Spartacus in a south Italian blizzard

[Epictetus]

So Spartacus marched back again from the sea and established his army in the peninsula of Rhegium… He therefore waited for a snowy night and a wintry storm, when he filled up a small portion of the ditch with earth and timber and the boughs of trees, and so threw a third part of his force across.
Plutarch, Crassus, 10.5-6

This passage about Spartacus has always been of interest to me. How often are there blizzards in the southern extremities of Italy? How likely is this?

[john m roberts]

It needn't mean a true blizzard, just enough snow to mask his men's activities and keep the Romans huddling in their tents or around their watchfires.

[Epictetus]

Okay, so perhaps it isn't as strange as I thought. Thanks!

[M. Demetrius]

It's no indication of how things were way back then, but when I lived near Pozzuoli in the sixties, we saw only one day that was really cold, and no snow. I would imagine it would not be very common for there to be snow even further south. Copious snow would make movement of troops harder to track, but once the snow stopped, every footstep would be easy to follow.

[Goffredo]

Talk with anyone that fought in battle of Cassino. Ask if there are snow blizzards in southern Italy. Southern Italy is not all rolling hills and beaches. There are plenty of small and rugged mountains and not only does it get f**king cold but the winters can kill!

[Robert Vermaat]

Just this february...