ORLANDO, Fla. — It is rare to experience cold weather on Christmas and it is not often that snow falls in Florida.
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But this year, Central Florida was gifted with cold weather and sleet Sunday morning.
The National Weather Service in Melbourne can confirm that sleet, also known as ice pellets, has occurred near the Rockledge, Viera, and Merritt Island areas in Brevard County.
— NWS Melbourne (@NWSMelbourne) December 25, 2022
Channel 9 received videos from viewers showing the colder side of Mother Nature as ice pellets fell from the sky.
Tim Buffaloe sent a video of snow that he woke up to in Rockledge on Sunday morning.
Bryan Sampson captured little flakes of snow falling in his backyard.
Channel 9 Certified Chief Meteorologist Tom Terry posted a video of sleet found on a boat in Merritt Island in Brevard County.
One of our Channel 9 photographers sent in videos of sleet and small hail that fell in Port Saint John.
On record, it has snowed five times in Florida. The most recent time was in Orlando in January 2010.
Read: Central Florida gets cold weather, but does it get snow?
Meteorologist George Waldenberger said this is a record-breaking cold weather snap in December that we have not seen since 1989.
Meteorologist Kassandra Crimi added Central Florida is waking up on Christmas morning to the coldest day in 33 years.
The cold weather is something that citrus farmers have had to keep an eye on for their crops. Channel 9 visited the Showcase Citrus in Clermont after the first night of freezing temperatures.
Read: How Central Florida citrus farmers use ice to protect crops from frigid cold
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