The deep-freeze striking the entire East Coast has brought snow to Florida – a weather phenomenon many residents have never seen.
Floridians, more accustomed to hurricanes than this odd white substance, rushed to publish on social media their photos of snow covering their warm-weather flip-flop footwear and outdoor swimming pools.
#snowmageddon, they called it on Twitter.
With the weather dipping below 40 degrees Fahrenheit early Thursday in parts of Southern Florida, it’s been cold enough to immobilize green iguanas common in Miami’s suburbs.
Tallahassee, Florida’s capital in the far north of the Sunshine State, awoke Wednesday to a dusting of 0.1 inches of snow, the first significant measurement since 1989, according to the Weather Channel.
Floridians, more accustomed to hurricanes than this odd white substance, rushed to publish on social media their photos of snow covering their warm-weather flip-flop footwear and outdoor swimming pools
One young boy, dressed in a hat and boots, didn’t hide his excitement when he saw a light dusting of snow – likely the first of his lifetime
With the weather dipping below 40 degrees Fahrenheit early Thursday in parts of Southern Florida, it’s been cold enough to immobilize green iguanas common in Miami’s suburbs
Tallahassee, Florida’s capital in the far north of the Sunshine State, awoke Wednesday to a dusting of 0.1 inches of snow
The storm, which began days ago in the Gulf of Mexico and first struck the Florida Panhandle, led to the closure of roads in northern Florida.
Governor Rick Scott urged people in the northern part of his state ‘to prepare for extreme cold weather conditions, including potential snow, sleet or ice accumulations’.
In central Florida, the state’s largest theme parks announced that water attractions such as Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, Universal Orlando’s Volcano Bay and SeaWorld’s Aquatica were closed.
Temperatures are running well below normal for this time of year, and the lows are expected to hover right around freezing.
Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino tweeted a photograph of an iguana lying belly-up next to his swimming pool.
‘Don’t assume that they’re dead,’ Kristen Sommers, who oversees the nonnative fish and wildlife program for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.
The storm, which began days ago in the Gulf of Mexico and first struck the Florida Panhandle, led to the closure of roads in northern Florida
Temperatures are running well below normal for this time of year, and the lows are expected to hover right around freezing
Governor Rick Scott urged people in the northern part of his state ‘to prepare for extreme cold weather conditions, including potential snow, sleet or ice accumulations’
In central Florida, the state’s largest theme parks announced that water attractions such as Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, Universal Orlando’s Volcano Bay and SeaWorld’s Aquatica were closed
‘They’ll fall out of trees. They’ll end up in areas where your cars are, parking lots, areas where they’re cold stunned,’ said Emily Maple, the reptile keeper at the Palm Beach County Zoo, CBS12 reported.
‘If it’s just for a day or two they’ll just get to where they’re completely frozen in time. They’re still able to breathe. They’re still able to do bodily functions just very slow,’ said Maple.
The cold-blooded creatures native to Central and South America start to get sluggish when temperatures fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, said Sommers.
If temperatures drop below that, iguanas freeze up. ‘It’s too cold for them to move,’ Sommers said.
They’re not the only reptiles stunned by this week’s cold snap. Apparently sea turtles also stiffen up when temperatures fall.
The wildlife commission’s biologists have been rescuing cold-stunned sea turtles found floating listlessly on the water or near shore, but no such rescue is planned for iguanas.
Tallahassee’s 0.1inches of snow was the first significant measurement since 1989, according to the Weather Channel
In one part of Florida, a fountain froze completely over, while in other parts palm trees starkly contrasted the snow falling
The windows of cars frosted over as Florida saw freezing temperatures throughout the week
At Santa Fe College in Gainsville, Florida, ice covered a pond near campus, where the temperature hit 26F
Well-meaning residents finding stiffened iguanas are advised to leave them alone, as they may feel threatened and bite once they warm up.
Green iguanas are an invasive species in Florida known for eating through landscaping and digging burrows that undermine infrastructure.
They can grow over 5 feet long, and their droppings can be a potential source of salmonella bacteria, which causes food poisoning.
The wildlife commission has begun holding workshops to train homeowners and property managers to trap or manage iguanas.
The reptiles may be easier to catch this week, Sommers said.
Elsewhere, the storm wreaked havoc as blizzard warnings and states of emergency went into effect along the Eastern Seaboard.
An iguana that froze lies near a pool after falling from a tree in Boca Raton Florida Thursday
With the weather dipping below 40 degrees Fahrenheit early Thursday in parts of Southern Florida, it’s been cold enough to immobilize green iguanas common in Miami’s suburbs
‘They’ll fall out of trees. They’ll end up in areas where your cars are, parking lots, areas where they’re cold stunned,’ said Emily Maple, a reptile keeper
The cold-blooded creatures native to Central and South America start to get sluggish when temperatures fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit
Wind gusts hit more than 70 mph (113 kph) in places and some areas saw as much as 18 inches (46 centimeters) of snow.
As of Friday morning, at least 14 people had been killed in the storm.
Forecasters predict that record-breaking cold air and strong winds will set people’s teeth chattering like castanets from the mid-Atlantic to New England on Friday and that the frigid weather will hang around through the weekend.
The arctic blast could make temperatures feel as low as minus 15 degrees from Philadelphia to Boston on Friday and make residents of states like Maryland and Virginia shiver from temps ranging from 10 degrees to 15 degrees.
Coastal areas in the Northeast, Hurley said, may experience numbing single digits.
The storm caused school and business closings, airline and rail service cancellations or reductions and thousands of utilities outages, many of them restored quickly.
Some ferry services even had to be shut down along the Canadian coast