Bitterly Cold With a Chance of Falling Frozen Iguanas

Florida’s latest weather forecast includes something most meteorologists never thought they’d predict… falling frozen lizards.

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Something unusual happens when temperatures drop in Florida. The weather forecast starts including warnings that sound like a rejected plotline from a disaster movie. Meteorologists find themselves typing phrases they never learned in school. The National Weather Service issues alerts about falling reptiles.

The Forecast No One Expected

On November 10, 2025, parts of South Florida received a weather warning unlike any other state experiences. Temperatures were expected to dip into the high 30s, and with that chill came an official advisory about cold-stunned green iguanas potentially tumbling out of trees. The phenomenon has become a near-annual occurrence, strange enough that weather services have created unofficial “falling iguana” warnings to inform residents that the lizards they might discover on sidewalks and pool decks are typically just temporarily paralyzed, not deceased.

The National Weather Service put it plainly: “Iguanas are cold blooded. They slow down or become immobile when temps drop into the 40s. They may fall from trees, but they are not dead.”

That last part is critical, because Floridians have learned the hard way what happens when you assume a frozen iguana is permanently frozen.

The Biology of a Reptile Popsicle

Green iguanas thrive in Florida’s subtropical warmth, spending their days lounging in trees like scaly retirees. They enjoy temperatures that keep their cold-blooded systems functioning properly. When the thermometer drops below 50 degrees, things get sluggish. When it hits the 30s and 40s, their muscles stop responding altogether.

The iguanas don’t die when this happens. They enter a state called torpor, a survival mechanism where they slow their metabolic rate to conserve energy during cold weather. Kind of like their version of hibernation, but extremely temporary. Their bodies stiffen up, they lose their grip on branches, and gravity takes over. The frozen iguanas can remain paralyzed on the ground for hours until the weather warms up enough to let their blood thaw.

The paralysis is temporary, a fact that has led to some memorable encounters.

The Man Who Learned the Hard Way

Ron Magill, Communications Director at Zoo Miami, shared a story on NPR that perfectly illustrates why Florida’s falling iguana phenomenon is both hilarious and hazardous. A man discovered multiple frozen iguanas during a cold snap and saw an opportunity. Iguana meat is considered a delicacy in some cultures, earning the reptiles the nickname “chicken of the trees.” The man loaded his car with the stiff, immobilized lizards.

While driving, the car’s heater warmed the car’s interior. The iguanas thawed. They woke up. And they were not pleased about their current situation – or location.

The now-very-mobile iguanas attacked their captor while he was behind the wheel. The story serves as a cautionary tale about assuming a frozen iguana will stay frozen, and why bringing them into enclosed spaces ranks among Florida’s worst ideas.

Ground Zero for Lizard Rain

Green iguanas were first reported in Florida during the 1960s in areas around Miami-Dade County, including Hialeah, Coral Gables, and Key Biscayne. They likely arrived as stowaways on cargo ships from South America or as escaped pets that discovered Florida’s climate suited them perfectly. With no natural predators and ideal conditions for breeding, the population exploded.

These are not small creatures. Males commonly reach four to six feet in length and weigh between eight and seventeen pounds, with exceptional specimens exceeding seven feet and twenty pounds. Females typically measure three to five feet and weigh six to twelve pounds. During cold snaps, sidewalks and roads become littered with what essentially amounts to scaly missiles dropped from above.

Iguanas congregate along canal banks, shrubs, culverts, drainage pipes, rock piles, and golf courses. When temperatures are cold enough, these petrified reptiles appear on sidewalks, pool decks, and occasionally draped across unfortunate vehicles. On November 11, 2025, photos circulated on social media showing frozen iguanas in Port Charlotte on the west coast of Florida, and Howard Park in West Palm Beach on the east coast of Florida. Local media described past incidents as a “frozen iguana shower” in which dozens of the reptiles “littered” bike paths.

The Record-Breaking Cold

The November 2025 cold snap proved significant enough to set multiple temperature records across Florida. Jacksonville and Savannah, Georgia both dropped to 28 degrees on the morning of November 11, marking the coldest temperatures so early in fall since 1976. Vero Beach hit 40 degrees and Fort Pierce reached 41 degrees, both breaking record lows set in 1991. Even Miami flirted with a record low, coming up one degree short at 49 degrees.

These temperatures created ideal conditions for iguana paralysis. According to Zoo Miami’s Ron Magill, temperatures need to stay below 50 degrees constantly to slow an iguana down considerably. Smaller iguanas become cold-stunned faster than larger ones. A two-foot iguana would become immobilized after a couple of hours at 50 degrees, while a six-foot iguana would take twice as long.

The cold snap was forecast to be short-lived, with temperatures rebounding into the upper 70s for highs in Miami by later in the week. For the iguanas, it meant a brief period of involuntary paralysis followed by business as usual.

What Not to Do

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has developed specific guidelines for encountering cold-stunned green iguanas, primarily because residents kept making the same mistakes. The commission’s November 10, 2025 advisory was clear: If you encounter a cold-stunned green iguana, do not bring it into your home, vehicle, or building. Non-native green iguanas are wild animals, and once they recover and warm up, they could act defensively.

This warning exists because enough people tried the opposite approach. Valdette Borg and her son in Florida discovered a frozen iguana in their yard and filmed themselves testing whether it was actually frozen by poking its tail with a stick. The iguana remained motionless. They encountered a second iguana that proved more lively, demonstrating the unpredictability of cold-stunned reptiles.

The commission also warns that iguanas can bite and scratch when they recover and feel threatened. Instead of attempting heroic rescues, residents are encouraged to call pest control services for professional removal.

The Invasive Species Problem

Green iguanas were added to Florida’s Prohibited list on April 29, 2021. People cannot possess live green iguanas without a permit. Because they are not native to Florida, releasing or relocating captured iguanas is illegal. They are not protected except by anti-cruelty laws, meaning they can be captured and humanely killed on private property at any time with landowner permission.

The designation as an invasive species is well-earned. Green iguanas cause substantial damage to residential and commercial landscape vegetation. They are attracted to trees with foliage or flowers, most fruits except citrus, and almost any vegetable. Their burrowing habits erode and collapse sidewalks, foundations, seawalls, berms, and canal banks. They leave droppings on docks, moored boats, seawalls, porches, decks, pool platforms, and inside swimming pools.

Research has found more troubling impacts. In Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, scientists discovered the remains of tree snails in green iguana stomachs, suggesting threats to native and endangered tree snail species. In Bahia Honda State Park, green iguanas consumed nickerbean, a host plant of the endangered Miami Blue butterfly.

The iguana population has expanded beyond its original foothold. Green iguana populations now stretch along the Atlantic Coast in Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach Counties, and along the Gulf Coast in Collier and Lee Counties. Reports have emerged as far north as Alachua, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River and St. Lucie Counties, though individuals in northern counties are likely escaped pets rather than established populations.

The 2010 Die-Off and Adaptation

A two-week cold snap in 2010 with temperatures below 40 degrees killed off many iguanas, along with Burmese pythons and other invasive pests that thrive in South Florida’s subtropical climate. For a brief moment, it seemed nature had provided a solution to Florida’s invasive species problem.

The iguanas rebounded. Not only did they recover their numbers, but research published in 2020 in the journal Biology Letters found that South Florida lizards are adapting in response to more frequent extreme climate events. The species is developing greater tolerance for cold temperatures, potentially allowing them to survive further north and making future cold snaps less effective as natural population controls.

A Social Media Phenomenon

Spotting a frozen iguana has become a social media ritual that meteorologists, the Weather Channel, AccuWeather, and the National Weather Service reference with regularity. Drew Morris of Boca Raton told AccuWeather via X after moving from California: “Moved out from California recently and this wasn’t on my Florida bingo card! Quite a surprise.” He later added: “Earlier this week I posted about frozen iguanas falling from the sky here in Florida. That tweet was intended to be tongue-in-cheek. It is very real and I hereby apologize to all the frozen iguanas out there.”

Todd Boger reported on Twitter during a January 2022 cold snap: “39 degrees and falling iguanas are happening in Ft. Lauderdale. This one was over 3-feet long!”

Lisa Gilbert of Fort Lauderdale posted on Facebook on January 30, 2022: “This is a frozen iguana. In Florida when it is cold, they actually fall and freeze. I used to think they were dead. #frozeniguanas”

The Numbers

Estimating Florida’s green iguana population remains challenging. More than 7,000 iguana sightings have been recorded by the University of Georgia’s Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System since 1998, with most reports coming since 2012. Current estimates suggest more than 20,000 green iguanas live in Florida, though the actual number could be substantially higher. The species is exceptionally prolific, with females capable of laying clutches of 40 to 45 eggs at a time.

In 1995 alone, more than 1.14 million iguanas were imported into the United States through the pet trade. While captive-bred specimens are available, wild-caught babies continue being shipped in large numbers. A significant percentage of Florida’s free-ranging iguanas likely descend from escaped or unwanted pets whose owners discovered that cute baby iguanas grow into large, sometimes aggressive adults.

Living With Lizard Weather

Florida residents have adapted to their unusual reality. Property owners trim branches away from structures and make trees more difficult to climb. Professional wildlife control operators maintain steady business. The state has created programs allowing the public to remove and humanely kill iguanas from 32 Commission-managed lands without a license or permit.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission maintains detailed resources at myfwc.com, including technical assistance for homeowners and techniques to discourage iguanas from frequenting properties. For those who want to remove iguanas but cannot do so safely and humanely themselves, professional help is available.

Joe Gonzalez from the iguana removal service Iguana Police explained to Fox 29 in West Palm Beach: “If you capture an iguana in your own yard and don’t move it anywhere else, that’s fine.”

Joe Wasilewski, a conservation biologist and member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Iguana Specialist Group, told Patch: “When it gets cold like this, it’s funny to those who aren’t from here to see the news people talking about iguanas falling from trees, but it can and will happen.”

The Forecast Continues

As temperatures continue fluctuating with cold fronts pushing through Florida, the falling iguana phenomenon shows no signs of stopping. AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Duffus noted in a statement: “Should the cold wave evolve to its full potential, maximum temperature departures could plunge 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit below the historical average from the northern Plains and Midwest to the interior Southeast.”

For Florida, that means continued cold snaps and continued falling iguanas. Residents scroll through their weather apps and see forecasts that would baffle people anywhere else. Temperatures in the 30s and 40s mean more than just frost warnings and jacket weather. They mean watching the trees for descending reptiles and checking sidewalks before stepping outside.

Florida’s weather forecasts now permanently include a category that exists nowhere else. When temperatures drop, meteorologists issue their warnings about the possibility of reptile precipitation. Residents know to leave the frozen lizards alone and wait for them to thaw. And somewhere, a person who once loaded their car with frozen iguanas shares their story as a warning to others.

The forecast calls for falling iguanas, and in Florida, that’s just another Tuesday in late Fall and Winter.

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NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.