It’s quite a sight in south Alabama: palm trees blowing in the wind, with snow down below. Alabama’s beaches have transformed into a winter wonderland as the white stuff touched down Tuesday in Gulf Shores,

NEW ORLEANS — A rare frigid storm charged through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday, blanketing New Orleans and Houston with snow that closed highways, grounded nearly all flights and canceled school for more than a million students more accustomed to hurricane dismissals than snow days.