A strong cold front moved through the Florida Peninsula on January 2nd with high pressure and cold air advection behind the front dropping temperatures to well below freezing. The coldest temperatures were felt on the morning of January 4th with slightly warmer but still sub-freezing temperatures on January 5th.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.
A strong cold front moved through the Florida Peninsula on January 2nd with high pressure and cold air advection behind the front dropping temperatures to well below freezing. The coldest temperatures were felt on the morning of January 4th with slightly warmer but still sub-freezing temperatures on January 5th.
Temperatures stayed below freezing for up to 12 hours over the Nature Coast with hard freeze conditions for up to 10 hours. Central Florida had around 8 hours of freezing temperatures with as many as 4 hours of hard freeze conditions. Southwest Florida had up to 4 hours of sub-freezing temperatures. No significant crop damage was reported.
Levy County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 12 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 19 degrees at the RAWS site at Lower Suwannee.
Citrus County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 12 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 19 degrees at both the COOP site at Inverness and the AWOS at Crystal River.
Hernando County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 12 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 18 degrees at the Brooksville FAWN station.
Sumter County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 12 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 23 degrees at the FAWN station at Okahumpka near the eastern Sumter County border.
Pasco County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 10 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 28 degrees at the COOP station at Dade City.
Pinellas County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 4 hours at the COOP site at Tarpon Springs in the northern part of the county where temperature fell to 28 degrees.
Hillsborough County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for up to 8 hours hours across inland portions of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 27 degrees at the FAWN site at Dover.
Polk County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for up to 8 hours over parts of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 29 degrees at the COOP station at Lake Wales.
Manatee County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for up to 4 hours, mostly over inland portions of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 30 degrees at Fort Green COOP station.| |Sarasota County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for up to 7 hours, mostly over inland portions of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 27 degrees at the North Port FAWN station.
Hardee County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for up to 8 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 27 degrees at the Ona FAWN station.
DeSoto County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for 2 to 3 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 26 degrees at the Arcadia FAWN station.
Highlands County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for 5 to 8 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 26 degrees at the Archbold COOP station.
Charlotte County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for 2 to 4 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 29 degrees at the Punta Gorda ASOS station.
Lee County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for up to 2 hours over eastern portions of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 26 degrees at the Immokalee Mesonet site near the eastern Lee County border.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 3, 1:50 PM EST, 7 hours 10 minutes earlier.
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html><!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
15 frost/freeze. Local standard time, as filed.
Levy County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 12 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 19 degrees at the RAWS site at Lower Suwannee.
Citrus County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 12 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 19 degrees at both the COOP site at Inverness and the AWOS at Crystal River.
Hernando County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 12 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 18 degrees at the Brooksville FAWN station.
Sumter County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 12 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 23 degrees at the FAWN station at Okahumpka near the eastern Sumter County border.
Pasco County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 10 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 28 degrees at the COOP station at Dade City.
Hillsborough County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for up to 8 hours hours across inland portions of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 27 degrees at the FAWN site at Dover.
Polk County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for up to 8 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 29 degrees at the COOP station at Lake Wales.
Hardee County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for up to 8 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 27 degrees at the Ona FAWN station.
Highlands County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for 5 to 8 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 26 degrees at the Archbold COOP station.
Sarasota County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for up to 7 hours, mostly over inland portions of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 27 degrees at the North Port FAWN station.
Pinellas County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for around 4 hours at the COOP site at Tarpon Springs in the northern part of the county where temperature fell to 28 degrees.
Manatee County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for up to 4 hours, mostly over inland portions of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 30 degrees at Fort Green COOP station.
Charlotte County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for 2 to 4 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 29 degrees at the Punta Gorda ASOS station.
DeSoto County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for 2 to 3 hours across much of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 26 degrees at the Arcadia FAWN station.
Lee County recorded sub-freezing temperatures for up to 2 hours over eastern portions of the county. The coldest temperature reported was 26 degrees at the Immokalee Mesonet station near the eastern Lee County border.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, January 2012
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 361451, 361452, 361453, 361454, 361455, 361457, 361458, 361461, 361463, 361460, 361456, 361459, 361464, 361462, 361466.