JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When you think about the Panhandle of Florida you think of Destin, Pensacola, 30A, and white sandy beaches. On Tuesday, those sandy beaches turned into white SNOWY beaches!
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Governor Ron DeSantis said Tuesday afternoon that Florida could see a record amount of snow in the Panhandle over the next 24 hours as a rare winter storm hits the state.
DeSantis said the forecast calls for 2-4 inches of snow in the hardest hit areas, but it’s possible there could be localized accumulation of up to 6 inches.
While it’s not the first time North Florida has seen snowflakes fall to the ground, it has been a long while since there has been this much snow.
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“I’ve asked my guys to go back and look at the historical record, and we’ve never had six inches accumulate in Florida based on the information that we had. So that’s something that would be very, very noteworthy,” DeSantis said during the news conference at the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee.
It was 32 years ago when, according to the Florida Climate Center, a 1993 “superstorm” produced up to 4 inches of snow along the Florida Panhandle on March 12.
Before that, it was 71 years ago when record snowfall was reported at the Milton Experimental Station. That’s when the all-time 24-hour state record of 4 inches happened on March 6, 1954, in Santa Rosa County.
Live Cams: Cameras show snow falling in southern U.S., including Florida, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana
According to the Florida Times-Union, in December 1989 the following snowfall amounts were recorded in the Jacksonville area:
- Live Oak: 3″
- Mayport: 2.9″
- Jacksonville Beach: 2.5″
- Jasper: 2″
- Jacksonville Naval Air Station: 1″
- Monticello: 1″
- Tallahassee Airport: 1″
- Madison: 1″
- Jacksonville airport: 0.8″
St. Augustine and Crescent City reported 2 inches of snow on February 2, 1951.
The Florida Times-Union also reported these fun facts:
Pensacola:
- Most recent snowfall in Pensacola: Jan. 28, 2014
- Total amount of snowfall: 1″
- Has it ever snowed on Christmas? No.
- Record snowfall: 2.3″ on Mar. 6, 1954
Tallahassee:
- Most recent snowfall in Tallahassee: Jan. 3, 2018
- Total amount of snowfall: 0.1″
- Has it ever snowed on Christmas? No, although the city did see 1″ of snow Dec. 22-23, 1989
- Record snowfall: 2.8″ on Feb. 12-13, 1958
County-by-County:
- Alachua: 1.5″ on Jan. 18, 1977
- Bay: 2″ on Feb. 13, 1958
- Bradford: 2″ on Jan. 19, 1977
- Calhoun: 2″ on Feb. 13, 1958
- Clay: 0.1″ on Dec. 30, 1917
- Columbia: 1″ on Feb. 15, 1895
- Duval: 2.5″ on Dec. 23, 1989
- Escambia: 2.3″ on Mar. 6, 1954
- Franklin: 1.2″ on Feb. 12, 1958
- Gadsden: 2.5″ on Feb. 13, 1958
- Gulf: 2.7″ on Feb. 13, 1958
- Hamilton: 3″ on Feb. 13, 1958
- Hillsborough: 0.2″ on Jan. 19, 1977
- Holmes: 0.1″ on Dec. 31, 1917
- Jackson: 2.0″ on Feb. 12, 1958
- Jefferson: 3.0″ on Feb. 13, 1958
- Leon: 2.4″ on Feb. 12, 1958
- Liberty: 0.5″ on Dec. 31, 1917
- Madison: 1″ on Dec. 23, 1989
- Marion: 0.1″ on Jan. 9, 2010
- Nassau: 1.5″ on Feb. 13, 1958
- Okaloosa: 3." on Feb. 13, 1958
- Pasco: 1″ on Jan. 19, 1977
- Polk: 0.8″ Jan. 19, 1977
- Putnam: 2″ on Feb. 3, 1951
- Santa Rosa: 4″ on Mar. 6, 1954
- St. Johns: 2″ on Feb. 3, 1951
- Suwannee: 3″ on Dec. 23, 1989
- Taylor: 3″ on Feb. 13, 1958
- Wakulla: 3″ on Feb. 13, 1958
- Walton: 2″ on Feb. 9, 1973
- Washington: 2″ on Jan. 31, 1977