Florida Orange Growers Brace for Possible Killing Freeze

The Wall Street Journal ^ | JANUARY 9, 2010, 3:28 P.M. ET | Tom Sellen

[devolve]

.

Anchorage Alaska is warmer than Ocala Florida right now!

It’s Global Confusion!

[potlatch]

Thanks Varina. I guess you have to experience both to know it's true. Many won't believe it.

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.

[steve86]

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.

[potlatch]

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.

[Windcatcher]

"Anchorage Alaska is warmer than Ocala Florida right now!"

This is indeed a Special Day(tm), and should be remembered for posterity. We can call it Kick a Global Warmer(tm) in the Nuts Day.

[varina davis]

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.

[devolve]

.

Ocala Florida - well North

Not far from Gainesville FL

The Brahma Restaurant is still there

-

Grapefruit will be freezing everywhere

[justa-hairyape]

Thanks for the advice. Aware of the fire hazards. Use one small ceramic space heater in the igloo. On a wide pedestal with nothing near it. Turns off if it falls over. Aimed toward my feet on the bed, not the insulation. Igloo area is over 10 feet long and about 8 feet wide. Did not need the heater last night. Don't like to breath cold air while sleeping. So extra blankets wont help. The shop has an indoor very old gas heater that is just not efficient enough. Gas bills were way too high.

[potlatch]

[I cannot recall a colder and more prolonged cold spell as this one.]

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.

[potlatch]

OK
Well, keep up on your Florida news.

[justa-hairyape]

There are two readings coming out of Ocala Florida. See link in post 36. The main one I linked is the coldest reading on the WeatherUnderground site for Florida. It is called Silver Spring Shore Ocala. Elevation is 0 feet. So I am assuming that is right on the coast. Current reading there is 14.5 F. There is also a Ocala Airport reading (further down the page) that has the current temp at 25 F. Elevation there is 89 feet. So I am assuming that it is further inland. That Silver Springs Ocala reading is about 10 F lower then the lowest lows found in other areas of Florida. At any rate, the all time low for Florida is -2 F. We may make a run at that tomorrow night when the clouds are gone.

[dragnet2]

Our poor little lizards are dying - that may sound silly, but they’re typical of this place, and seeing them frozen on the ground is very upsetting. I’d rather see Al Gore frozen into a block of ice somewhere soon.

That sucks...I like lizards...Got them eating meal worms right outa my hand in Cal. ... Good luck.

[justa-hairyape]

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 ?

[3boysdad]

You guys crack me up with your debate over a dry versus humid cold. What matters is the wind chill.

[bicyclerepair]

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!

[devolve]

.

Grandfather Mountain NC gets some windchill factor at times

[RegulatorCountry]

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.

[RegulatorCountry]

If I’m not mistaken, they’ve recorded temps of -30 or even lower there, too.

[justa-hairyape]

What matters is the wind chill.

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.

[Aroostook25]

IIRC, freezes in Florida were more common forty years ago.