A major winter storm slammed the southern US Tuesday, blanketing parts of the Gulf Coast with record-breaking snowfall in a region largely unaccustomed to extreme winter weather.

The National Weather Service thinks that Alabama’s southernmost counties could see 3 to even 4 inches of snow. Snow is even expected along the beaches, according to forecasters. The rest of south Alabama will likely get 1 to 3 inches of snow as well.

Heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain are spreading east across parts of the Florida panhandle and eastern Carolinas, closing roads and schools and grounding flights.