When did it snow last in Florida?

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As parts of the Florida Panhandle brace for extreme cold, there’s a possibility of accumulating snowfall. 

Due to the severe cold snap, which will impact much of the Sunshine State this week, some may wonder when it last snowed here in Florida. 

Let’s take a look at Florida’s flirtations with winter weather. 

There are two different answers — Jan. 3, 2022, and Jan. 3, 2018. 

Snow flurries were captured on video cascading from the sky on Jan. 3, 2022,  in Okaloosa County, according to this article. The sheriff’s office shared the snowfall, where you could see the flurries coming down and landing on a patrol car. Deputies said it went from 75 degrees at 3 p.m. to snow at 3 a.m. “How’s that for a temperature change?” the sheriff’s office joked at the time. 

Still, there weren’t reports of the snow accumulating. 

If you go just a few years earlier, however, you’ll find snow that stuck around. 

The National Weather Service said on Jan. 3, 2018, parts of north Florida, along with south Georgia, saw snow accumulate thanks to the first winter storm the Sunshine State had seen since 1989. Georgia of course saw the largest accumulations, up to 2 inches, but the snowfall in Florida was still measurable. 

The NWS said most accumulations in Florida were less than half an inch, with 0.1 inches officially measured in Tallahassee.

With a moniker like “the Sunshine State,” it’s hard to imagine any of Jack Frost’s magic gracing the Tampa Bay area or South Florida. But, believe it or not, it happened on Jan. 19, 1977, nearly half a century ago.

On that day, snow fell in South Florida for the first time in recorded history. According to an article from the NWS, snow was seen across all of southeast Florida as far south as Homestead and even on Miami Beach.

“Although snow in Florida is not as rare as it is believed to be, the farthest south snow had been previously observed was along a Fort Myers to Fort Pierce line in February 1899,” NWS said in the report.

The snow reportedly came on the heels of a strong Arctic cold front that moved quickly down the Florida peninsula from late Jan. 18 through the early morning hours of Jan. 19.

“The snow occurred during a prolonged period of very cold temperatures in South Florida,” experts said. “The coldest air and snow arrived with the second arctic front on the 19th, with the afternoon high only reaching the mid to upper 40s. Miami’s afternoon high of 47 degrees that day stands as the 2nd coldest afternoon high on record.”

Tampa measured .20 inches of snow while Plant City measured up to two inches, NWS said.