Snow in Florida? Arctic blast to stun the South.
- - Snow in Florida? Arctic blast to stun the South.
Doyle Rice, USA TODAYJanuary 15, 2026 at 11:47 PM
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A bitterly cold Arctic air mass has made its way to the South on Jan. 15, providing the fuel for a small but potent snowstorm across portions of the South and the East over this coming weekend.
"A coastal storm will deliver snow to part of the southeastern United States on Sunday Jan. 18 before eyeing the mid-Atlantic coast and New England on Sunday night," said AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski in an online forecast.
The forecast, which has been debated on social media by wishcasters and meteorologists alike, would not be the dump of record-breaking snow that hit the Florida Panhandle on Jan. 21, 2025, where up to 10 inches of snow was recorded in Escambia County.
As far as the amount of snow that falls in the eastern parts of Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, as well as farther up along the mid-Atlantic coast and into southeastern New England, that will depend on the exact track of the storm, as a small shift can make a big difference, Sosnowski said.
Overall, however, "there is an increasing chance − greater than 50% − of “some snowfall” from the Florida panhandle through southeast Georgia into the Carolinas," noted Weather Trader meteorologist Ryan Maue in an email to USA TODAY.
Will it snow in Florida?
Snow is expected to begin in the Florida Panhandle and southern Georgia Saturday night (Jan. 17), but temperatures may be too high for snow accumulation. By the time it is cold enough, the storm may be moving away, according to AccuWeather.
Farther north, precipitation looks to be snow over interior locations of the Southeast and along the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast coasts, the National Weather Service said in an online forecast.
The national weather forecast map for Saturday Jan. 17, 2025, shows a widespread area of 'mixed precipitation' (in blue) across the southeastern and eastern U.S.How much snow will fall?
Areas from the Florida Panhandle to the Carolinas could see some snow on Sunday Jan. 18, but the odds for more than an inch aren't high, according to Washington Post meteorologist Ben Noll, writing on X.
"Warm grounds and marginally cold air temperatures will work against a big event," he said.
United States weather alerts
The interactive map below shows all of the weather alerts (warnings, watches and advisories) currently in effect from the National Weather Service. This map is every 15 minutes.
Cold air the main story
Regardless of snowfall, cold air is expected to continue across the South, Weather.com reminds us, "Be prepared to protect your pipes, plants and pets," said Weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Belles.
A freeze watch is in effect for areas from Northeast Florida and the Big Bend into east Central Florida, and inland areas of the west coast for Thursday night, Jan. 15, into Friday morning, Jan. 16. South Florida is bracing for temperatures south of Lake Okeechobee dipping into the low 30s and coastal areas hitting the high 30s to low 40s.
More: Watch out! Low Florida temperatures could cause falling iguanas
Doyle Rice is a national correspondent for USA TODAY, focusing on weather and climate.
Contributing: Kimberly Miller, USA TODAY Network - Florida
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will it snow in Florida? Arctic blast in forecast for US South.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
