Florida frost is rare enough to make headlines when it happens, but the state’s history includes both a 19th-century cold record that still stands and, more recently, the costliest freeze damage to hit Florida agriculture in decades. Here is what the record shows and how growers are still recovering.
The Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded in Florida
Florida’s all-time low remains minus 2 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded at a Tallahassee weather station on February 13, 1899, during what meteorologists call the Great Arctic Outbreak. That blizzard, which began sweeping into the southern United States on February 11, 1899, produced the only sub-zero reading ever documented in the state and remains the benchmark against which every later Florida cold snap is measured.
The 2026 Freeze: Florida’s Costliest Cold Event in Recent History
Two back-to-back winter storms, Ezra (December 30, 2025 to January 1, 2026) and Gianna (January 26 to February 4, 2026), brought the most damaging Florida frost event in years. Freezing conditions hit 66 of Florida’s 67 counties for multiple hours, with hard-freeze thresholds at or below 26 degrees Fahrenheit reported in several agricultural regions. The state’s own damage assessment put total agricultural losses at roughly $3.17 billion, and the USDA subsequently issued a disaster declaration for Florida to open federal relief programs for affected growers.
Crop-by-Crop Damage
The losses were not spread evenly across Florida agriculture. Based on the state’s damage assessment:
- Strawberries: about 80 percent of the remaining harvest was lost, totaling an estimated $306.9 million in damage.
- Blueberries: roughly 90 percent of the crop was destroyed, an estimated $78.5 million in losses.
- Citrus: fruit losses reached $85.2 million, tree damage totaled $327.38 million, and protective infrastructure losses added $41.48 million; combined with an estimated $220.56 million in future production loss, total citrus damage reached roughly $674.66 million.
Growers and industry groups described the back-to-back storms as a historic blow to the state’s citrus and sugarcane sectors, with several reporting the worst single-season losses in company or family history.
Sugarcane Losses and the Federal Response
Citrus and berry growers were not alone in absorbing damage from the 2026 freeze. Sugarcane producers, concentrated mainly around Lake Okeechobee, also reported significant crop losses from the back-to-back storms, with industry groups describing combined sugarcane and citrus damage as one of the costliest weather events the sector has faced in years. The scale of the losses is what prompted the USDA’s disaster declaration, which opens the door to low-interest emergency loans and other federal relief for growers in affected counties. State agriculture officials have said full recovery, particularly for citrus groves that lost mature trees, will likely take several growing seasons rather than a single year.
Why Central and North Florida See Frost Differently
Frost risk still varies sharply by region. Northern cities such as Gainesville see freezing temperatures most winters, while Central Florida locations like Orlando experience them only sporadically, and South Florida rarely sees frost at all outside of extreme outbreaks like the 2026 event. That regional gap is why an extended freeze lasting several consecutive days, as parts of Central Florida saw during the 2026 season, is considered unusual even by growers accustomed to occasional cold spells. For more on how often these events are occurring, see this report on Florida cold weather increasing in frequency and severity.
What Growers and Residents Can Expect Going Forward
Agricultural economists tracking the 2026 freeze note that recovery for tree crops like citrus will take years, since damaged trees need multiple growing seasons to return to full production, while row crops like strawberries and blueberries can rebound within a single season if conditions cooperate. Homeowners with cold-sensitive landscaping should follow the same basic precautions farmers use during a frost advisory: covering vulnerable plants, watering the soil beforehand to hold heat, and bringing potted plants indoors when overnight lows are forecast near or below freezing.
This Florida frost overview will be updated as the state releases further data on 2026 freeze recovery or if new cold-weather events occur.
