Another cold front is expected to move through Florida on Sunday into Monday.
Cold air behind the front will flow down into the Florida Panhandle. This colder air will mix with precipitation located along the boundary front and could result in snow in parts of North Florida, including the state capitol of Tallahassee. The snowfall is expected to be isolated to a few hours on Sunday, mid-to-late morning.
Unlike the record-setting levels of snow and ice that fell in the Panhandle last year, this snowfall will generate approximately three-tenths of an inch in Tallahassee. Trace amounts of snow are also likely across parts of central and southern Georgia.
The “Snow-shine” State? Florida’s wintry history
Around this time last year, a major and historic winter storm slammed the Southern United States, bringing some record-breaking snowfall totals and halting travel for millions of Americans, including those in Florida.
The snow moved out of Louisiana, where New Orleans broke their snowfall record of all time by several inches, with some parishes reporting double-digits.
The storm continued into North Florida, where areas across the Panhandle saw 2 to 4 inches in late January 2025. According to CBS News Miami’s NEXT Weather team, some areas recorded over a half a foot of snow, shattering longstanding snowfall records. Some meteorologists said the storm would go down in history as the Gulf Blizzard of 2025.
During the 2025 storm, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency for the northern part of the state, saying “all modes of hazardous winter weather will be likely, including snow, sleet, and freezing rain.” Also, House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton canceled planned legislative committee meetings for the week because of the expected weather conditions in Tallahassee.
Has snow ever been reported in tropical South Florida? Yes, but only once
Sunday’s cold front may bring potential snow to the Panhandle, though not to South Florida. But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t snowed down here before. It happened just once, nearly 48 years ago.
On Jan. 19, 1977, Miami and Fort Lauderdale woke up to snow after a powerful cold front dropped temperatures to below-freezing in South Florida, with the cold air settled at the surface and an area of moisture overhead out of the Gulf. Snow that formed thousands of feet up in the air made it to the surface.
It was the only time snow had ever been reported in Miami. The furthest south ever reporting snowfall in the region was in Homestead, which saw a mix of snow and rain.
Headlines across South Florida newspapers read, “Snow in Miami!” and “The Day It Snowed in Miami,” with many South Floridians bewildered by the wintry event.
The 1977 cold front brought such frigid temperatures that it caused severe damage to Florida crops, leaving the state’s citrus and vegetable industries nearly wiped out and some 150,000 migrant workers lost their jobs — 80,000 of those jobs were reported in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Then-Gov. Reubin Askew declared a state of emergency due to the cold’s impact.
Though Friday had a chilly start in South Florida this weekend, Saturday will also have a cool start before temperatures begin trending warmer into Sunday. Though another surge of cold air will blow back through the region later Sunday night, MLK Jr. Day will be mostly sunny and mild with afternoon highs in the upper 60s, with chilly and dry conditions by Monday evening for the College Football National Championship game.
