More winter weather leads to heavy snow, canceled flights and, in Florida, falling iguanas
Source: AP
By ADRIAN SAINZ Updated 3:34 PM CST, February 1, 2026
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A huge swath of the U.S. from the Gulf Coast into New England was mired in extra-cold temperatures Sunday after a bomb cyclone brought heavy snow and hundreds of flight cancellations to North Carolina, flurries and falling iguanas in Florida, and more misery for thousands who are still without power from last weekend’s ice storm in the South.
About 150 million people were under cold weather advisories and extreme cold warnings ...............
The Tampa-St. Petersburg area in Florida saw snow flurries, while temperatures dropped to the 20s in the Panhandle and 30s in South Florida on Sunday morning, Mullinax said. That left cold-stunned iguanas lying prostrate and motionless on the ground. Iguanas in South Florida go dormant in the cold and though they usually wake when temperatures warm, the reptiles can die after more than a day of extreme cold.
The cold also left ice on strawberries and oranges in the state. Farmers in Florida sometimes spray water on fruit trees and berry plants to protect them from the cold.
A bomb cyclone hits
Meanwhile, the bomb cyclone, known to meteorologists as an intense, rapidly strengthening weather system, contributed to nearly a foot (30 centimeters) of snow in and around Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city. The snowfall represented a top-five snow event all time there, Mullinax said. ..................
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/winter-weather-ice-snow-cold-4b1aad9d5c8b380ae18e6e6c2e650dee
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Jameson Thomas, left, and Kyle Hill bash and kick ice formations on blueberry plants at Southern Hill Farms in Clermont, Fla., on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
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= new reply since forum marked as read
I didn’t pry myself out of my toasty waterbed until 10:30 this morning, and it was still fkg 35 degrees here in SW FL! Now it’s 6:34 and already going back down, currently 45.
I grew up in Eastern Iowa. I’ve trudged through a foot or more of snow to hang laundry on the line to dry (frozen stiff = ready to come in). My last winter there, I had pipes freeze and toilet shatter, firewood and propane run out, and this shit here is no joke after being wussified for 30 years here in Sarasota. (Note that most of these dudes will wake up once it gets warm enough and go on their merry way.)
(edited because repetition looks stoopid. 
)
They apparently hibernate in the cold, which often means they just fall out of the trees and lie there until they warm up enough. If they’re too cold for too long, they might not fare as well, which I didn’t realize until today. Bummer. They’re harmless and pretty cool to have around. Used to have a big brown one about as long as my arm, who’d duck into a hole under the eave of our garage and sun himself on the roof. 
But it's not overly cold up here in New England. This stretch from mid Jan to mid Feb is usually the deep freeze for us anyway. Single digit lows above and below zero for the week, but with such dry air our highs are in the 20's here in the Upper Connecticut River Valley. Not bad for a time of year where I've seen us struggle to get above zero for nearly a week. I'll take it. But snow in Charlotte and Savannah and not a flake here. Not sure how I feel about that. Part of me thinks we've been cheated. I'm sure those folks down there wouldn't mind giving it back to us. 
