TALLAHASSEE -- Authorities, power companies and even state lawmakers are preparing for the worst as a rare winter storm is expected to bring snow and other freezing precipitation to North and Northwest Florida.
As of Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service has posted a winter storm warning from the Pensacola area to just west of downtown Jacksonville, as well as Gainesville and areas west of the St. Johns River. Accumulations of rain and sleet vary from less than one inch in the east to three inches near Pensacola, with up to five inches possible.
Florida Power and Light has extra crews standing by if cold weather, ice, or high demand trigger power outages.
State lawmakers have postponed committee hearings set for Wednesday and Thursday in Tallahassee.
In Okaloosa County, home of Eglin Air Force Base, officials are preparing for snow or a wintry mix to make driving hazardous. Okaloosa Emergency Management Director Patrick Maddox says the most important message is, if you don't have to travel before or after the storm, don't. Maddox says the county has sand trucks to clear county roadways, and FDOT will provide salt or antifreeze trucks and even snowplows if necessary, to clear state highways and provide backup. "Our ability to clear the roads is not as important as our ability to communicate the threat" posed to drivers, Maddox says.
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