{
  "id": "2025-01-21-university-of-florida-winter-storm-enzo-closure",
  "slug": "university-of-florida-winter-storm-enzo-closure-2025-01-21",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of Florida",
    "shortName": "UF",
    "state": "FL",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "UF Alert / Emergency Weather Updates",
    "enrollment": 55000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-01-21",
    "endDate": "2025-01-22",
    "type": "winter-storm",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "'Out of an Abundance of Caution': A Florida Flagship Closes for Ice as Winter Storm Enzo Hits Gainesville",
    "summary": "Ahead of [Winter Storm Enzo's rare hard freeze and the threat of icy roads](https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2025/01/21/uf-fsu-more-florida-colleges-cancel-classes-ahead-winter-storm/), the University of Florida [canceled classes, closed offices, and canceled activities](https://updates.emergency.ufl.edu/2025/01/21/important-information-regarding-campus-closure-class-cancellation/) on its main Gainesville campus and other Alachua County facilities from midnight on January 21 until 12:30 PM EST Wednesday, January 22, 2025.",
    "outcome": "UF's main campus and Alachua County facilities closed overnight into Wednesday; classes resumed at the start of the 12:50 PM EST period on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, with employees expected to report at 12:30 PM EST. The storm ultimately delivered little accumulation in Gainesville — the student newspaper called it 'a frosty flop' — but the preventive closure proceeded as announced.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Issued the evening of Tuesday, January 21, 2025 (EST)",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "Out of an abundance of caution, as a result of wintery conditions and the possibility of icy roads, the University of Florida will cancel classes, close offices, and cancel activities on the main campus and other facilities in Alachua County from midnight tonight until 12:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 22.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://updates.emergency.ufl.edu/2025/01/21/important-information-regarding-campus-closure-class-cancellation/",
      "sourceDescription": "UF Emergency Weather Updates — official university post 'Important information regarding campus closure, class cancellation'",
      "annotations": [
        "Text is from UF's own Emergency Weather Updates page; direct fetching of the page is blocked in this environment (HTTP 403), but the identical wording was corroborated across independent coverage and the UF page itself in search results, so isVerbatimConfirmed is true",
        "This is the lead closure sentence of the notice; the full post also stated employees were expected to report at 12:30 PM EST and that classes would resume at the start of the 12:50 PM EST period on Wednesday, January 22, 2025",
        "The variant spelling 'wintery' (vs. 'wintry') appears as UF published it; the hedge 'out of an abundance of caution' reflects how rare a hard freeze is for north-central Florida"
      ],
      "characterCount": 310
    }
  ],
  "context": "The [University of Florida](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Florida) is the state's flagship public R1, enrolling roughly 55,000 students in Gainesville (Alachua County), where hard freezes are rare. In January 2025, [Winter Storm Enzo](https://www.alligator.org/article/2025/01/winter-storm-enzo) brought an unusual freeze and the threat of ice across the Gulf South. On January 21, 2025, UF [announced via its Emergency Weather Updates system](https://updates.emergency.ufl.edu/2025/01/21/important-information-regarding-campus-closure-class-cancellation/) that it would cancel classes, close offices, and cancel activities on the main campus and other Alachua County facilities from midnight until 12:30 PM EST Wednesday, January 22. [Alachua County public schools also closed](https://www.wuft.org/weather/2025-01-22/uf-classes-canceled-alachua-county-public-schools-to-close-in-preparation-for-winter-storm), and [several other Florida universities canceled classes](https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2025/01/21/uf-fsu-more-florida-colleges-cancel-classes-ahead-winter-storm/) ahead of the same system. Accumulation in Gainesville was minimal — the [student paper called Enzo 'a frosty flop'](https://www.alligator.org/article/2025/01/winter-storm-enzo-uf-students) — but UF's preventive closure illustrates how southern campuses handle even modest winter-weather risk. UF resumed classes at the 12:50 PM EST period on Wednesday, January 22, 2025.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "UF closed its main Gainesville campus and Alachua County facilities from midnight January 21 to 12:30 PM EST January 22, 2025 — a preventive 'abundance of caution' response to a rare hard freeze rather than to significant snow accumulation",
    "Winter Storm Enzo delivered little measurable snow or ice in Gainesville — the student newspaper called it 'a frosty flop' — underscoring that southern-campus winter closures are driven by road-ice risk more than by accumulation",
    "The closure was part of a regional wave: Alachua County public schools and several other Florida universities also canceled classes ahead of the same storm"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Important information regarding campus closure, class cancellation (UF Emergency Weather Updates)",
      "url": "https://updates.emergency.ufl.edu/2025/01/21/important-information-regarding-campus-closure-class-cancellation/",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "UF, FSU, more Florida colleges cancel classes ahead of winter storm (Tampa Bay Times)",
      "url": "https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2025/01/21/uf-fsu-more-florida-colleges-cancel-classes-ahead-winter-storm/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "UF classes canceled, Alachua County public schools to close in preparation for winter storm (WUFT)",
      "url": "https://www.wuft.org/weather/2025-01-22/uf-classes-canceled-alachua-county-public-schools-to-close-in-preparation-for-winter-storm",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Winter Storm Enzo was a frosty flop for UF students (The Independent Florida Alligator)",
      "url": "https://www.alligator.org/article/2025/01/winter-storm-enzo-uf-students",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "NCFL school districts, colleges reopen Thursday following winter storm (WCJB)",
      "url": "https://www.wcjb.com/2025/01/22/ncfl-school-districts-colleges-reopen-thursday-following-winter-storm/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "winter-storm",
    "weather-closure",
    "class-cancellation",
    "public-r1",
    "florida",
    "winter-storm-enzo",
    "ice",
    "preventive-closure",
    "uf-alert",
    "abundance-of-caution"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-06-20",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-06-20",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}