States subsequently failed to win the Battle of Pensacola. After the fall of New Orleans in 1862 the Confederacy abandoned the city and it was occupied by the North. In June, 1861, the Pensacola Guards were mustered in as a company in the 1st Florida Infantry Regiment. Geography Topography Pensacola is located on the north side of Pensacola Bay. It is east of Mobile, Alabama, and west of Tallahassee, the capital of Florida. According to the United States Census Bureau, Pensacola has a total area of , consisting of of land and , 44.62%, water. The land is sloped up northward from Pensacola Bay, with most of the city at an elevation above that which a potential hurricane storm surge could affect. Climate Weather statistics since the late 20th century have been recorded at the airport. The city has seen single digit temperatures (below −12 °C) on three occasions: on January 21, 1985; on February 13, 1899; and on January 11, 1982. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Pensacola has a humid subtropical climate, (Köppen Cfa), with short, mild winters and hot, humid summers. Typical summer conditions have highs in the lower 90s °F (32–34 °C) and lows in the mid 70s °F (23–24 °C). Afternoon or evening thunderstorms are common during the summer months. Due partly to the coastal location, temperatures above are relatively rare, and last occurred in June 2011, when two of the first four days of the month recorded highs reaching the century mark. The highest temperature ever recorded in the city was on July 14, 1980. In the 1991-2020 climate normals, the daily average temperature in January is . Freezing temperatures occur an average of 11 days per winter, with the average first and last dates for a freeze being December 12 and February 14, giving Pensacola an average growing season of 301 days. However, the relatively recent winter season of 2018-19 did not record a freeze, the median first and last freeze dates are earlier and later than the averages of December 12 and February 14, and the median number of freezes per season is 11 or fewer. The mean coldest temperature reached in a given winter season is about ; although the median is slightly higher, at no colder than most years, placing Pensacola in USDA zone 9b. Temperatures below are very rare, and last occurred on January 8, 2015, when a