TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – It’s all hands on deck for the state to prepare for this winter storm. Governor Ron DeSantis has the entire state under a state of emergency as people brace for potentially record-breaking snow.

“We’re not used to walking in a winter wonderland here in Florida,” DeSantis said.

That is certainly the case as a winter storm moved into Florida’s panhandle. Snow started blanketing the Pensacola area Tuesday morning.

“Now our infrastructure is designed differently than states that are used to this. If this were South Dakota, they would just shrug their shoulders,” DeSantis said.

The Florida Department of Transportation has been out around the clock pre-treating roads ahead of the storm. The state’s 11 snow plows are positioned across the panhandle as road rangers are out to help anyone stranded along I-10.

Big Bend and South Georgia see historic winter weather:

Despite those efforts, it wasn’t enough to keep up with I-10 having one passable lane near Pensacola by Tuesday afternoon. Governor Ron DeSantis urged people affected by the storm to stay off the roads.

“If you are in these icy conditions, there’s a lot that can go wrong. And people have never driven in that before, it is just different driving in that,” DeSantis said.

Power outages are expected, but Florida Division of Emergency Management director Kevin Guthrie said it won’t be like when a hurricane moves through.

“It’s going to be isolated power outages, lines that have snapped, we will be able to back feed power into some of those areas,” Guthrie said.

The National Weather Service called it a “generational winter storm event.”

“I think a lot about my kids. This is something they’ll remember 40 years from now. like ‘I was there when we got five inches of snow in northern Florida,’” DeSantis said.

The state government in the northern part of the state is closed Wednesday. That includes the legislature which was supposed to have committee hearings this week. When people return, it will be determined how clear local roads are.

Copyright 2025 WCTV. All rights reserved.