Video: Driver Escapes Traffic Ticket Thanks to Rare Fla. Snow

You’ve heard of the expression “saved by the bell.”

One Florida driver was saved by the snow.

Sure, read that again.

According to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy pulled over a car just before 5 a.m. Monday in Freeport, but soon noticed snow falling. Yes, Florida snow.

The deputy grabbed his phone to record the rare sight, and the driver went off with just a warning.

“Enjoy,” the sheriff’s office posted on social media, “and wherever the driver is, you have Mother Nature to thank.”

The driver was speeding, according to sheriff’s spokeswoman Corey Dobridnia. She added that the sudden snowfall caused the deputy to halt writing the ticket, but didn’t want to make light of the driver’s transgression.

Things hadn’t totally improved on the weather front Wednesday.

“It’s freaking freezing up here,” Dobridnia told the Miami Herald. “Today it’s in the 50s, which isn’t terrible, but it’s supposed to be chilly for the rest of the week. Friday, they say a low of 33 degrees, so let’s see if it snows again.”

The public information officer added that not only was snow a freakish occurrence, but just the day before the dusting, a small tornado touched down in the county.

The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado struck the northwestern area of DeFuniak Springs on Sunday afternoon as storms moved across the Panhandle. The tornado damaged about six homes and knocked down a few trees, but no injuries were reported.

“There’s just really weird weather happening right now,” Dobridnia said.

Speaking of weird weather, back in January 1977, Miamians actually experienced snow, in a freak weather event. It was the only South Florida snowfall on record in the 20th century.

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