By james art 
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Florida spent Tuesday bracing for its worst stretch of winter weather since 1989. here, with airports closed and officials urging residents of the western Panhandle to stay off the roads.
Widespread reports of 5-12 inches of snow were reported around Pensacola Tuesday night, prompting troopers to close a nearly 70-mile stretch of Interstate 10. That closure expanded to 192 miles Wednesday night as Florida DOT officials feared of lingering snow and road ice will freeze again Wednesday evening, making conditions too treacherous for safe travel.
National Weather Service offices along the corridor issued a rare winter storm warning for counties from Pensacola to Jacksonville, warning of snow and ice accumulations that could make travel hazardous.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Monday ahead of the winter blizzard and said that for communities in the Panhandle, the winter blizzard could be a record. The Sunshine State’s all-time snowfall was 4 inches in Milton, outside Pensacola, on March 6, 1954, which was eclipsed Tuesday by measurements around Pensacola.
“I don’t have to tell anybody that we’re not necessarily used to walking in a winter wonderland here in Florida,” DeSantis said during a briefing at the state’s emergency operations center.
Utility providers along the I-10 corridor were bracing for weather-related outages that would likely occur if a significant amount of ice fell.
FOX Meteorologist Steve Bender was in Tallahassee on Tuesday, waiting for light precipitation to turn into freezing rain and even snow.
The capital looked like a ghost town as residents did not want to take the storm for granted, especially after the region’s active hurricane season.
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The Sunshine State’s heaviest snowfall occurred around Pensacola, where spotters reported 5-12 inches by Tuesday night.
Because of the dangerous weather and a series of crashes, a nearly 70-mile stretch of Interstate 10 was closed by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Emergency officials said they had pretreated some roads, but the effort appeared to be insufficient ahead of the big winter storm.
About 8.9 inches officially fell over Pensacola, with similar amounts in nearby Milton, according to the National Weather Service.
According to NWS meteorologists in Tallahassee, it will take several days to verify all snowfall reports and determine if any city has overtaken the Pensacola metro area for the biggest snow measurement ever in the Sunshine State.
Most school districts between Jacksonville and Pensacola canceled classes Wednesday, including major universities such as Florida State University, FAMU, the University of North Florida and the University of Florida in Gainesville.
All flights to and from Tallahassee International Airport were canceled as of 3 p.m. Tuesday, with the intention of resuming operations by noon Wednesday.
Similar cancellations were planned at Jacksonville International Airport, where the last departing flight was expected to depart around 8 p.m., with operations returning to normal by noon Wednesday.
Any type of freezing precipitation can be problematic for the region because communities lack the necessary equipment, such as processing trucks and snowplows, to keep roads and airports clear of hazardous travel conditions.
Naval Air Station Pensacola’s main entrance was closed to both inbound and outbound traffic Tuesday afternoon as a combination of wintry precipitation moved in from the west.
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In North Florida and many other cities in the Southeast, the Christmas week blizzard of 1989. holds many records and serves as a benchmark for all other winter precipitation.
The historic storm system developed on December 22 before moving across the Sunshine State and off the Atlantic coast.
Wilmington, North Carolina, reported seeing 15 inches of snow, while Jacksonville, Florida saw almost 2 inches.
A swath of between 1 and 4 inches of snow generally extends along the Interstate 10 corridor from Tallahassee and Florida’s Great Bend to Jacksonville and points north.
According to the NWS, the freezing weather event caused widespread power outages and severe crop damage as arctic temperatures gripped the region for days.
Original article source: Florida sees heaviest snowfall in state history as winter storm hits South