describe what they were seeing.

"Just like hundreds of other meteorologists today, I am speechless," one wrote, sharing a video clip of whiteout conditions on Pensacola Bay Bridge in Florida. The city of Milton, Florida, reported 9.8 inches — probably the state's biggest daily snowfall on record.

In Louisiana, deep mounds of snow met the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In New Orleans, locals skied down Bourbon Street as the airport recorded 8 inches, smashing the daily record of 2.7 inches.

By the end of Tuesday, New Orleans had observed more snow in this single event than New York City and Anchorage did in all of December and January — and according to the data, the area around the city may have been Tuesday's snowiest place, with an estimated total of just over a foot.

In Alabama, there was a snowball fight on the beach. The Gulf Coast had its first blizzard warning on record.

The map below shows how much snow fell from the storm by Wednesday evening.

The storm's heaviest snow fell from
© NOAAThe storm's heaviest snow fell from Louisiana to North Carolina, with more than 8 inches observed in several states.
Big snow totals and records

Here's a list of the biggest snow totals by state, as well as a nonexhaustive list of snowfall records that were set.

Top state snowfall totals

Texas: Bridge City, 7.9 inches
Louisiana: Grand Coteau, 13.4 inches
Mississippi: Long Beach and Ocean Springs, 9 inches
Alabama: Babbie, 11 inches
Florida: Jay and Milton, 10 inches
Georgia: Cordele, 9 inches
South Carolina: Conway, 6.8 inches
North Carolina: Kill Devil Hills, 9 inches
Virginia: Norview, 4.1 inches

Snowfall records set

Louisiana: New Orleans (airport), 8 inches; Lafayette, 9 inches
Alabama: Mobile, 7.5 inches
Florida: Milton, 10 inches (likely new state record); Pensacola, 7.6 inches
Georgia: Camilla, 8 inches

As more data comes in and is verified in the days ahead, more snowfall records may be confirmed.

In Acadiana, Louisiana, the combination of a fresh snow pack, light winds and clear skies were conducive to exceptionally cold temperatures. The temperature dropped to 2 degrees on Wednesday morning, the lowest temperature on record since records began there in 1893. The location is just 30 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico.