Sun-soaked Florida and other parts of the South appear to have shattered snowfall records in what many are calling a once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness sandy snowscapes on beaches, of all places.
A whopping 9.8 inches (24.9 centimeters) of snow fell near the small town of Milton, which would smash the all-time Florida state record for snowfall from 1954, if confirmed.
“It’s an incredible, incredible event,” said Michael Mugrage, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Mobile, Alabama, where many of the highest snowfall totals from the region were reported. “It puts it in perspective how rare this is.”
The snow total near Milton is unofficial for now, and will be reviewed by the state’s climate office.
Milton is just northeast of Pensacola, where 8.9 inches (22.6 centimeters) shattered the city’s previous all-time snow record of 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) set in 1895.
Florida at one point, had 15,000 outages, according to Duke Energy. That number was down to around 9,000 as of Wednesday afternoon, with Franklin and Wakulla counties having most of the outages.
Duke Energy spokesperson Ana Gibbs told WFSU that crew members have traveled across Florida, working to get power restored.
"These crews are turning the lights back on as safely and carefully as possible," she said.
Unfortunately, the icy roads have made it difficult for workers to get to some of the locations, as parts of the Panhandle received several inches of snow.
“For the most part, the power poles have not been impacted, and that's important because replacing power poles takes a lot longer than putting back power lines. That is the good news in all of this," Gibbs continued.
Duke Energy expects power to be fully restored by Thursday morning.
The storm also closed a portion of I-10 for a time, along with other roads across the Panhandle, due to the wintry conditions.
Information from WFSU was used in this report.
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