Posted on 01/09/2010 6:38:57 PM PST by justa-hairyape
Florida orange growers are bracing for possible crop damage as an arctic blast plunges temperatures to record lows Saturday and Sunday nights.
Sleet and snow mixed with rain has been reported Saturday from the Tampa Bay area to near and north of Orlando, the first time snow or sleet has occurred in west-central Florida since Jan. 8, 1996, the National Weather Service in Tampa said.
The immediate Tampa Bay area hasn't seen snow since Dec. 23, 1989.
While citrus growers fared well on Friday night as temperatures remained above critical levels in the heart of the citrus belt, worries are intensifying as a strong high pressure system bears down on the area.
The NWS has issued a freeze warning for much of central and southern Florida from 9 p.m. EST Saturday to 9 a.m. EST on Sunday, meaning temperatures are expected to dip from 27 F to 32 F for three or more hours over a widespread area.
Citrus sustains damage when the mercury falls below 28 degrees Fahrenheit for three or more hours.
"We will undoubtedly suffer some damage to this season's crop tomorrow [Sunday] a.m. and again on Monday a.m.," said Fran Becker, president of Lakeland-based Florida Citrus Mutual and vice president of fruit procurement for Peace River Citrus Products Inc. in Arcadia, Fla.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
.
Anchorage Alaska is warmer than Ocala Florida right now!
It’s Global Confusion!
I see that it's going to be 20* down near Brownsville, Tex. They will lose their citrus too. My daughter brought a large bag of grapefruit when she came for Christmas.
The nurseries are going to make a killing come the spring, lol, all the garden plants are dead.
The ice fog we’ve had here on and off is basically the same situation, but with saturated humidity. But severe wind chill is even worse. At least when it’s foggy it isn’t windy.
Don’t know what it is in Oscala but the Texas valley is supposed to get down to 20*. Tracy brought me grapefruit at Christmas time.
I’ve been in Florida more than 30 years (from Indiana), and I cannot recall a colder and more prolonged cold spell as this one. Really incredible. I can hardly type my hands are so cold! I’m glad I picked all my lemons last week and froze the juice or they would not have made it through this mess. My oranges are a loss, as are the calamondins.
.
Ocala Florida - well North
Not far from Gainesville FL
The Brahma Restaurant is still there
-
Grapefruit will be freezing everywhere
I'm bundled up here in South Central Texas too! Heat running constantly and I even have a tower heater near me that I use off and on, lol. We aren't used to this.
I'm sorry about your plant loss and know how you feel. We've had lots of rain and little sunshine. Gets depressing. Maybe the rain helped protect some plant roots from freezing.
OK
Well, keep up on your Florida news.
That sucks...I like lizards...Got them eating meal worms right outa my hand in Cal. ... Good luck.
Maybe that is the key, saturated humidity. Perhaps the humidity metric only works up to a certain point 100 %, but you can still get more humid dense air (over saturated) near the ocean coasts ?
W. Broward here and it’s really cold. I just turn on the gas oven once in a while to keep the house above 70. And I’m not used to wearing long pants this many days in a row!
.
Grandfather Mountain NC gets some windchill factor at times
Wind chill calculations actually do take humidity into account in some countries. A damp wind blowing off the ocean feels physically colder than a dry wind with a considerably lower temperature. The reason is evaporation on the skin, which is very similar to the body’s own mechanism for cooling down when hot ... sweat.
I’ll take zero in the Colorado Rockies over 20 on the coast of Maine any day, as far as one being more comfortable than the other.
If I’m not mistaken, they’ve recorded temps of -30 or even lower there, too.
Yes. That is important when you are outside, but when you are a retired person inside your Florida home with no central heating, wind chill is not important. What really matters is the density of the cold air sneaking into your home.
IIRC, freezes in Florida were more common forty years ago.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.