Environment

Snowing in Florida, Bitter Cold Says Florida Weather Service

by Amy Judd | January 9, 2010 at 08:31 am

5024 views | 34 Recommendations | 7 comments

It has been snowing in Florida a little today and the central part of the state has seen some snow flurries and light sleet turning in to rain as the temperatures warmed a little. Parts of Volusia, Orange, Seminole and Lake counties have all seen a little snow today.

According to the National Weather Service, bitter cold winds are moving down in to Florida, and it is not expected to warm up until next week. The snow will turn to colder sunshine later today, but along and south of the I-4 corridor, there is still the possibility for some light snow showers.

Afternoon highs are expected to reach in the 30s and maybe the 40s but the wind will make it seem colder and the NWS is warning Florida farmers that their crop may be affected by freezing temperatures tonight.

Even Miami might see freezing temperatures Sunday morning.

The last time snow flurries were reported in Volusia County was back in January 2008, and then 5 years prior as well. A significant amount of snow fell there back on December 23, 1989.

This is even worse news for the kamikaze iguanas already falling from the trees.

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Pat Garcia

at 12:47 on January 9th, 2010

It´s very cold here in Baja Mexico too!

Hugh Askew

at 14:34 on January 9th, 2010

We got up to 6° F above 0 today, sun is shining, almost no wind, feels toasty warm! Even the wind chill is above 0° F, it was -30° when i went to bed last night.

Rory Cripps

at 09:45 on January 10th, 2010

Hugh: Stop bragging! lol!

Rory Cripps

at 13:25 on January 9th, 2010

Amy: Thanks for the story. I reside in the Tampa Bay Florida area. It's been unusually cold here for the past week.

From the middle of December to about the beginning of January, we typically experience a cold front. Temperatures reach a low of about 30 degrees. The lowest temperatures occur more often than not between 5 and 7 a.m. But this week, the temperatures have been in the 20s and the Governor has declared a state of emergency as a result. There is quite a bit of frost on the ground during the early morning hours.

The reason for the declared state of emergency has much to do with Florida's citrus crop industry. Prolonged hard freezes can wreak havoc on oranges, etc.

Presently (4 p.m.) the ground surface temperature is about 38 degrees.

Schools in particular are feeling the affects of the unusually cold weather. Their physical plants are geared more toward the warm weather than they are toward the cold weather and as a result, the news media has been paying close attention to conditions within classrooms. I, myself, spent the past week in constant contact with an elementary school principle in order to address some of the comfort conditions throughout his school.

One plus to the cold weather is that the excellent strawberries which are grown in Plant City Florida will be even sweeter than they normally are once weather conditions get back to normal.

Amy Judd

at 14:40 on January 9th, 2010

Thanks for the added info!

Rhonda Cardoso-Smith (not verified)

at 17:28 on January 9th, 2010

Is it worse for plants to be covered by a plastic tarp than nothing at all? I have ran out of sheets and towels. Tks. Rhonda

Rory Cripps

at 06:00 on January 10th, 2010

Rhonda Cardoso-Smith (not verified): It's not worse. However plastic is not a good choice. Condensation droplets can cause the leaves to burn.

Also, as you may know, the covering should not touch the plant. This will also damage the leaves.

I'd go out to Home Depot or Lowes and buy material specifically designed for plant protection.

I typically build a PVC frame around groupings of plants, set heat lights around the bases of the plants, make sure I watered thoroughly, and fasten multi-layers of protective covering to the frame with tye wraps.