You could easily mistake Jacksonville for the Midwest this winter.
January brought more nights in the 30s than in the 40s, and cold days outnumbered those with above-average temperatures.
In fact, on Jan. 22, 2025, Anchorage, Alaska was actually warmer during the day than Jacksonville, where temperatures didn’t rise above 34 degrees in the morning.
The intense cold has caused widespread disruptions, including school closures across Florida and Georgia, and left much of the Deep South blanketed in sleet and snow.
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It certainly feels like one of the harshest winters in recent memory, but how does it measure up? It turns out our season has been more severe than the winter up north, according to a scale that measures winter conditions.
The Winter Misery Index—more formally known as the Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index (AWSSI)—tracks the impacts of winter weather across cities in the U.S. It considers a range of factors beyond just the cold, including the effects on human health, commerce, transportation, and education. Meteorological elements, such as the intensity and persistence of cold weather, snow accumulation, and the duration of snow cover, are also part of the calculation.
Jacksonville’s AWSSI score of 18 this winter ranks it at the “extreme” level of severity, exceeding any of the past 10 years. This is harsher than the “mild” winter experienced by the Midwest.
But this winter does not clinch first place. The record for Jacksonville’s harshest winter belongs to 2010, with an AWSSI score of 39 and a total of 44 freezes.
It’s important to note that the AWSSI doesn’t just track meteorological winter (December through February); it measures winter weather from its first occurrence to its last.
So, with warm weather on the horizon this week, the forecast may be winter’s final curtain call according to the “Winter Misery Index.”