The promised snow arrived in Tallahassee, while sleet is falling in Jacksonville

A deep freeze settled over the Deep South on Wednesday, plunging the region into the coldest temperatures in eight years, dusting North Florida with snow and ice and sending freezing temperatures as far south as Lake Okeechobee.

In Volusia and Flagler counties, residents and visitors bundled up and planned to protect their plants and pets as the National Weather Service called for three nights in a row of below freezing temperatures. The forecast also set off a frenzy of preparations for sheltering the homeless in the two counties.

Holly Hill resident Beth Bosley-Piteri bundled up in cold weather clothes on Wednesday afternoon and braved the rain to try to protect cold-sensitive hibiscus plants surrounding her home.

Bosley-Piteri wasn't sure the coverings would work to save the tropical plants that still held showy blossoms. "I'll give it a shot as long as I can," she said.

A New Jersey native who has lived in Florida for 30 years, she was pragmatic about the forecast. "It's not too bad. I can handle it," she said. "It's a whole lot better than Michigan or Minnesota."

Still, for Florida, it's cold.

Temperatures are forecast to fall as low as 24 degrees in the western portions of the two counties and as low as 27 degrees in Daytona Beach and remain there for several hours late Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, the weather service warned.

A second night of similar conditions is forecast for Thursday night and into Friday morning. Friday's night temperatures also are forecast to fall below freezing but not for as long.

With winds blowing out of the north at least 10 mph, the main concern for area residents is the wind chill, which will make the below-freezing temperatures feel even colder, said Jessie Smith, a meteorologist with the weather service office in Melbourne.

The last time the area saw several consecutive days of below-freezing temperatures was January 2010, when nine of the first 14 days of the year saw temperatures below 32 degrees.

Across Florida, meteorologists warned people to limit their time outdoors, bring pets indoors and take other cold weather precautions.

Concerns about the impact of the frigid forecast on the area's homeless population prompted shelter openings in Bunnell, Daytona Beach, DeLand, Deltona and New Smyrna Beach.

"This is a serious situation," said Sue Ellen Jackson, executive director of Halifax Urban Ministries, a non-profit that provides services to the area's homeless population. "We have pretty much already filled up the beds we have for shelter tonight." 

In Flagler County, Acting Emergency Management Chief Sally Sherman asked residents and visitors "to protect their life and property during this cold weather event.”

“Children and the elderly are the most sensitive to the effects of the cold temperatures and strong winds," Sherman stated in a news release.

More than an inch of rain fell in Daytona Beach on Wednesday, where the high temperature of the day — 57 — occurred before 10 a.m., said weather service meteorologist Tony Cristaldi. In the next hour after that, the temperature dropped 17 degrees.

Across Flagler County, rainfall amounts as high as .88 inches were recorded, said Bob Pickering with Flagler Emergency Services.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, a Catholic school in Flagler County was closed Wednesday, according to the Diocese of St. Augustine, in part because of concerns about traveling on icy roads. The school will reopen on Thursday.

In North Florida, sleet was reported in Jacksonville and Lake City, while many excited Tallahassee residents were treated to snow. At least a tenth of an inch of snow fell before 9 a.m., the first measurable snow in the state's capital since December 1989.

Between Tallahassee and Jacksonville, the Florida Highway Patrol closed parts of Interstate 10 Wednesday morning as the ice and snow moved through. The interstate was reopened later in the day. In Dixie County, hundreds of power outages were reported after ice accumulated on power lines.

Elsewhere in the South, three inches of snow was reported in Charleston, South Carolina, the Weather Service said.

Along local beaches, waves of up to 8 feet and continued lunar high tides were contributing to more erosion along beaches still trying to recover from Hurricane Irma last September. The surf, being generated by a building low pressure system off the Florida coast, washed up to sea walls and up beach approaches all along the coast.

Volusia County beaches experienced more erosion on Wednesday, especially to the north in Ormond-by-the-Sea, said Jessica Winterwerp, coastal division director. Two more dune walkovers had to be closed.

The north end of New Smyrna Beach "held up fairly well," Winterwerp said, but "it also had a healthy dune system and a very wide beach which knocked a lot of the intensity out of the tide."

Volusia County beaches remained closed to driving and most are expected to remain closed for at least another couple of days as county officials work to reinstall poles that mark the conservation zones along the beach. The poles were ripped away from the dunes on Tuesday, along with 2-to-5 feet of sand.  Because of hazardous debris in the area, including the conservation poles, the county also closed local beaches to swimming and surfing, flying a double red flag.

"The quicker we can get this system out of here, the sooner we can start to recover," Winterwerp said.

The only Volusia beach to be opened for driving on Thursday is the section from the Beachway Avenue approach in New Smyrna Beach, north to the jetty.

Large amounts of sand also were washed away in Flagler County, where the Flagler Beach pier also remained closed Wednesday for the second consecutive day.

City Manager Larry Newsom closed it Tuesday when winds rose above 30 mph. The pier hasn't sustained any damage yet.

Sand washed away from some of the dune walkovers. In some cases, that left a three-foot gap between the bottom step and the sand.

The walkovers, themselves, appeared to be undamaged, Newsom said. City workers went out Wednesday to determine which walkovers needed yellow caution tape strung across them.

To the north of Flagler County, in Ponte Vedra Beach, St. Johns County emergency management officials said an abandoned house on the beach lost its battle with eroding dunes and collapsed Wednesday morning.

Staff Writer Shaun Ryan contributed to this report.

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