Cold Grips Sun-Loving South Florida

PINECREST, FL — How cold was it in Miami on Thursday? It was cold enough for iguanas to fall from trees, cold enough for Canadians to be driven from our beaches and cold enough that one Sunny Isles man arriving on an overseas flight to Miami International Airport was greeted by a customs officer, who summed up our weather like this: "Welcome to Chicago."

If you thought it was the worst cold you've felt in a long time, you are not far off, according to Andrew Hagen of the National Weather Service in Miami. Hagen told Patch that Miami International Airport had not recorded a lower temperature since 2015.

Unfortunately, the worst is not over as we head into Friday.

"The low with the windchill looks like it was 38," Hagen said on Thursday afternoon. "We're expecting tonight to be at least as cold or colder."

While the rest of the country may mock us — particularly those hearty souls from places like Iowa where 38 degrees would be considered a heat wave — native Floridians tend to take such aberrations seriously, according to Hagen.

"Any time the temperature gets this cold it's a big deal, especially for the native Miamians," he explained.

The last time it was this cold here was in February of 2015, Hagen said. Another cold snap in 2010 was worse.

While it may feel more like Chicago than the Magic City for a couple of days, Hagen said temperatures will grow increasingly warmer until Sunday, when we could see our next beach day with highs in the low 70s.

Sorry Chicago. We're just visiting.

Photo by A. Messerschmidt/Getty Images