Has five feet of snow fallen in Florida?

America's sunshine state appears to have experienced a snow storm after a photo posted online showed a minivan submerged in white powder in Florida.

Now take a closer look...

The vehicle was in fact buried by the state's white sand during turbulent weather.

See also: Ten places where it never gets cold

Powerful winds and waves shifted huge amounts of sand onto the roads at Gulf Islands National Seashore, Citylab reports.

According to meteorologists at Panama City's WMBB News, the sand invasion was caused by "strong onshore flow, high surf, and coastal flooding".

See also: Enormous sand dune 'eating houses and roads' in South West France

A number of areas had to be closed due to the five feet deep sand.

The Gulf Islands National Seashore posted the photo on its Facebook page and wrote: "Snow at Gulf Islands National Seashore??? Maintenance crews are working hard to remove up to 5 feet of sand on Fort Pickens Road."

Social media user Jake McCaskill responded to the image, writing: "This is my friends van, went surfing at 8am at the point, came back and it started stalling, from the high water. Park rangers picked them up, 30+ mph winds. No, it's not photoshopped people."

But others asked: "How does someone leave their minivan on the beach road, in a storm, for long enough for it to be buried?"

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