The rare winter storm that is hitting the southern portion of the United States became historic Tuesday morning when the Lake Charles National Weather Service office issued its first-ever blizzard warning.

Though NWS forecasters are still collecting official snowfall counts, these reports give a good look at just how much snow Louisiana saw.

A National Weather Service office in Louisiana issued its first-ever blizzard warning on Tuesday amid snow and strong winds.

A cold front is expected to bring showers and thunderstorms to the area as early as Wednesday — but the bulk of activity is expected to hit Thursday afternoon. National Weather Service Lake Charles said their confidence is increasing that a few storms could become strong to severe,

The cold temperatures are coming from a not uncommon expansion in the Polar Vortex, which are counter-clockwise rotating air currents that typically hang over the Arctic.

All data from the National Weather Service is considered preliminary until it is reviewed further, and that was the case with the previous measurement of 4.8 inches.

A "Freeze Warning" is in effect across southern Arkansas, northern Louisiana, Oklahoma and eastern Texas, as well as in small parts of Arizona, California and Florida, with temperatures falling as low as 27, and wind chills expected to feel as cold as low as 13 in some areas.

Louisiana residents young and old raced outside Tuesday to enjoy an extremely rare snow day, celebrating the chance to pull out their gloves, scarves and hats from the back of their closets as they hurried to play in the several inches of snow that poured down across the state.

Some showers and storms will remain possible Thursday evening. The chance of seeing strong storms is low, but not zero and would mainly produce strong winds. Rain will end from west to east and most of it should depart by Friday morning.

Showers and storms look likely by the late afternoon Thursday. The chances of severe weather are low but not zero.

A storm system is expected to bring severe thunderstorms to Louisiana, specifically the ArkLaTex. Find out more about the weather forecast here.

Larger rain chances are returning to SWLA, although storms will clear out before the weekend. Patchy fog is a little more widespread this morning, with dense pockets settling into many areas. Take some extra time out the door and be careful driving on the roads!