Being so far south, snow in Florida is rare, during the Great Blizzard of 1899 is the only time the temperature in the state is known to have fallen below zero degrees F.
On January 19, 1977 , while the rest of the nation shivered in extreme cold conditions,the most widespread snowfall in Florida occurred. Snow fell over most of the state and as far south as Homestead, which is south of Miami, snow flurries were seen on Miami Beach, the only time in recorded history.
Snow was observed in the Tampa , Sarasota area in December of 1989, and a hard freeze in 2003 brought “ocean effect” snow flurries to the Atlantic coast as far south as Cape Canaveral.
One of the most damaging blizzards occurred in 1993, when blizzard conditions hit in the panhandle and heavy rains and tornadoes beset the rest of the state. The storm was thought to have a similar composition as a hurricane and even brought storm surges of six feet or more to regions of the Gulf Coast.
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Thinking Between the Lines 