California Shivers

(CBS/AP)  It's no laughing matter – icicles are in the orange groves, people are in shelters, and even birds are huddling together for warmth, in temperatures so cold California's governor has declared an emergency.

California's weather lurched from beach to ski in less than a week as an arctic blast delivered rare snowfalls in low-lying southern cities and put the state's $1 billion citrus industry on alert.

California's citrus groves had at least two nights of record-low temperatures this weekend, and agriculture officials continue to worry about the possibility of extensive destruction of crops.

Counties where most of the state's oranges, lemons and tangerines are grown saw temperatures plummet into the teens to mid-20s both in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

"It was a very bad night," said Nancy Lungren, spokeswoman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Damage to citrus groves in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California was "widespread" and "significant," Lungren said. But the full impact would not be known until inspectors had a chance to check fruit picked after the cold snap began Friday.

Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an emergency proclamation that made more state funds available to counties coping with cold weather. More than 1,300 people have sought shelter from the subfreezing temperatures at warming centers opened by the California National Guard throughout the state, said Greg Renick, a spokesmen for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

State officials asked fruit packers to keep produce harvested during the freeze off the market for five days so they could check for quality problems and keep damaged fruit off store shelves.

"If it turns to slush, that's bad fruit, and they'll dispose of it," Lungren said.

Citrus growers rushed to pick as much fruit as possible before the cold weather hit. That should keep citrus supplies steady for the next week to ten days, said Dave Kranz, a spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation.

A freeze watch is expected to remain in effect through Tuesday morning.

Starting Wednesday, cloud cover from the Pacific coast could trap heat and increase temperatures to slightly above freezing, National Weather Service meteorologist Cindy Bean said Sunday.

Farmers said they would continue to burn bonfires, blow warmer air through 30-foot wind machines, and spray trees with warm irrigation water Sunday night.

A severe cold snap can destroy crops, leave hundreds of farmworkers unemployed and have long-term effects if trees are damaged.

The industry took two years to recover from a 1990 freeze that lasted a week, said Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual, a 2,000-member trade organization. A three-day freeze in December 1998 destroyed 85 percent of California's citrus crop, a loss valued at $700 million.

Officials estimated the value of the 2007 citrus crop still on the trees at $960 million.

Record lows were reported Sunday throughout Southern California, including downtown Los Angeles, which hit 36 degrees, breaking a record in place since 1932. Long Beach hit 31 degrees, beating the record set in 1963. A 3-degree reading in Lancaster, about 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles, shattered the old record of 10 degrees, also set 1963.

In Bakersfield, temperatures tied the record low at 25 degrees, according to the weather service.

So far no deaths have been reported as a result of the cold.

Meanwhile the weather is causing some unusual sights for birdwatchers.

In Gridley, Calif., patches of ice are forcing migratory birds to huddle together in noisy groups.

An estimated 1.5 million birds are sticking together at the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area, about 130 miles northeast of San Francisco. That's roughly double the number of birds usually there this time of year.

Naturalists say snow geese, bald eagles, golden eagles and other birds that fly from California to Mexico every year may need extra time to refuel and rest due to the unusually cold temperatures and high winds over the weekend.

[rf35]

jebediah76--"I'll bet he would not be so cavalier if the weather made it impossible for him to .... wait...what does the economy in Buffalo rely on?? ummmmmmmm....anyone?" Buffalo Wings, of course!

gamine3--Lots of good points from newster1. As far as your rebuttals: I just got back from Japan...the aged seem to be doing just fine for themselves. China's problem stems from couples killing female babies so they could keep trying to have a boy to carry on the family name. I, for one, saw this coming about 20 years ago. They made their bed, time to lie in it. Finally, how about taking some responsibility for your own old age?!? How dare you expect the next generation to support you? How about setting up a long-term care plan, some retirement investments, etc. Or are your kids plowing through all your financial resourses? That's it, I'm giving money to the Foundation for Negative Population growth this year. Oh, and newster1...let's go ahead and do one little thing today; it might not help much, but it can't hurt.

[gamine3]

The average family size is only two children, by the way, and there are plenty of overspending yupsters who spoil one kid and themselves rotten, and frugal families who are wise consumers raising four kids with less waste. My family is just myself and my husband, by the way, I just happen to dislike these rants based on flimsy scientific evidence.

The population "bomb" has never become what Paul Erhlich claimed, repeatedly, over the last forty years. When he first made these claims, he suggested that Britain would no longer exist in a matter of decades, and that millions of Americans would die of hunger in the next 15 years. That was in 1969, and influenced movies such as "Soylent Green". His hideous future scenario did not happen. His followers were wrong, just as the Heaven's Gate cult and other doomsayers predicting armageddon tend to be.

[gamine3]

"Your biggest contribution to stopping the problems is DONT have kids or only have ONE per couple instead of 3 and 4
Doing that- having ONE kid instead of 3 ELIMINATES two cars, two homes, two mouths to feed, two septic systems, two of everything else that uses oil, plastics, pollutes etc."

Ah, more illogic from the misanthrope wing of humanity.

Japan's population drain is causing serious problems, such as with the huge number of aged who have only one caregiver. In China, it is estimated that there will be 1/3 fewer women in just a few years (imagine the issues this will cause with human trafficking, rapes, crime, etc as some men will never be able to marry or find a lover). There are other social problems stemming from the one child policy, such as one couple needing to provide all the financial support for two sets of aged parents, rather than spreading it between one or more siblings.

It is shameful when someone attacks families for making a choice to have four children. Presumably that person cares not about Social Security and what subsequent generations will do to support the rest of us as we age.

[oleander8]

to tpeks40

I just don't get where all your hostility comes from and I don't live in California, I live in the NorthEast.

[nothappyatall]

Your biggest contribution to stopping the problems is DONT have kids or only have ONE per couple instead of 3 and 4
Doing that- having ONE kid instead of 3 ELIMINATES two cars, two homes, two mouths to feed, two septic systems, two of everything else that uses oil, plastics, pollutes etc.

Your saving a quart of gas walking today instead of driving is a total waste of effort- the baby born today somewhere at 1:01 PM will totally ERASE that saving you did and more every day it is here.
Not having that baby means that's another 3,000 sq ft house not being heated and cooled by fossil fuels, electric and appliances not being used,toilet, sink and shower not being used and the food not being consumed- you saved tons and tons of food, pollution, tens of thousands of gallons of fuel, saved tons of trash from the landfill and so on.

[nothappyatall]

The heat from engines etc is miniscule, but generated heat is radiated out into space and lost where it is something like 100 below zero. You feel this effect at night after sundown and the heat created during the day radiates out- especially if there are clear skies, cloudy skies in the winter tend to slow the heat loss somewhat.

Wolf563 it's too LATE to have any effect on this by doing "one thing a day" like walking to the store instead of driving, we have increased the US population from 100 million in 1950 to over 300 million today- THAT, not how much each person uses or doesnt is THE problem. We have cars now that get 400% more MPG than cars from the 70's yet we import more oil for gasoline than ever before despite that, why? because we TRIPLED the US population in 50 years!

[tpeks40]

You sound very smug, but Californians don't have the insulated homes or the wardrobes because the weather is an aberration of the norm in this region. They'll "deal with it" because they are Californians.

Posted by oleander8


I'll bet Tpeks in buffalo will be a little upset when the price of orange juice goes up to $6 a quart...


Posted by jebediah76

To you two disgruntled Californians,

First off, I get my orange juice from Florida. Our economy relies on the auto industry, energy production, medical research, and our N.Y. State University at Buffalo even has a major grant for earthquake research, beating out universities from California for that distinction.

And to oleander8, Californians don't have insulated homes? Well, they should. It would save energy when you turn on your air conditioners.

I'm only reacting to postings I've read in the past regarding our bad weather problems from Californians who believe they live in paradise. Soon your state will be part of the Pacific Ocean, and I'll be shoveling snow every winter. Enjoy.

[mcmlxxvad]

Has anyone ever thought about other sources of heat, other than the greenhouse effect? It seems to me that heat of combustion from billions of internal combustion engines, big and small, must be contributing something. Where does all that heat go? It stays trapped just as the heat from the sun does. There is also waste heat from all kinds of industrial processes, power plants (especially nuclear), etc. Does this heat ever factor in to scientist's equations?

[jebediah76]

I'll bet Tpeks in buffalo will be a little upset when the price of orange juice goes up to $6 a quart.

I'll bet he would not be so cavalier if the weather made it impossible for him to .... wait...what does the economy in Buffalo rely on?? ummmmmmmm....anyone?

[jebediah76]

Yeah - I currently reside in Alabama - though I am a NYer and will be again quite soon :) -

However, you ask anyone down here - christian and atheist alike - its getting hotter every year - Record number of consecutive 90+ days in a row - two years running. Winters are exceedingly mild, football games in December in shorts is odd even for the deep south.

You can blame it on anything you want, but global warming is a reality that will hurt us all in the end. Whether you think its a result of you driving that big fat SUV around (my bet) or on "natural fluctuations" - the fact is that we help mitigate it by signing and abiding by things like the Kyoto treaty.

We, as a nation, can take an active role in fighting or delaying Global Warming - regardless of who or what is to blame. To shrug shoulders and say it is a liberal conspiracy or pseudo science is really quite stupid.

Its real - lets deal with it as intelligent beings, not spoiled little children.