The Day Tallahassee Hit -2 ℉

Tallahassee residents handle heat fine but act like 30°F is an emergency. If this week feels cold, though, consider what happened in 1899.

On February 13 that year, Tallahassee dropped to −2°F. It remains the only time temperatures have gone below zero anywhere in Florida.

The Great Arctic Outbreak

The cold came from what newspapers called "The Snow King," a high-pressure system that slid down from the Canadian Yukon. Unlike typical cold fronts that weaken as they travel south, this air mass stayed dense and rigid.

When it reached the Panhandle, our humidity worked against us. Snow started falling on February 12th. By morning, about 1.5 inches covered the ground.

The Capitol snowball fight

Photos in the Florida State Archives show what happened next. State legislators, clerks, and locals gathered on the Capitol steps for a snowball fight. Government business stopped for a few hours.

A day that never got above freezing

The high that day reached only 22°F. For 24 hours, Tallahassee was colder than Anchorage typically gets.

Period newspaper accounts describe sections of the St. Johns River freezing thick enough to walk on. Firefighters watched water freeze in their hoses. And the freeze killed North Florida's citrus industry. Leon County had orange groves before 1899. The cold froze sap inside the trees, causing trunks to split. Growers moved south to Orlando and Miami, where commercial citrus remains today.

Why so cold here?

Tallahassee sits in a topographical basin. On clear, calm nights, cold air flows downhill and pools in our low spots. In 1899, this combined with a rare air mass to produce the record.

Perspective

We worry about our hibiscus when forecasts hit 25°F. In 1899, people were skating on ponds and watching the local economy collapse. So if you're wrapping pipes this week, at least nobody's throwing snowballs at you in subzero weather.