Following a historic winter blast that shattered snowfall records along the Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle in early 2025, the Florida Department of Transportation says it has enhanced its response efforts should another winter storm strike.
Even though hurricanes, heavy rainfall, flooding and heat waves are far more common across the Sunshine State, FDOT officials say the agency takes an “expect the unexpected” approach to all weather scenarios, including snowstorms.
New this winter, the department says it has purchased an additional 10 heavy truck-mounted snowplows, 10 dump-truck-mounted snowplows and dozens of other pieces of necessary equipment to respond to the threat of frozen precipitation.
The state has always maintained a limited amount snow-removal equipment compared to northern states, but officials say the January blizzard highlighted the need for additional resources.
“FDOT’s mission is clear: keep Florida moving safely, no matter the challenge,” an agency spokesperson stated.
One of the greatest challenges experienced during the January snowstorm, which produced nearly a foot of powder outside of Pensacola, was the extended closure of Interstate 10 through the Panhandle, which brought traffic to a halt.
Officials said the shutdown was necessary for safety and the entire response was reviewed during its post-event evaluation for possible changes during a future event.
In addition to state-level resources, some counties and local jurisdictions along the Interstate 10 corridor maintain their own snow-removal equipment.
This includes major airports throughout the state, which typically have de-icing machines to handle winter weather events.
The airports do not have the large-scale winter operations found in many northern hubs such as Minneapolis, Nashville or Charlotte, meaning planes still face prolonged delays and cancellations.
Rather than risk becoming temporarily stranded at a Florida airport during wintry weather, many airlines often choose to cancel or reroute flights and rebook passengers.
Another key difference from northern states is instead of using salt or brine to treat roadways, some Florida municipalities use sand to help increase traction.
Bridges and overpasses are some of the first throughfares to be treated since ice tends to form on the cooler surfaces before ground-level roadways.
Meteorological winter runs from December through February, with January typically being the coldest month of the year across the Sunshine State.
While no community regularly reports snowfall accumulations, snow flurries have been spotted as far south as Miami - a reminder that Florida is not immune from Old Man Winter.
