MIAMI – A major winter storm is moving into northern Florida on Tuesday, bringing what will potentially be record-breaking snowfall totals in spots, the threat of accumulating ice and locally treacherous travel conditions.
The snow moved into the Panhandle first, where it is expected to begin accumulating by early in the afternoon. From there, snow will continue to spread from west to east, eventually arriving in the Tallahassee metro area during the afternoon, where it will continue into the evening and overnight hours.
By this point, as afternoon high temperatures struggle to warm up, some sleet and freezing rain may become mixed in.
By early Wednesday morning, moisture spreading even farther east towards the state’s northeast coast will begin to encounter some warmer air in the upper levels of the atmosphere. This will likely result in a mix of sleet, snow, and freezing rain in the Jacksonville metro area, where they will have to watch out for ice accumulations of up to a tenth of an inch in some spots.
The threat of winter weather will come to an end across the state of Florida by mid-morning Wednesday.
How much snow will Florida get?
As far as predicted snow totals go, NEXT Weather meteorologist KC Sherman said the western and central Panhandle will likely see the highest snow totals in the state of Florida.
On average, 1 to 3 inches of snow is expected, but localized amounts of 4 to 5 and even 6 inches of snow will be possible in spots. The highest totals will likely be found in the northwest part of the Panhandle.
NEXT Weather
DeSantis’ Florida emergency declaration
On Monday, 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.”
Earlier Monday, 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.
Snow in Miami
While South Florida will be too far south to experience any snow from this system, we have seen snow before. Nearly five decades ago we had our first and only snowfall on record in South Florida, on Jan. 19th, 1977.
The snow fell as far south as Homestead and flakes even fell on the sandy shores of Miami Beach.
The next day The Miami Herald’s read: “The Day It Snowed in Miami.”
South Florida residents, young and old, couldn’t believe their eyes and still remember where they were the day it snowed.
However, it was not all fun and silly winter jokes. The cold front that brought the snow also brought cold temperatures that caused severe damage to Florida’s crops.
The state’s citrus and vegetable industries were nearly wiped out and some 150,000 migrant workers lost their jobs in the state – including 80,000 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach. Then-Gov. Reubin Askew declared a state of emergency.
In January 2010 there was a very serious cold snap that hit South Florida and there were reports of snow flurries in Miami-Dade and Broward when temperatures reached 35 degrees. The National Weather Service announced these reports, but they were not officially confirmed.
