Prior to that, the Milton Experimental Station recorded a historic snowfall 71 years ago; when Santa Rosa County set Florida's all-time 24-hour snowfall record with 4 inches, on March 6, 1954.
Snow totals in Louisiana have broken records. Parts of Florida, Texas and Georgia have also accumulated several inches of snow.
Snow fell in Houston and prompted the first ever blizzard warnings for several coastal counties near the Texas-Louisiana border. Snow covered the white-sand beaches of normally sunny vacation spots, including Gulf Shores, Alabama, and Pensacola Beach.
ATLANTA >> An historic January storm dumped more deep snow along the Gulf Coast today after bringing Houston and New Orleans to a near standstill over the past two days and burying parts of Florida’s Panhandle with accumulations more typical of Chicago.
A strong winter storm blasting through the United States, including the Gulf Coast, is bringing the rare sight of snow and ice to northern Florida, and frigid rain to Tampa Bay.
The storm has prompted the first-ever blizzard warnings for several coastal counties near the Texas-Louisiana border and nearly 2,000 flights to, from or within the U.S. were cancelled
As heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain hit parts of the Deep South, a blast of Arctic air plunged much of the Midwest and the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze.
The rare deep freeze in the wake of an historic winter storm that swept across the U.S. South this week will linger through Sunday, leaving the region in the grip of extreme cold and ice and creating dangerous driving conditions.
The storm has killed at least 12 people, including five in Zavala County, Texas, early on Tuesday in a car accident on Highway 57, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The storm unleashed record levels of snow on three states and has halted normal daily life for residents. Millions of students stayed home and thousands of flights were cancelled.
A major storm spread heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across parts of the Florida Panhandle, Georgia and the coastal Carolinas on Wednesday after breaking snow records in Texas and Louisiana, treating the region to unaccustomed perils and wintertime joy.