Remember when it snowed in South Florida?
'You must be drunk'
Wednesday was the 45th anniversary of the day it snowed in South Florida.
I wrote about it in detail on the 40th anniversary and my favorite part of the story was the guy who recorded it for the National Weather Service when there was still a manned station at Palm Beach International Airport.
Joe Vidulich was a 27-year-old meteorological technician at the station. He said he was working the midnight to 8 a.m. shift on Jan. 19, and while snow was expected in Central and North Florida, he didn't think it would make it to Palm Beach County and beyond.
"I went outside to take an observation and I noticed these particles flying by. At first I thought they were bugs, but it was snow," Vidulich said. "I ran back inside so excited and my partner was sleeping in a chair. I said, 'Wake up Bernie, it's snowing.'
He said, 'You must be drunk.'"
It was a time before weather events were politicized, analyzed, dissected, and sucked dry of magic and wonder. In 1977, it was just snow in South Florida, and it was enchanting.
Also in this newsletter is the sad tale of a gopher tortoise cut in half on a site slated for retirement homes and a tale of woe for our beloved St. Augustine grass.
Live Lightly.
Kmiller@pbpost.com
@Kmillerweather
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Remember when it snowed in South Florida?
