Wintry Weather Gives Citrus Growers Chills

Florida Growers Optimistic That Crop Damage Was Minor; East Coast, Mid-Atlantic Feel Freeze

(CBS/AP)  Florida's citrus growers reported only minor damage early Thursday from a blast of cold air, even as snow flurries fell in at least one part of the Sunshine State.

Citrus industry officials believe the state's groves escaped major damage, because it didn't get as cold as forecast.

When temperatures get down to 28 degrees for four hours, a tree can be ruined. While forecasts said it could get that cold overnight, temperatures hovered in the 30s in central and South Florida where most orange and grapefruit growers are based.

"Overall, this is preliminary, but it looks like we have dodged a bullet," said Rusty Wiygul, director of grower affairs for Florida Citrus Mutual. He said there will be pockets of minor damage.

Many farmers pulled all-nighters, spraying their crops with water in an effort to protect them from the cold, reports CBS' The Early Show. The water freezes, insulating the temperature at 32 degrees.

Growers are also harvesting as many mature fruits and vegetables as possible.

Temperatures in many areas of northern Florida dropped into the 20s early Thursday, following the 30-degree temperatures some northern parts of the state saw Wednesday. Cross City was 20. Farther south, Orlando was 31 and it was 39 in Miami. Snow flurries were reported near the Daytona Beach coastline, the first in Florida since 2006.

People in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, the Southeast, the Gulf Coast and the Ohio Valley woke up to sub-freezing temperatures.

Upstate New York had single-digit readings and wind chills well below zero. At 7 a.m., it was 8 degrees below zero in Watertown, N.Y., with the wind chill making it feel like 20 below. In Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks, it was 17 below with calm winds.

The lowest reading in Maine was 23 below near Ashland, the National Weather Service said. Detroit was 6. Ohio saw 9 degrees at Cleveland Hopkins Airport, 8 in Youngstown and 7 in Dayton.

People shivered overnight inside about 1,000 homes that lost power in the Cincinnati suburb of Madeira after a vehicle hit a utility pole around 12:30 a.m. Duke Energy indicates nearly all the customers were back on by 6 a.m.

On the West Coast, a trio of rainstorms was expected to hit Southern California this weekend, with the first band of showers set to arrive Thursday.

The heaviest precipitation is expected overnight Friday, with lowland areas around Los Angeles and Orange County getting a total of up to 4 inches and mountain areas up to 6 inches.

Officials urged homeowners in mudslide-prone areas to stock up on sandbags, monitor the news for evacuations and keep an eye on local streams and flood control channels for flooding. Fire stations throughout the region were handing out free sandbags.

Citrus crops were not the only ones at risk in Florida. On Thursday, farmers will be checking on other crops that Florida produces in the winter for much of the country, from broccoli and cabbage in north Florida to strawberries, tomatoes, corn and citrus toward the south.

In Louisiana, strawberry farmers covered their crops with material in an attempt to protect them. Peach farmers, however, welcomed the cold, which they say benefits their fruit trees during their period of dormancy.

"The more cold weather we have, the better," said Joe Mitchum, a peach grower outside Ruston, La.

The unusually low temperatures led New Orleans emergency officials to enact a "freeze plan" on New Year's Eve, allowing homeless shelters to temporarily exceed their fire safety capacity. Six shelters took on 700 extra cots between them, boosting the city's capacity of about 400 shelter beds. The plan is expected to last through Thursday.

Snow fell Wednesday from Ohio through eastern Kentucky and West Virginia into parts of Virginia and Maryland. West Virginia's rugged Randolph County got 13 inches, the Weather Service said.

At least 40 of West Virginia's 55 counties closed schools Wednesday because of snow-covered roads and freezing temperatures. Dozens of schools also were closed Wednesday in southeastern Michigan.

[ibzjem]

The orange juice shortage will cause the price of gas to go up. Just watch! :)

[lochlan-2009]

skykk - SSHHH!!! Your going to blow the alternative energy lobbyed, global warming campaign they''re shoving down our throats.

[mbcsmith]

All you global warming chicken littles better turn up the heat or you will freeze to death.

[blancadebree]

Maybe they should follow Governor Sonny Perdue''s lead and pray for heat.

http://blancadebree.blogspot.com
Come into the Blancasphere

skykk: wrong.

Weather extremes have been predicted with global climate warming. More of everything, more extreme temperatures, in both directions.

I''m in Tampa Bay, it was 33 when I went out for my walk this morning. There was ice on the grass where the sprinklers had been running. Two days ago it was in the 80''s.

[extremophil]

This global warming is going to freeze us all to death.

This global warming is going to freeze us all to death.

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Extremophil: and yet the global average temperature keeps going up. Doesn''t that tell you anything?

[displeased]

Your going to blow the alternative energy lobbyed, global warming campaign they''''re shoving down our throats.
Posted by lochlan

It appears you''re proud of our addiction to oil. I hope I''m not around when it runs out or the high prices crash our economy. Global warming or not, we need to become more efficient with our resources.

[hawksprings]

Algore, in his 2000 tome "Earth In The Lurch" said that we would soon not have winter anymore in North America because of human-caused Global Warming.

Algore said in his mockumentary "Inconvenient Goof" that because of human-caused Global Warming, we would have more and more massive Hurricanes.

Algore also said that the seas would rise 20 feet.

Algore also said that you can purchase carbon credits from his company, GIM. Make checks payable to: "Albert A. Gore, Jr."

[setumstrt9]

Dang Global Warming!!!!!!!!!!!

Algore, in his 2000 tome "Earth In The Lurch" said that we would soon not have winter anymore in North America because of human-caused Global Warming.

Algore said in his mockumentary "Inconvenient Goof" that because of human-caused Global Warming, we would have more and more massive Hurricanes.

Algore also said that the seas would rise 20 feet.

Algore also said that you can purchase carbon credits from his company, GIM. Make checks payable to: "Albert A. Gore, Jr."
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hawksprings: Are you still obsessed with Al Gore? And still living along De Nial, I see. The world is leaving you behind, hawk.

[rushlimpdrug]

Posted by hawksprings at 10:47 AM

1. I''ve got $$$ money riding that you are from out in the woods.
2. Funny how you know-it-all punks come out when one little story like this hits the news, but run and hide when California is burning or some other place is in a drought,

Good work shallow brain.
Being obnoxious, having a loud mouth to get your point across is what conserv repubs thrive on.
You and the Ron Paul poster are a great example of this.

[hawksprings]

rushlimp,

What''s so obvious about you Global Warming Sheep is how you try to have it both ways.

You all act as if the planet NEVER had weather extremes before Father Algore and The Church Of Global Warming was formed.

You try to pretend that we NEVER had killer hurricanes, killer droughts, killer floods, killer tornadoes, killer heat waves, or killer cold snaps before Human-Caused Global Warming.

You try to act like we never had record setting temps before Human-Caused Global Warming.

You would have us believe that the planet NEVER had extreme weather events before 1990, and every time there''s a hurricane, or a flood, or a heat wave, it''s OUR fault, and that we could actually STOP the planet from having WEATHER!!!!

[mike71067]

Headline: "Wintry Weather Gives Citrus Growers Chills"

That "global warming" is gonna kill us.

[co2max]

The freeze in Florida is weather. It is not climate. Global warming is not a factor here. Nor is extreme short-term conditions an indicator of climate change. It''s just freak weather. I''m sure everybody''s grandparents told you all stories about the "Big One in ''49"

[hawksprings]

Here''s a lovely little article from a Russian Scientist telling us we better buy plenty of fur coats because we''re heading into another cold period on the planet.

He also disputes many ideas of The Consensus on Human-Caused Global Warming.

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080103/94768732.html