When's the last time you saw snow in Miami? That would be exactly 47 years ago today.
January 19, 1977 was the first time in recorded history that snow fell in Miami. The flakes began to fall in Broward and Miami-Dade between 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., as an arctic cold front made its way down the coast of Florida.
Flurries were reported as far south as Homestead, though for the most part, the snowfall melted when it made contact with the ground. A rain/snow mix made it to The Bahamas as a very strong area of high pressure from Canada built all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico.
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That day, the high temperature was a chilly 47 degrees, with temps dipping into the 30s. The following morning, some parts of South Florida saw their coldest temps ever recorded, including 28 degrees in Fort Lauderdale and 32 degrees in Miami Beach. Homestead dropped to 23 degrees.
The farthest south snow had been previously observed in Florida was along a Fort Myers to Fort Pierce line in February 1899.
The 1977 snow caused more than $300 million in agricultural damage in South Florida.