44 years ago, for the first time in recorded history, snow fell in South Florida.
January 19th, 1977 the National Weather Service in Miami reported:
“Residents and visitors were both surprised and thrilled at the rare phenomena, and local newspapers ran headlines which were nearly as big as it would be for major national or world events. Snow was seen across all of Southeast Florida as far south as Homestead and even on Miami Beach. Snow was officially reported by weather observers in West Palm Beach, LaBelle, Hollywood, and Royal Palm Ranger Station in deep South Miami-Dade County.“
South Floridians, looked up into the sky as flakes landed on their faces. Temperatures dipped into the low 30s, as the cold front brought temperatures that caused severe damage to Florida’s crops. The citrus and vegetable industry were nearly wiped out and 150,000 migrant workers lost their jobs, including 80,000 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach.
Gov. Reubin Askew declared a state of emergency, when a cold front had moved down the state, and the powerful front combined with strong arctic highs that led to the rare snow event in South Florida.
Photos by Getty Images