Florida feels coldest temperatures in 9 years

// added January 04, 2010 // 26 comments //
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UrbanGypsy

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http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/1408061.html

The first work week of the New Year will begin with a shiver. An arctic cold front has gripped the eastern half of the country, and South Florida will brave its coldest cold snap in almost a decade.

A wind chill advisory was issued for most of South Florida, and temperatures were forecast to dip below freezing in far western Broward. On Monday and Tuesday, the mercury is expected to top out around 60 degrees -- 17 degrees below normal.

The lows in most of South Florida are expected to be in the mid-30s to low 40s.

Sub-freezing temperatures are expected farther north.

Jacksonville fell to 26 degrees overnight Saturday, well below the typical temperature of 42 degrees, said Dave Samuhel, a meteorologist for AccuWeather.com. A low of 20 degrees was forecast for Sunday night, which would break the existing record of 22 degrees, Samuhel said. Orlando was expected to slip to 27 degrees Sunday night, shattering its record of 31 degrees.

The reach of the cold even extended to Key West and Havana, Samuhel said. Saturday's overnight low in Key West was 55 degrees; in Havana it was 45.

Sunday night, hundreds of people lined up at shelters in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The Salvation Army in Fort Lauderdale expected to house more than twice its 40-person capacity, said Sally Gress, the organization's director of development. The Miami Rescue Mission planned to accommodate at least 80 people beyond the 255 permanent residents.

Farmers were preparing for the cold wave's economic impact. Just three weeks ago, Jane and Daniel Lyons planted new papayas, beans and eggplant at the 120-acre Lyons Farms near Homestead.

"We've very nervous," said Jane Lyons, who operates the farm with her husband, Dan. "We have quite a few tender crops that even a frost would hurt."

Citrus growers in Central Florida and the Panhandle also have reason to worry, said Rod Hemphill, a spokesman for the Florida Farm Bureau. Although a taste of cold weather can make oranges sweeter, sustained cold endangers their growth.

Typically, groves can survive freezing temperatures that last for about three hours. The state emergency management department expected freezes lasting from five to seven hours in inland areas and from two to four hours near the coast.

The unusual weather is the result of a series of cold fronts swirling over South Florida, replacing one with the other, said Chuck Caracozza, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The cycling of cold fronts is partially due to the climate pattern known as El Niño, which Caracozza said traditionally sends colder, wetter weather to South Florida during the region's dry season.

The last time we have experienced such a stretch of cold weather was in January 2001, when Miami-Dade had six consecutive days with lows below 50. The weather is forecast to warm up a bit on Thursday -- with a high of 65 and a low of 56 -- only to return to lows in the mid-40s again on Friday.
  1. groups:
    Green
  2. tags:
    News,  Green,  Environment,  Climate Change,  3 more

26 comments // Florida feels coldest temperatures in 9 years

  • smallgod
    • 0
      smallgod  

    • It is so freakin cold down here right now! 42 degrees?! I didn't sign up for this! My thin blood is not used to this! I am wearing 2 layers trying to deal with this!

      All the while complaining this to my friend, who's in Chicago, sitting in -1 temperatures. I guess we're still pretty lucky. :)

    • 2 months ago
  • comfy
    • 0
      comfy  

    • Now Florida gets to feel the pain of Ohio XD I love cold weather cause it means snow is going to come. Sadly probably not for Florida though, they still won't be able to experience that.

    • 2 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Yes, Jubal, it snowed in Kenya last year and now they are in extreme drought. Extreme is the name of the climate change game. This is what we need to read about and understand. Ocean temperatures are actually warming. Trends are about more than surface temperature. I hope Florida's crops will survive.

    • 2 months ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • Climate change causes the climate pendulum to swing wider to the extremes. I am so sorry to see this happening to Florida.

      I remember back in 1992 when it snowed in Malibu, California. That was a sight to see.

    • 2 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • And it's in part due to rising temperatures in the Pacific Ocean caused by El Nino. Global warming isn't just about warm temperatures.

    • 2 months ago
  • coughsyup
  • KSirys
  • SHAWN_RITTIMAN
    • 0
      SHAWN_RITTIMAN  

    • I have lived in extreme conditions in Nevada and other spots.....but when it adds to the economic crunch in relation to their fruit crop we all hurt in our ends...I mean in the end. Orange juice already cost more than.

    • 2 months ago
  • smallgod
  • Chique
    • 0
      Chique  
    • SHAWN_RITTIMAN:

      Absolutely it's absurd. I only buy Florida's own and most of the vegetables and fruits aren't only shipped across country (nice use of fuel and picked so they never ripen or over ripen) but from South America. Why can't the large grocery chains buy from local farmers first? Seems it would save all of us a lot of money.

    • 2 months ago
  • smallgod
    • 0
      smallgod  
    • SHAWN_RITTIMAN:

      That's good juice. I buy publix brand florida orange juice and florida fruits when I can find them there. Recently I got a bag of apples from South America and one of them was totally red inside! It freaked me out so I read about it and found that happens when radiation 'isn't done properly' - it literally turns the entire inside of the apple red. Weird...weird stuff.

    • 2 months ago
  • Mariased
  • 2hellnwait
  • Ihatethemall
  • ifthatsalright
  • coughsyup
  • Ihatethemall
    • 0
      Ihatethemall  

    • Shit, I wish it was 39 or 36 degrees here. Hell, I just wish it would stay above zero. 20 below sat AM and 16 below sun AM 10 below this AM. I welcome global warming.

    • 2 months ago
  • UrbanGypsy
  • Ihatethemall
    • 0
      Ihatethemall  
    • Ihatethemall:

      Well I have a place in Iowa and a place in North Dakota on the Canadian border. I am less than a mile from Canada. Last years coldest temps that I can recall were as cold as 47 below zero and wind chills were reaching 90 below. In Iowa last year it got as cold as 35 below and the wind chills were at 80 below. Iowa doesnt stay as cold as long but in ND the temps may drop below zero and stay that cold for a month or more without getting above zero.

    • 2 months ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • Ihatethemall:

      @ihatethemall, my mom lives in Iowa and she was telling me that it was below zero, but on the plane coming back from Vegas for New Years, I met a couple from Alaska that live in a small city with no roads to access it on the Yukon river, I can't remember the name, but it is about 150 miles north of Fairbanks. They said it was 50 below zero in their town, and that is why they went to Vegas, to get to warmer climate. It happened to be 38F on New Years in Vegas and it only got up to 45F during the day.

      It was just like Oregon is now, only for the Alaska couple, it was like summer.

    • 2 months ago
  • smallgod
    • 0
      smallgod  
    • Ihatethemall:

      Brrr!!! Most of my family lives in Iowa - whereabouts is your house? I always find it interesting when people are from or live in Iowa because you don't meet too many of them. It's a great state. Some of my family lives in Cedar Rapids, Grinnell, Eldora and Iowa Falls.

    • 2 months ago
  • UrbanGypsy
    • 0
      UrbanGypsy  

    • The coldest temperature ever recorded in Miami is 30 °F. Today the temperature was 39 °F in the early morning. It is expected to drop to 36 °F on Wednesday night...

    • 2 months ago
  • JeremyGoode
  • Chique
  • UrbanGypsy
  • Chique
    • 0
      Chique  
    • Chique:

      North Tampa was 30 this morning with frost on the rooftops - compared to the rest of the country I guess we can't complain. It's actually a nice change as long as it doesn't stay too long. I remember one winter in Orlando it went down to 17.

    • 2 months ago
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