Rare snowfall blankets northern Florida on Sunday
Parts of the state saw an unusual blanket of snow on Sunday morning
Florida just witnessed measurable snow for the second year in a row.
Portions of the Florida Panhandle picked up a light coating of snow early Sunday morning, marking one of just a few times in recorded history snow has fallen on the region.
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Several centimetres of snow in parts of Florida
A strong cold front swept across the eastern U.S. during the overnight hours, associated with the same system threatening widespread wintry conditions in Atlantic Canada through Monday.
Temperatures rapidly fell behind the front, allowing rain to change over to a burst of snow for communities all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico.
Accumulating snow fell from Pensacola, Florida, north through central sections of Georgia. The town of Marianna, Florida, reported the state’s highest total of 3.3 cm by the end of the precipitation.
Snow is exceptionally rare in Florida. The moderating influences of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean usually keep temperatures far too warm for wintry precipitation to fall in this region of the world.
Sunday’s system was only the 15th time that Pensacola has recorded accumulating snow since records began back in 1880.
The region saw a historic snowstorm almost exactly one year ago. The small community of Milton, just north of Pensacola, picked up a whopping 25.4 cm of snow during that storm, setting the state’s all-time snowfall record.