A historic winter storm brought several inches of snow to Southwest Louisiana.Tuesday was the third largest snowfall event in Lake Charles’ recorded history, with an official National Weather Service measurement of more than 5 inches.

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

Louisiana isn’t known for extreme cold weather—but that changed Tuesday, when the National Weather Service issued its first-ever blizzard warning for much of the state.

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - At the Lake Charles Regional Airport, aircraft are finally taking to the sky after a few days delays and cancelations.

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.

Snow flurries are continuing to rain down in Louisiana as inches of snow pile up on the ground across the state, already exceeding some previous predictions for the maximum amounts

The Interstate 10 closure spans nearly the entire state, ending west of the Mississippi state line east of New Orleans.

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - For many in Southwest Louisiana, it was the most and the best snow they’ve ever seen, which explains the excitement at the Lake Charles Event Center where a humble hill became a recreational wonder.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and state officials held a news briefing on Wednesday to update residents on the unprecedented weather event and its ongoing challenges.

Lake Charles' lowest temperature on record is 3 degrees on Feb. 12, 1899. Records go back to 1895. We can thank clear skies, light wind and the snow for the frigid temperatures overnight.

A historic winter storm threatened natural gas shipments from one the biggest US export plants while heavy snow shut schools and airports in Houston and highways in New Orleans.Most Read from Bloomber