How rare is this southern snowstorm? Texas, Louisiana, Florida blanketed by snow

The snowstorm currently lashing the Gulf Coast – which included the first-ever blizzard warning in Louisiana – is being described as a once in a generation weather event, the National Weather Service said Monday.

How rare is snow for some of these southern cities? "This will be the most significant winter storm the Greater Houston area has experienced since at least 1960," the weather service in Houston said.

Elsewhere, New Orleans hasn't seen measurable snowfall since 2009. And it has been 35 years for Jacksonville.

"This will be an historic snowfall for the Gulf Coast," noted meteorologist Paul Douglas on X, who added that in many parts of that region, "there are no plows – they will pretty much wait for the snow to melt (which happens later this week)."

New Orleans snow

Snow was flying fast and furious in New Orleans Tuesday morning: "It almost looks like a hurricane… only with snow as the precip type!," noted meteorologist A.J. Mastrangelo on X.

With up to 8 inches of snow in the forecast, N?ew Orleans could rival its all-time biggest snowstorm of February 1895, Weather.com said. The city will almost certainly see its highest snow total since 1950 if it tops a storm total of 2.7 inches from December 1963, Weather.com reports.

Elsewhere in Louisiana, L?ake Charles could see a top five biggest snowstorm by receiving 3 inches of snow.

The blizzard warning in the region was set to expire at noon CDT, the weather service said.

What about Houston snow?

As of Tuesday morning, Houston had picked up about 1 to 2 inches of snow from the storm, a far cry from its biggest snowstorm of 20 inches, set in February 1895, Weather.com said. "Since 1921, the biggest snow total they've seen is 3 inches set in January 1940 and again in February 1960."

Still the snow was noteworthy across Texas, as it was reported as far south as Galveston along the Gulf Coast.

1895 storm will likely remain the biggest

"The biggest snowstorm on record in the now-I-10 corridor was the blockbuster storm more than 100 years ago, from Feb. 14-15, 1895, which dumped a whopping 6-20 inches of snow along the Texas and Louisiana coasts," said Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist.

Florida weather also in the crosshairs

Much of northern Florida is under a winter storm warning, all the way from Pensacola to Jacksonville.

Calling it "unbelievable in Florida," meteorologist Ryan Maue predicts that heavy sleet will turn to snowfall in the state capital of Tallahassee this evening. In fact, the amount of snow that's predicted to fall Tuesday (2 to 3 inches) has fallen in Tallahassee only eight times since 1891.

F?lorida's all-time 24-hour snowfall record of 4 inches could also be in jeopardy, Weather.com said.

"The snow won't melt much on Wednesday," Maue said, noting a chilly midweek forecast of temperatures in the 30s. "Temperatures on Wednesday may briefly rise above freezing," the weather service in Pensacola, Florida, said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How rare is this southern snowstorm? Gulf coast sees historic snowfall