It was so cold across Florida on Thursday morning that temperatures in at least four cities were colder than in Alaska, but a desperately needed warmup was on the way for millions of Americans in the South following a deadly winter storm unmatched in decades.

A rare winter storm across North Florida is causing historic snow in Pensacola and the Panhandle. See striking images of how residents reacted.

A 23-year-old Santa Rosa Beach woman couldn't pass up the opportunity to recreate a photo from a Florida snowstorm in 1977.

See the best snow pictures, video from record snowfall on beaches near Pensacola and Tallahassee. Plus, how long before the snow melts?

Storm Warning is in effect for the entire Interstate 10 corridor where snow and ice accumulations could reach 4" over the next 24 hours. Pensacola will likely see the most snowfall in the state while greater amounts of ice are anticipated for cities such as Tallahassee and Jacksonville.

Florida buried in record-breaking snow as ice freezes South leaving at least 13 dead - The dangerous winter storm has resulted in the deaths of at least 13 people across the U.S. and knocked out power for more than 120,

Clouds and light rainfall expected Thursday into Friday in South Florida from the frontal system lingering just offshore over the Atlantic, said Robert Molleda, the National Weather Service in Miami’s weather coordination meteorologist. That front will move east on Friday as the colder air swoops in.

Parts of the Florida Panhandle were coated in a blanket of snow with temperatures at 25 degrees on Tuesday while Miami had temperatures in the 80s, seemingly two different worlds. From Pensacola down to Miami, there was a difference of 55 degrees, according to the National Weather Service Miami .

Wind gusts as high as 22 mph on Friday could mean wind chill temperatures in the upper 30s in parts of Palm Beach County.

“I’m so glad I’m so much farther south. I moved to Florida to get away from the snow!” commented Jennifer Saxon Halam on his post. According to her Facebook, she lives in Englewood on Florida’s west coast about 88 miles south of Tampa. But just wait: Weather Underground forecasts a low of 38 there next Saturday morning.

The snow that day had an icy reach as far south as Homestead Air Force Base — the farthest south snow has been recorded in the contiguous U.S. It spread west to Freeport on the island of Grand Bahama, which is the only instance of snow being observed in the history of the Bahamas, according to the Florida Climate Center.