Winter Storm — Inland Taylor, Florida

2018-01-03 · Inland Taylor, Florida

Wider weather episode

Early in the morning of January 3rd, portions of north Florida and south Georgia had a mix of wintry precipitation. The precipitation was primarily freezing rain mixed with some sleet around Cross City and Mayo, Florida with ice accumulations estimated at a quarter to a half inch. In the areas around Tallahassee, Florida, and Valdosta, Georgia, the precipitation was initially freezing rain and sleet, but changed to snow. The heaviest accumulations of snow were in south Georgia where amounts ranged from 0.50 to 2 inches. Snow accumulations in north Florida were mostly less than half an inch, with only 0.1 inches measured officially in Tallahassee. For this region it was the first winter storm since December 1989.

Impacts were significant across the area. The ice accumulations in the Suwannee River Valley were enough to cause numerous power outages, especially in Lafayette county. Due to recent cold temperatures, ice also accumulated on numerous bridges and overpasses, resulting in a large section of I-10 being closed from Leon county eastward into the Suwannee Valley. In Georgia, all bridges and overpasses in the city of Valdosta were closed due to icy conditions. Around 105 accidents were reported in Lowndes county during the event, which is the most local officials could ever remember occurring in the county during one day.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 726739. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.