Florida Growers Field First Cold Snap
December 9, 2010 [updated Dec. 10, 5:30 p.m.]
Freezing and/or sub-freezing temperatures made their way across Central and South Florida starting Tuesday (Dec. 7) morning through Thursday morning. The National Weather Service in Melbourne and Miami issued a freeze warning for much of Central and South Florida in effect from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. EST Tuesday, which was then continued from late Tuesday night through Wednesday morning.
A modified Arctic air mass affected the Sunshine State during the early part of the week. Low temperatures ranged in South Florida from the upper 20s to around 30 across Glades and Hendry counties, and from 29 to 32 degrees across much of inland Palm Beach, inland Collier, and inland Broward counties.
Inland portions of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Collier counties also were included in the freeze warning areas for Wednesday morning.
For Central Florida, minimum temperatures dipped into the low 30s over much of the area with upper 20s over rural, interior locations Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.
Hard freeze warning and watches persisted during the same time period for North Florida counties.
Early reports on the morning of Dec. 7 indicated corn and green bean damage around the Belle Glade area. According to Gene McAvoy, Hendry County Extension agent and Florida Grower contributor, cold damage to tomatoes and other vegetables in that area was minor.
According to Lisa Lochridge of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association and Florida Grower columnist, Florida citrus havs so far escaped any notable freeze damage, while some growers of strawberries, tomatoes, green beans, and sweet corn were reporting frost damage.
Click here to see how low the temps dipped around the state Wednesday morning (Dec. 8).
In related news, three separate helicopter crashes were reported early Wednesday morning in western Palm Beach County near Pahokee. The choppers were deployed by growers to help stir the air to prevent frost damage to crops. Click here for more details on the crashes.
For Wednesday night into Thursday morning, temperatures rebounded across Central and South Florida thanks to increasing cloud cover and scattered showers falling mainly in South Florida.
Temperatures will continue to moderate Friday through Sunday, until the next Arctic front moves through late Sunday or early Monday. Forecast models continue to insist that the next air mass will be colder than the one this week. Also, it appears that winds may be much stronger than what was experienced this week.
Growers, click here to access the Florida Automated Weather Network’s Cold Protection Toolkit.
Stay tuned for the January issue of Florida Grower to see how to take advantage of cold protection tools.
Source: National Weather Service
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