A brutal winter storm has crippled the southeast and left usually-warm residents under record-high amounts of snow.

Sun-soaked Florida and other southern towns appear to have shattered snowfall records in what many are calling a once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness sandy snowscapes on beaches, of all places

The Pensacola area is forecast to receive between 4 to 6 inches of snow, but the National Weather Service says areas south of I-10 could see more.

Parts of the Gulf Coast measured a foot of snow on Tuesday. For many cities the totals obliterate long-standing snowfall records. Milton, Florida recorded 9 inches of snow which more than doubles the all-time statewide Florida record of 4 inches!

The winter weather system that brought measurable snowfall to San Antonio went on to batter the Deep South on Tuesday, coating parts of the Gulf Coast with record-breaking snowfall.

The Zavala County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Wednesday that five people died in an overnight crash Tuesday. The accident happened on the Nueces River Bridge in southwest Texas. In a Facebook post the Sheriff’s Office shared pictures from the scene of that crash and another wreck between a semitrailer and a minivan on Wednesday morning.

But this snowstorm wasn’t just a New Orleans phenomenon. Across the Gulf Coast, cities saw unprecedented snow totals. In Florida, Milton (north of Pensacola) recorded 8.8 inches, the most snow the state has ever seen, smashing the previous record of 4.4 inches back in 1954.

A nasty winter storm in the southern U.S. dumped as much as 8 inches of snow in New Orleans on Tuesday. (0 Ratings)

Snowfall records were threatened, and in many cases broken, in states like Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.

Here’s where snow fell in Florida, how much snow the Sunshine State got this week and what the coldest day in Florida history was.

FLORIDA residents have been shocked to find snow on the ground as a historic winter storm is set to sweep through the southeast. Up to five inches are expected to fall in the heaviest snow

In Mobile, Alabama, there were 7.5 inches of snow. The Weather Channel said this is a “New all-time 1—and 2-day snow record.” According to The Weather Channel, other cities that broke records were “Milton, Florida, with 8.8 inches, New Orleans, Louisiana, with 9 inches, and Pensacola, Florida, with 7.6 inches.”