Snow in Florida: Tampa residents woke up to a winter wonderland in 1977

TAMPA, Fla. – Temperatures are dipping into the 30s this week, and while parts of Florida are expected to get snow, FOX 13 meteorologists say the Bay Area won’t see any snow or ice. However, this was not the case in 1977.

Those who lived in Tampa on January 19, 1977 say they will never forget the day they woke up to a winter wonderland.

Snow in Tampa

What they say:

Forty-eight years ago, Jeannette Tamborello remembered hearing FOX 13 meteorologist Roy Leep say there was a chance of snow in the forecast.

She said the snowy mention appeared to be more of a commentary than part of his regular forecast, but Tamborello just knew it was going to snow.

She set her alarm for 1, and when she woke up, there was no snow. She put it every hour after that and kept looking out the window full of hope. Around 5 o’clock in the morning, she saw what she had been waiting for – snow!

Tamborello said she woke her husband and her daughter, who was 6 years old at the time. She dressed her daughter in her coat, gloves and socks over her nightgown and the three of them went outside into a winter wonderland.

READ: WTVT Lost Archives: Freeze of 1962 burned the minds of citrus growers who braved bitter cold to save crops

Tamborello recalled that she and her husband were as excited as their daughter.

The trio built a little snowman, took pictures and played outside until it was time to get ready for work and school.

Like Tamborello, Thomas Kaspar will never forget the day it snowed in Tampa.

He said the sight of the flakes swirling before the sun came up is unforgettable, especially in typically warm Carrollwood.

He estimated there was about 5-6 inches of snow on the ground that day and it lasted until the afternoon.

Why did it snow in Tampa?

The backstory:

The snow on January 19, 1977 was seen as far south as Homestead and even fell on Miami Beach, according to the National Weather Service.

According to the NWS, the snowfall was at the tail end of a strong arctic cold front that moved rapidly down the state from the end of the 18th. January to early 19. January.

The NWS says Tampa received 0.20 inches of snow, while Plant City recorded two inches.

‘Magical’ day

The 0.20 inches of snow that fell was more than enough to make a lifelong impression on Mario Nuñez.

Nuñez had just turned 18 and had never seen snow before.

In a previous interview with FOX 13, Nuñez said he remembers his mother waking him up around 6 and told him it was snowing outside.

Nuñez explained that he was almost in a trance because he was so excited. The first thing he wanted to do was tell his grandmother who lived a few blocks away.

Dressed in flannel pajamas, Nuñez says he threw on a pair of Converse shoes and ran two and a half blocks down the street in the dark to his grandmother’s house.

She had lived in New York for several years, so snow was nothing unusual to her, but it was simply ‘magical’ to him.

He said she was worried at first because it was unusual for him to knock on her door before dawn, but she felt more at ease when he yelled, “Abuela! It’s snowing!”

Amid all the excitement, Nuñez said it took him a moment to realize he was outside in his pajamas.

He ran home excitedly, changed his clothes and called his friends.

Nuñez said watching the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings play football in the snow was the epitome of the NFL at the time. So he and his friends decided to put on their soccer gear and play ball in the snow. He said they couldn’t go sledding because there are no hills in Tampa and they didn’t have a sled.

Nuñez, along with many Tampa residents, also remembers a lot of traffic accidents that happened that day.

He said he lived on Cass Street and while he and his buddies were playing soccer in a field near I-275, they heard tires screeching followed by the sound of a car constantly crashing into the guardrail all day because there was ice on the overpass and no one knew how to drive on ice.

“We’re just waiting for the next snowfall,” he said in an earlier interview with FOX 13.

Will it snow in Tampa this year?

Big picture:

FOX 13 meteorologists say no snow or ice is expected anywhere in the Tampa Bay area as of Tuesday.

A stretch of northern Florida, especially from around Tallahassee west through the Panhandle, will see accumulating snow, with a few inches of snowfall possible along the I-10 corridor starting later Tuesday and continuing into Wednesday.

The Florida Highway Patrol posted a photo of one of its vehicles next to the state line in Pensacola with snow on the ground Tuesday.

A mix of wintry precipitation could extend east to Jacksonville and as far south as Gainesville, though not all areas will see accumulating snow.

The wintry mix could create hazardous conditions on roads north of the Bay Area.

Governor Ron DeSantis also declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm, which will primarily affect the northern part of the state.

“Snow is one thing. Ice is a problem,” said FOX 13 Meteorologist Dave Osterberg, noting that a quarter inch to a half inch of ice accumulation in areas like Tallahassee and Jacksonville would be “significant.”

the weather forecast for Tampa

Local perspective:

While the snow and ice will remain north of the Bay Area, Osterberg says cold rain will “set in from time to time” throughout Tuesday, with afternoon highs remaining in the 50s.

Precipitation should continue through Wednesday morning as lows drop back into the 40s, with 30s possible in our northern zones.

Another round of showers will move through on Thursday, according to Osterberg, before we clear out in time for the weekend.

What’s next:

On Saturday, temperatures could reach the low 60s in Tampa for the annual Gasparilla Pirate Fest. Then on Sunday, the 70s will make a comeback with the warming trend continuing into next week.

Hoping for future snow days

Although the chance of seeing snow this year may be low, the memory of the 1977 snowfall keeps hope alive for many Tampa residents.

For Tampa natives like Nunez and DC Goutoufas, January 19, 1977 was the first time they had seen snow.

Goutoufas stated in a previous interview with FOX 13 that while he has no photos from the snowy day, the memory is etched in his mind forever.

His family has been in Tampa since 1887, and he says none of his ancestors had seen snow in the area before 1977.

Goutoufas remembered his parents coming to the breakfast table shouting that it was snowing outside.

“My sister, brother and I ran outside to see it. It was amazing!” exclaimed Goutoufas more than four decades later.

He fondly remembers having snowball fights with his friends and siblings.

“It was a great thing, and such a beautiful day!” Goutoufas added. “Our neighborhood really was a winter wonderland!”

Goutoufas went on to say that he and his brother would try to recreate the magic by turning on the sprinklers during the winter months when there was a freeze warning, but it didn’t work.

“Those were the good old days for sure,” Goutoufas said. “Such moments live inside you for a lifetime.”

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