Posted in Florida December 24, 2019 by

120 Years Ago, Florida Was Hit With The Worst Blizzard In History

It’s highly unlikely that you’ll hear the words “Florida” and “blizzard” mentioned in the same sentence, except of course, when people are talking about how Florida very rarely gets blizzards, ever. But what many Floridians might not know is that there was a blizzard back in the 1800s known as The Great Blizzard of 1899. And while most of the country received some serious winter weather, Florida wasn’t immune. Check out one of the worst blizzards ever to hit Florida.

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For many Florida residents and visitors, when they think about the state, it usually looks something like this…
Flickr Allan Leonard
But in 1899, the weather took a turn that many residents of Florida didn’t see coming.
What went down in history as The Great Blizzard of 1899 began in Florida, dropping the very first flakes in Tampa on February 12th.
Flickr Ellen Macdonald
The storm went on to blizzard-like conditions that were felt by many other states throughout the country.
While Florida didn’t have it as bad as say Washington D.C., who experienced 51 hours of snowfall straight, there was still enough terrible weather to go down in history books.
Flickr Jim Millhaupt
Jacksonville had a record snowfall of 1.9 inches, which was astounding in its own right.
One of the coldest winters ever recorded, temps throughout the state ranged from -2 in Tallahassee to 0 in De Funiak Springs.
Wikimedia
Even Miami reached lows of 29 degrees during the daytime.
The scenes from the storm were somewhat unique, like the snowball fight captured on the steps of the capitol.
Wikipedia
Nowadays, snowfall in Florida is quite rare, but in 1899, the blizzard was one of the most unusual weather occurrences to take place in the state.

Did you know about The Great Blizzard of 1899? Sound off in the comments section! Or if you’re looking for more stories of surprising weather throughout the state, check out the terrifying and deadly storm which struck Florida in 1935.

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