More snow is expected to fall in the Columbia area, and earlier than expected, as winter storm conditions move westward, the National Weather Service said.

The forecast doubled the amount of snow expected in the Columbia area, as up to 2 inches of the white stuff is now forecast to accumulate, according to the warning. Between 2-3 inches of snowfall is possible in the southern reaches of the Midlands, meteorologists said in the briefing. Localized amounts in other areas could be higher.

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

A major winter storm prompts blizzard warnings, dumping heavy snow and sleet in a region where even flurries are a rare sight.

Dangerous below-freezing temperatures with even colder wind chills were also expected to last over much of the week in the region. Authorities say three people have died in the cold weather.

A rare winter storm churned across the U.S. Gulf Coast on Tuesday, breaking snowfall records more than a century old in a southern region where flurries are unusual, as much of the United States remained in a dangerous deep freeze.