Snow in Florida: Historic winter weather hits Sunshine State

UPDATED: Jan 22, 2025 13:26 IST

It is snowing in Florida -- a rare and historic sight. Snow blanketed parts of the state, including its iconic white-sand beaches in Pensacola and Gulf Shores. This strange winter weather brought icy conditions and marked one of the coldest days in recent history.

Governor Ron DeSantis has already declared a State of Emergency ahead of the storm. The declaration came as the snowstorm, described by AccuWeather as potentially “the biggest snow and ice storm in more than 100 years,” swept across 1,000 miles of Interstate 10, spanning central Texas to northern Florida.

“We are expecting some winter weather we’re not used to in Northeast Florida,” the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook. “The safest place you can be Tuesday night and Wednesday is at home!”

The storm has disrupted daily life in Florida. Fourteen school districts were closed on Tuesday, with an additional 23 set to shut down on Wednesday. State offices and local businesses also suspended operations to prioritize safety.

“Believe it or not, in the state of Florida we’re mobilizing snowplows,” said Governor DeSantis, highlighting the extraordinary measures taken to tackle the storm.

Many people are using their social media handles to showcase the rare sight of snow in Florida.

Rare snowstorm

A snowstorm warning was in effect for 31 million people - from southern Texas east through Georgia and north to the Carolinas and into Virginia - until Wednesday morning, the Weather Service said.

With the storm moving east, crews near Houston plowed highways on Tuesday while downtown streets, covered in white, were virtually deserted. Schools were closed Tuesday and Wednesday as the city, the fourth-biggest in the US, expected about 4 inches (10 cm) of snow to fall.

The storm snarled air travel with flights delayed or canceled on Tuesday. More than 1,000 flights departing or bound for Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport were canceled, according to Flightaware.com.

Temperatures dipped into single digits Fahrenheit, well below freezing, across the region. Forecasters and local leaders urged residents to protect themselves from frostbite and to take steps to keep their water pipes from rupturing, reports Reuters.

Across the South, the snow, combined with an inch of ice accumulation and wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour (64 kph), could make road and air travel difficult for several days, while threatening to topple power lines and trees, forecasters said.

About 30,000 homes and businesses in southeastern Texas were without power at one point on Tuesday, but by late afternoon that number fell to fewer than 8,000, according to Poweroutage.us.

Atlanta, Georgia, and Montgomery, Alabama, opened warming centers and closed government offices in anticipation of the storm. Numerous school districts canceled classes, according to local news.

Grand Lake, Colorado, was the coldest spot in the U.S. on Tuesday morning at -39 F (-39 C).

(With input from Reuters)