Snowmaggedon 2025 in the books – the history books

In some areas, the temperatures were down in the teens at night. After some research we found that when there is high humidity in the air combined with those frigid temperatures, it can feel significantly colder – we can personally verify that is true. The moisture in the air absorbs body heat making you feel colder compared to a dry cold date with the same temperature. So, it’s a wet cold – which is miserable.

When the blizzard of 2025 started, you could barely see across the street it was so heavy. Kids headed out into the yards trying to catch the snow on their tongues. Phones were videoing the snow coming down and then everyone had their minute of fun and went inside – because it paused for just a moment. Then all the snow in the sky broke loose and just blanketed Northwest Florida. It was almost disorienting. Everything was white from snow. Landmarks were covered. Cars were covered. Streets were covered.

Streets – were – covered…most of us have never driven in snow – how does that work? We learned quickly that it doesn’t work in Florida. We do not have snow tires or chains. We do not have the road crews and equipment to prepare the roads for snow or ice with salt. We do not have snowplows to clear the streets. What we learned from talking to people who are from snow areas is that our snow began to melt much sooner than theirs does. Once our temperatures were above freezing and the sun came out, the snow on roads and sidewalks began melting. Throughout the day, the snow slowly melted. Then the temperatures would take a nosedive to the teens again and all the melted snow would freeze to ice. It made all our roads and bridges impassable. And here in Northwest Florida, you can hardly go anywhere without crossing a bridge.

For three days, government offices closed. Military bases shut down. Schools were closed. Restaurants, banks and grocery stores closed. Small businesses closed. Even the Sheriff’s Office was closed – except for deputies on duty. All roads in Santa Rosa County were closed – including Hwy. 90, Hwy 87 S, and Interstate 10. You couldn’t go north, south, east or west. And every bridge was closed including Pensacola’s Three Mile Bridge. Closed. Closed. Closed.

We have to give a shout-out to our neighbor, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, who provided us some great entertainment during the storm. They posted on social media a photo of a truck in a ditch (who had been doing donuts on the road in the snow) with the following:  Perhaps don’t zoomy zoom on the slicky slick so you don’t end up in the ditchy ditch. You may end up in the snowy snow waiting on a towy tow.

They were brilliant in the storm. Here is another from them: Are some roads icy? Yes. Are there a lot of cars on the road? Also, yes. Why didn’t “we” shut down all roads in the county? Because there are more than 1,000 roads in Walton County and that is physically impossible. Will we call your boss and tell them they should excuse you from work? Maybe. If you promise to bring us iced coffee after all this madness is over and tell us we’re pretty.

The message to everyone was to stay off the roads. Do not drive. For the most part, everyone stayed put and patiently waited. If they didn’t, they would end up in a post on Facebook.

It took until Friday to completely open up Interstate 10, the main east to west corridor in the Panhandle. When they finally opened it, two Florida State Troopers led a huge convoy of trucks from west to east who were eager to deliver whatever they had in the trucks. They were happy to be on their way.

Over three days, families made a ton of memories and took a million photos and videos to record the rare experience. Snowmen were everywhere. And snow angels were plentiful.

Today, all the snow has melted – like it never even happened, and we are happy again. And in typical Florida flip-flop fashion, our temperatures are back to the 50s overnight and mid to high 60s during the day.

But hold tight Florida…there is a rumor going around that we are in for another winter storm…in February…will it snow again? Stay tuned.  #FloridaStrong