When It Rains, It Pours

The Deep South is in line for drenching rain and possible flooding.

Heavy rain already fell through central Texas, and wet weather is pushing into eastern Texas.

Today, the rainstorm will enter the central Gulf Coast region, then move on to the Southeast tonight and Saturday.

Rainfall from the storm will range from 1 to 3 inches, certainly enough to cause local flash flooding.

In addition to heavy rain, there is concern for isolated heavy thunderstorms that could produce wind gusts over 60 miles per hour.

No widespread severe weather outbreak is expected, however.

Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist John Kocet.

Flooding Targeting the South

Strong storms and flooding will threaten the Southeast through Saturday as a powerful storm system pushes eastward.

Areas from eastern Texas through South Carolina will have 1 to 2 inches of rain, which will swell creeks and rivers across the Deep South.


Some areas of Georgia and South Carolina are already experiencing flooding, and additional rain could make the problem even worse.

As this system moves eastward, some areas of Louisiana and Mississippi could also get strong storms capable of damaging wind gusts.

As these storms develop, travel across roadways and interstates, including I-95, I-10, and I-20, could become delayed from downed trees and ponding.

Story By AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Eric Reese.

December Florida Climate Summary

Prepared by David F. Zierden and Melissa Griffin The Florida Climate Center

Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

Click on heading to read full report on AgroClimate.

Governor extends Executive Order 10-21

Governor issues Executive Order 10-07 that extends EO 10-01, relating to freezing temperatures for an additional seven days.

This declaration will ensure that timely precautions are taken to protect Florida’s agricultural crops and citrus. If you have any questions or need additional information, please call Governor Crist’s press office at (850) 488-5394.

Click on link below in order to download EO 10-07:
http://www.flgov.com/pdfs/orders/10-07-freezing.pdf

Southern Regional Forecast

Showers and thunderstorms near the Southeast Coast will move out to sea by this afternoon, but persist into the afternoon hours across the Florida Peninsula.

A mix of rain and snow is possible on the back side of this system in parts of Tennessee.

Windy conditions are expected across the Southeast.

Most precipitation should be gone by tonight, with the exception of some snow showers in the Southern Appalachians.

The system moving into California tomorrow will begin to bring a chance of rain, sleet, freezing rain, and snow to parts of the Southern Plains Wednesday night into Thursday, spreading east across the Southeast Friday and Saturday.

Dry and chilly weather is expected on Sunday.

Forecast by Weather.com

Dangerous Squall Line Sunday

An intense squall line of thunderstorms will track into the southeastern U.S. Sunday afternoon and evening, bringing heavy downpours and damaging wind gusts.

The squall line of thunderstorms will stretch from North Carolina to the Florida Panhandle, racing eastward through Sunday evening.

In addition to flooding downpours, thunderstorms will produce frequent cloud-to-ground lightning, hail and wind gusts in excess of 70 mph, which will lead to downed trees.

The combination of strong winds and lightning will also likely lead to some power outages.

Story By AccuWeather.com senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson.

Southern U.S. Weather Forecast

Showers and thunderstorms will roam the central and southern Florida peninsula today.

Meanwhile, the Southeast will see gradually improving conditions while rain will increase across far western Texas during the late afternoon hours.

Winds will become strong and gusty across the southern high Plains gusting in excess of 30 miles per hour by this evening.

Highs today will range from the 40s in much of North Carolina and Tennessee to the 60s and 70s from southern Georgia and Florida to Oklahoma and Texas. Portions of extreme south Texas and south Florida may hit 80.

Over the weekend, a strong cold front will sweep from the southern High Plains early Saturday to the Southeast coast by early Monday.

Locally heavy rain and thunderstorms will precede the front. Some of the thunderstorms could be severe.

Forecast by Weather.com

Florida Ag Chief tours freeze-ravaged growing areas

IMMOKALEE, Fla. — Calling damage to Florida growing areas substantial, Florida agriculture commissioner Charles Bronson said every south Florida field he has visited was hit hard by the freeze in early to mid-January.

Bronson, who on Jan. 20 toured production areas in Homestead, Belle Glade and Immokalee, said produce shipments are down significantly and said the state’s growers will likely sustain hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

"The salvage numbers are not good," Bronson said. "It will be pretty bad. This week, we are at about 40% of where we were in shipments this time of the year last year.

So we know how much damage that has caused us. The question is how much more will manifest itself when we get to the end of it as warm weather will show more damage."

Bronson said his agency isn’t able to release a final damage figure yet, adding that his office is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies and grower groups to determine a final estimate for requesting federal disaster assistance.

For the sake of the farmers who had millions invested in their crop and for their workers who were counting on this work as their jobs, I was hoping for more salvage than what I was able to see," he said visiting a field north of Immokalee that grows mature-greens and roma tomatoes for West Coast Tomato Inc., Palmetto. That field sustained 100% loss, said D.C. McClure, West Coast Tomato’s vice president, farm manager and owner.

"Everything with fruit set was hurt hard," he said. "The young plants have better survivability. We lost every tomato that was on a stake one foot or taller. Everything’s gone. It’s hard to find anything left."McClure said the freeze made tomatoes as hard as blocks of ice and turned their insides to mush upon slicing.

The 800-acre field was the middle of harvest when the coldest temperatures hit and remained below freezing for up to eight hours during the early morning hours of Jan. 11.Belle Glade, which grows sweet corn and green beans, sustained high losses and damage depends on the maturity of the crop, said Dan Sleep, a senior analyst with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ division of marketing."Some younger plants were wiped out," he said.

Those corn growers are "writing their crop off," according to Bronson, who said, "They’re done. Even if it was close to being salvageable, the sugar content turned to starch." Though a higher percentage of vegetables grown in Homestead should be salvageable, Bronson said the cold severely damaged tomatoes and corn, beans and to a lesser extent, the region’s squash.

He said the worst tomato damage he viewed was in the Immokalee area.

In an early estimate, Florida tomato industry officials on Jan. 18 pegged Immokalee-area damage at 70%.

Though Homestead produces small volumes, Immokalee remains Florida’s primary tomato-producing region January through March.

Published on 01/20/2010 08:31pm By Doug Ohlemeier- The Packer Online

Southern U.S. Weather Forecast

Severe thunderstorms with possible tornadoes and heavy rain will threaten portions of the South through the day.

The threat will extend from central and eastern Mississippi in the morning to Alabama, northern Florida and southern Georgia.

Damaging winds, large hail and tornadoes will all be possible with this powerful storm.

In addition, heavy downpours may trigger flash flooding. Rain totals of 1 to 4 inches with locally higher 4"+ amounts will soak most locations from near the lower-Mississippi Valley eastward.

Temperatures will remain well above average across the majority of the South.

The exception will be northeast Georgia, northern South Carolina and North Carolina from high pressure wedging down east of the Appalachians. Highs will hold in the 40s and 50s in portions of these states.

Forecast from Weather.com

Severe Storm, Soaking Rain Threat in South

An outbreak of strong to severe thunderstorms will move through the South later today and Thursday, while soaking rain spreads over areas farther north.

The storms will produce localized fits of high winds and even a few tornadoes.

The area with the greatest threat of damaging storms will be over the central Gulf Coast by tonight.

New Orleans and Mobile will lie in the path of some of the most volatile storms.

Localized flooding will not only be a concern with the heaviest downpours from storms, but also over communities that will be pelted by a persistent and heavy rain.

Nashville and Atlanta could be among the areas with some urban flooding.

Is this too early for this sort of thing? Not really.

December is the least likely time for severe weather to occur, then the frequency of such storms through the Deep South shows a gradual increase in January and February.

The frequency of severe thunderstorms skyrockets in March when much larger temperature contrasts start to appear through the South.

Story by AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Meghan Evans.

Severe Storms to Threaten Damage in the South

Storms crossing the nation after pummeling California and other states of the West will bring nasty weather eastward with them during the middle to latter part of the week.

Severe storms will hit the Gulf Coast and the Southeast Wednesday night into Thursday, threatening lives and property.

The biggest threats will likely be blinding downpours and flash flooding, but gusty winds above 60 mph could cause damage like power outages and downed trees. Isolated tornadoes cannot be ruled out.

The western to central Gulf Coast will be dealing with stormy weather on Wednesday afternoon into the night. Alabama, Georgia and northern Florida will be under the gun on Thursday.

Story by AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Meghan Evans.

Southern U.S. Weather Forecast

Weather conditions should improve across the South today as the storm system that brought rain yesterday moves out.

Dry weather is expected tomorrow, with most areas remaining dry into Tuesday.

A system developing in the Plains Tuesday night into Wednesday will bring the next chance of rain to the region Wednesday and Thursday, with some lingering showers in Virginia and Florida on Friday.

Temperatures are expected to remain mild for mid-January throughout the week ahead.Highs today will range from around 40 in the mountains of western Virginia to around 80 in South Florida.

Forecast by Weather.com

Overnight Temps around the State

Click on report to enlarge the image!

One-third of Florida vegetables lost to freeze

IMMOKALEE, Fla. — Preliminary estimates from Florida show 10 consecutive nights of freezes destroyed nearly a third of the state’s winter fruit and vegetable production and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

Harvesting remained stopped in many areas as growers wait for warmer weather to see what they can salvage.

The severe cold struck all central and south Florida’s growing regions, from Plant City’s strawberries to vegetables in Immokalee and Naples in southwest Florida to Belle Glade in West Palm Beach County, to Homestead and areas along the East Coast.

On Jan. 14, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson toured the Plant City area and planned to visit other areas hit hard by the severe cold. He is expected to seek federal disaster assistance.

Terrance McElroy, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Tallahassee, said state officials would receive preliminary damage estimates the week of Jan. 18. The cycle of sub-zero overnight temperatures ended Jan. 13.

He said the state expects a minimum of a 30% loss in production and millions of dollars in losses.

McElroy said central Florida experienced freezing temperatures during the early morning hours of Jan. 13.

Though the agency has people on the ground meeting with commodity groups, county extension agents and U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency representatives, McElroy said it’s hard to get solid numbers on damages caused. There are up to 9 million acres of produce grown in the state.

"We anticipate there will be very substantial damages," he said Jan. 14. "The tomatoes, sweet corn, zucchini squash, and many of the winter vegetables grown around Lake Okeechobee and further south, particularly those in lower-lying areas, were severely damaged."

What percentage of the crop will be salvageable, McElroy said, won’t be determined until growers are able to return to fields.

In early reports, growers in Belle Glade reported losing winter corn and beans deals and Immokalee growers reported the freezes destroyed up to 60%-70% of their bell peppers and part of their squash.

"Because of the vulnerability of them, the tender leafy vegetables are much more vulnerable than the citrus grown under the canopy of a tree," McElroy said.

On Jan. 14, Ted Campbell, executive director of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association, Dover, said he saw some growers in 4-5 fields doing limited harvesting.

He said he’s amazed at how resilient plants have been considering the temperatures they endured.

"We are waiting to see how the plants come out," Campbell said. "It’s a guessing game now. A week from now, we could have brown leaves. Some guys have it worse than others, and it’s very erratic by farm.

"Where we see problems are where growers had pump failure or other equipment issues where they lost pressure, but that was in very isolated spots," he said. "The vast majority of the crop seems okay. We are cautiously optimistic to see white blooms."

Meanwhile, the freezing temperatures have raised concerns in Georgia.

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin said growers remain concerned about temperatures but it’s too early to provide damage estimates, according to media reports.

South Georgia greens were damaged by low temperatures Jan. 10 and that continuous subfreezing temperatures are expected to cause damage.

Most Georgia growers haven’t planted their spring crops yet, but some Vidalia onion plantings have been delayed.

In Texas' Rio Grande Valley, low temperatures have set the cabbage crop back, which could effect St. Patrick's Day supplies.

"We didn’t have damage to our cabbage crop (from the freeze)," said Frank Schuster, president of Val Verde Vegetable Co. McAllen, Texas. "What we have had is cabbage maturing about 2 weeks later than what we normally plan for."

This is due to the cold weather and rain during planting in the fall.

"We were fortunate that we were able to plant during the prime time for St. Patrick’s Day," he said. "Whether the crop will come off in time is another question."

McDonald's USA, Oak Brook, Ill., does not expect to have any problems finding enough tomatoes for its sandwiches and salads, said Danya Proud, a company spokeswoman.

"It's business as usual for us," she said. "We will continue to maintain an assured supply of tomatoes for our restaurants."

Retail Editor Pamela Riemenschneider and Markets Editor Andy Nelson contributed to this article, The Packer

Putnam To Inspect Freeze Damage To Crops

January 13, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON – Congressman Adam Putnam will inspect damage to crops, foliage and aquaculture in Central and South Florida that have been hit hard by record cold temperatures this month.

Earlier this week, Putnam led a bipartisan appeal from the Florida Congressional delegation to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be prepared to respond quickly to an anticipated request from the Governor for disaster relief.

“It may be late next week before we will know the full extent of the damage,” said Putnam. “But the information I have received from individual growers and industry leaders makes it clear Florida agriculture has suffered one of the worst cold weather-related events in more than a decade.”

Putnam plans to visit a plant a tropical fish farm near Plant City and citrus groves near Groveland Thursday. Friday he will be in South Florida, meeting with growers at the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition in Broward County and with winter vegetable farmers near Belle Glade. Monday he will be in the Immokalee and Naples area meeting with citrus and vegetable growers.

“Agriculture contributes nearly $100 billion a year to Florida’s economy,” said Putnam. These losses will exacerbate already record low farm incomes, and impact consumer prices. In a time when we are all struggling to recover from a recession, one of Florida's economic pillars has been dealt a major blow and it will have a reach far beyond the farm gate. However, Florida’s farmers are a resilient lot and many are already making plans to replant. American families can continue to count on Florida to supply the bulk of the fruit and vegetables consumed during the winter months.”

Since 2001, Putnam has represented Florida’s 12th Congressional District, which includes most of Polk County and portions of Hillsborough and Osceola counties.

Overnight Temps around the State

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Minimum Temps for Tonight Jan. 14

Overnight Temps around the State

Click on report to enlarge the image!

Freeze Report Update 9, Jan. 12

Following are the latest field reports, temperature forecasts, and warnings related to our current freeze.

West Central Florida – Overnight temperatures ranged from the mid to upper 20’s throughout the region and stayed there for more than 10 hours. In the strawberry fields, the sprinklers were turned on between 9:00-10:00 p.m., Monday night and were still operating at 8:30 a.m., this morning. Three sinkholes have been reported so far in the Plant City area and are rather large in size. In Polk County, a massive sinkhole has developed in the Frostproof area and two sinkholes have shut down both sides of US Highway 27 between CR 640 and Hunt Brothers Road. Strawberry farmers may finally be catching a break tonight as the only freeze warnings issued for this region are for Pasco, Citrus and Hernando Counties.
(Cindy Suszko, Regional Agricultural Market Supervisor)

Strawberries - Last night was another long one (12+ hrs below freezing), but temps did not dip nearly as low as Sat or Sun. We pray this was our last freezing night, but we will monitor all fields tonight in case it dips below the danger level. This morning appears the same as previous reports - what little damage evident so far is isolated to spots that experienced some equipment malfunction resulting in irregular water coverage. Plant recovery will take several days, and we will know more later in the week. With today & tomorrow in the 60's and mid-70's over the weekend, some light harvesting will resume as fruit again begins to mature. We will strip off any damaged fruit and believe new blooming will initiate with the warming trend.
(Ted Campbell, FL Strawberry Growers Assoc. Executive Director)

Hardee County’s luck ran out last night. Temperatures dropped to below 28 for 10 hours again and this time there is widespread frozen fruit – both Hamlins and Valencias. To further complicate the harvest, a sinkhole has closed Hwy. 27 N in the Lake Wales area at the intersection of C 640 and two sinkholes have closed southbound 17B.

Most growers have been running their pumps for +/- 140 hours for the last 10 days. This morning there were frozen ice crystals in the air until at least 8:30AM.

Frostproof reported a low of 13 while the low in Hardee was 22.

Nothing new to report on the strawberries, the water is still running.

Anything in the ornamental nurseries that was not undercover and protected is a total loss.
(Diana Durrance, Senior Market Manager)

South Florida

Miami-Dade County did not have freeze/frost damage temperatures last night. Previous nights damage continues to become more evident.

(Don Pybas, Director Miami-Dade County Extension)


The End of Report

Heavy Rain, Next Southern Threat

The South has been enduring bitterly cold temperatures the past several mornings.Relief from the cold, but not the adverse weather, is on the way.

A potent storm from the Gulf of Mexico threatens to unleash flooding rain across the South over the weekend.

Steady rain will develop across Texas Thursday night as the storm begins to take shape in the western Gulf of Mexico.

The storm will inch northeastward on Friday, spreading its rain to the lower Mississippi Valley.

Drenching rain will likely encompass the rest of the South on Saturday.

Enough instability may also be present to ignite severe thunderstorms across the Florida Peninsula, one week after snow and ice pellets made a rare appearance.

The storm has the potential to unleash 1 to 3 inches of rain with locally higher amounts of up to 6 inches.

Rainfall of this magnitude could lead to flash flooding, especially where rivers remain swollen following an extremely wet end to 2009.

Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski

Overnight Temps around the State

Click on report to enlarge image!

Freeze Warning Tonight for Tampa Area

NWS has issued a Freeze Warning for Tampa, Florida

Freeze warning remains in effect from 10 PM this evening to
9 am EST Tuesday

A freeze warning remains in effect from 10 PM this evening to
9 am EST Tuesday.

Temperatures overnight are expected to fall into the upper 20s
inland to the lower 30s near the coast. Durations of temperatures
at or below 32 degrees are expected to range from 1 to 3 hours
near the coast to 4 to 8 hours inland.

Precautionary/preparedness actions:

A freeze warning is issued for 3 or more hours of temperatures between 27 and 32 over a widespread area.

Residents should cover or move indoors any cold sensitive plants... and bring pets indoors. In addition... appropriate action should be taken to ensure that exposed water pipes are adequately
insulated to protect them from the cold temperatures. If you are planning to be outdoors early this morning... or tonight into early Tuesday morning you should prepare accordingly. Wear several layers of clothing... as they will insulate you better than a single coat or jacket.

Sub-Freezing Temperatures Hit Florida Citrus

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Freeze Report Update 8, Jan. 11

Following are the latest field reports,temperature forecasts, and warnings related to our current freeze.

Seafood & Aquaculture Freeze Update, Hardee County Freeze Update (Updated 3:30)

Tri –County Area
The area of Putnam and St Johns County had hard freeze Saturday and Sunday. We had a light snow in south Putnam, Flagler, and Marion Counties on Saturday. The hard freeze on Saturday was 10-12 hours. The low reported on Sunday morning at Hastings was 23, also the low for Pierson (which has ferns and citrus) on Sunday morning was 23. (Terry Driggers, Senior Market Manager, Palatka State Farmers' Market)

Fern Growers/Volusia County
Fern growers are having major problems as it relates to the time and fuel cost in an already depressed industry to freeze protect. On top of this is the problem of the amount of water accumulated in the ferneries prohibits harvest etc. Major concern is the affect this will have on inventory going into Valentine’s day. Any possibility of help with disaster relief as it relates to fuel cost?(Edsel Redden, IFAS Ext. Agent)

FNGLA
Although the real extent of nursery crop damage and losses won’t start to fully manifest itself until after a few days of warmth (later this week), it’s safe to assume the damage/loss figure will be well in the 9-figures. We will keep you apprised as a clearer picture develops.
(Ben Bolusky, FNGLA)

West Central Florida
Last night this area experienced the coldest temperatures so far this season. Overnight the skies were clear and the winds calm, which plummeted temperatures to a low of 18–22 degrees throughout the region; breaking some record lows. As feared, strawberry growers had to turn their sprinklers on their crops earlier last night, approximately 5:30 p.m. and they were still operating at 8:30 a.m. this morning, with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees.

There is a covering of ice on the plants three quarter’s of an inch thick. There are also reports of some sprinklers icing up in the fields; causing a problem for some growers.

The extent of damage will not be fully known for 2–3 days after the ice melts.

That is when the growers will be able to get out into their fields and fully assess the damage. Citrus growers anticipate it could take five weeks to determine the full extent of damage to their crops.

The kumquat crop in Dade City (Pasco County) has reportedly all been destroyed.

Highs today are expected to reach into the low to mid 50’s with another freeze warning issued tonight beginning at 10 p.m. and lasting until 9 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Temperatures throughout the week are expected to warm up; with highs on Friday reaching into the low 70’s.This morning, a sink hole has reportedly opened up under a road in rural eastern Hillsborough County; due to the excessive irrigation of the surrounding strawberry fields.(Cindy Suszko, Regional Agricultural Market Supervisor Bureau of State Farmers' Markets)

FSGA
Florida strawberries again experienced another severe night with some fields as low as 18 degrees. The longevity of this cold wave and the nightly duration of sub-freezing temperatures continues to be a great concern to the farmers.

At this time plant damage appears to be remarkably low and confined to areas experiencing isolated failures of irrigation equipment. Plants are obviously stressed from so many nights of watering, and harvesting is almost at a standstill.

Any freeze burn to the leaves will manifest itself several days afterward, and we are optimistic for a warm up by the weekend. Return of normal temperatures will generate new growth and bloom on the plants, and we should continue to harvest berries into the Spring.

I’ve talked with growers who had temps as low as 18; lot of ice, lot of water is the losses we’re seeing thus far is mainly due to mechanical failure; pumps, etc. In general, for as long and hard as this has been it hasn’t been as bad as it could have been. Another week will tell the tale though. Everything is virtually dormant right now. I’d say there’s been no more damage than you would expect; in fact it could have been worse. Of course, ice mitigation is hard on everyone. It’s been a brutal, brutal week.

Damage assessment doesn’t really materialize for several days after the warm up however.
(Ted Campbell, FL Strawberry Growers Assoc. Executive Director)

FFVA
Strawberry growers continued to irrigate last night. The lowest temperature reported overnight in the Dover area was 19. Wind was not a problem, however. Veteran growers say they’ve never seen this many back-to-back nights of below-freezing weather. Water pressure in wells after so many nights of irrigation is a concern. Damage to the fruit is starting to show from being frozen and thawed so many times, and growers are starting to see bloom and plant damage. Fruit loss is still hard to gauge, however. A lot of the fruit on the plants now will have to be discarded. Growers are still trying to pick in between the freezing nights to the extent they can. Disease will be in issue three to four weeks down the road.

Lettuce/leafy greens in Belle Glade seem to have fared OK despite the frost. They’ll know better in four to five days; there has been damage but hopes are that it is minimal. Marketability will depend on how stringent customers are on quality. The fact that there won’t be a rapid warm-up over the next few days will work in growers’ favor in terms of minimizing damage to the plants.

Plants are stressed right now from experiencing one frost after another. Growers were prepared to start harvesting this morning oncethe ice was off, and will be keeping an eye on it over the next week. However, everyone’s concerned about the front that’s predicted for the coming weekend.

Citrus growers took a little more of a hit last night than last week, seeing more ice on the fruit from temperatures that dropped below freezing for 10 hours and into the 20s for six hours in some places. Losses still have not hit what anyone would call the catastrophic level, however. There will be more leaf damage. Growers are adjusting their harvesting schedule to get the early and mids off to processing.
(Lisa Lochridge, FFVA)

South Florida
Homestead/Florida City temperatures dropped to the high 20’s with 10 mph winds (hard freeze) around 0200 this morning. Farmers started their overhead irrigation at this time and can be seen in avocado groves, snap bean, squash, tomato and zucchini fields.
(Paul Cardwell, State Farmer’s Markets)

Some growers reporter indicated 26 to 28 in some localized areas. Some beans and squash had significant damage but can’t give number just yet. Other crops as well.
(Don Pybas, Director Miami-Dade County Extension)

Central East Florida
Temperatures dropped to near 28° at sunrise in agricultural areas on both Sunday and Monday mornings. Durations below 32° ranged from 2-6 hours but citrus crops were spared damaging temperatures below 28° for any significant length of time. Light to moderate winds prevented frost formation in all but the most protected locations.
(Tim Gaver, IFAS Ext. Agent St. Lucie County)

We know there is some damage; we were cutting some slush which makes us fairly sure there’s been some citrus damage, but we won’t know the full extent for a few days.

What we do know is that fruit along the East Coast – Vero Beach to Ft. Pierce was not affected last night. The cold was mostly in a zone from Eustis to the Immokalee area. It didn’t get below 31 on the East Coast, but in the Central parts we had temps in the 20s – ranging from 25 to 27 – for more than 4 hours.(Charles Beasley, Chief, Inspection Bureau)

Hardee County

Strawberry field damage is very hard to evaluate at this time. Growers are more concerned about damage from water than anything else.

Grove owners seem to have dodged the bullet again although temperatures dropped below 28 degrees for as long as 10 hours. The low reported in Hardee County was 21 degrees. Only scattered reports of some slight slush in the Valencia crop and nothing in the early varieties, probably due to the high sugar content in the Hamlins. There does not seem to be any wood damage, but it is too early to tell what the leaf drop will be. There are lots of glossy, black and curled leaves. (Diana Durrance, Senior Market Manager, Hardee County)

Sea and Aqua Freeze Report

Seafood

Lee County
Freezing temperatures and winds have kept most fishermen at the docks. We will have to see what kind of damage has been done to the fish populations. I have heard of hundreds of fish floating in the canals. Don't know if they are stunned or dead, probably both. Most of our fronts are short lived, but we have broken records here in Lee County. (Rhonda Dooley, Executive Director, Florida Fishermen’s Federation)

Aquaculture

Hillsborough County
We are having losses and there will be a lot more to come. It is still a little early to give numbers but we have two facilities, one in Plant City and losses so far are around 20% and the losses are higher at the Arcadia farm in Desoto County at about 35%. (Jason Diaz, 5-D Tropical, Inc., Plant City)

We have had significant losses but I do not know the full extent yet. I will send an update later this week. I thank you for your concerns and your efforts on behalf of our industry. (Martha Campbell, Florida Marine Aquaculture, Sun City Center)

Pinellas County
No losses so far for Koi and Goldfish breeder in Pinellas Park. (Bob Heagey, Bonsai Aquaculture, Inc.)

Miami/Dade
Running more pumps and water and because of that no losses so far but will know more in a week when a better assessment can be made. (Angels Hatchery, Paul Radice, Homestead)
Has been doing this 40 years and never seen such a severe, sustained cold event. Covering ponds and running water constantly. Power out because of demand and is running diesel pumps and generators. Estimates losses so far to be 10-15% or about $50 thousand. (Rick Biro, Florida Exotic Fish, Homestead)

Monroe County

More marine fish and other marine life (crabs shrimp) are dying. Will probably lose the majority of stock stored in tanks. Estimates losses so far to be around $10-15 thousand. (Ken Nedimyer, Sea Life, Inc. Tavernier)

Lake County

Koi and Goldfish are OK so far. Not expecting major losses. Fish are cold hardy. (Blackwater Creek Koi Farms, Eustis)

Koi are fine so far. Lost 100% of tilapia breeders in covered ponds. Sold off most of tilapia stock before the freeze.(Eco Sciences, Leesburg)

Polk County
Have been a fish farmer for 28 years and has never seen Serpae tetras and log fin black tetras die from cold! The lemon tetras were dying in ponds that have been covered for months! Expecting more losses as week progresses.(Sunrise Tropicals, )

Clams OK so far. No change from last week (Placida Gold Farms, Winter Haven)

Thank you all very much for your cooperation!

Overnight Temps. around the State

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Freeze in Florida Tonight Will Be Worst Since 1989

Tonight Will Be Most Damaging in Florida.

So far, citrus-growers in Florida have gotten by with only light damage following several nights of sub-freezing temperatures over the past week.

Tonight will likely prove more destructive as temperatures drop to the lowest levels in over 20 years.

According to AccuWeather.com Agricultural Meteorologist Dale Mohler, the hard freeze tonight will be the worst since December of 1989.

Mohler said that unlike the last few nights, temperatures tonight across all the orange groves will drop below freezing and most will dip blow 28°, a critical temperature for the fruit.
strong>In many groves, temperatures will stay below 28° for 6 to 10 hours or more.

strong>Mohler expects a 6 to 10 percent loss of the total 2009 orange crop after tonight's freeze.

The groves where temperatures drop between 23 and 25 degrees will suffer the most significant damage.

Late-Week Heavy Rain Could Cause Even More Damage storm expected to develop over the western Gulf of Mexico later this week could spread heavy rain across areas from Texas to Florida and the Carolinas Thursday into Sunday.

Heavy rain could add more insult to injury for farmers by setting harvest dates back even further.

AccuWeather.com Meteorologists Alex Sosnowski and Meghan Evans contributed to the content of this story.

Hillsborough Sheriff's Warning

A few traffic accidents early this morning which involved ice on highways adjacent to farms. Last night had more wind than normal, and drift onto roads is an unintended consequence.

If you have sprinkler drift and/or field runoff affecting a highway with potential ice buildup, the Hillsborough Sheriff's office needs to be contacted (non-emergency number 813-247-8200). They are coordinating efforts with Public Works to block affected areas to prevent traffic accidents. The coordinator at Public Works is Juan Lopez 813-758-7878.

Freeze Report Update 7, Jan. 10

Following are the latest field reports,temperature forecasts, and warnings related to our current freeze. (updated 2:45pm)

Highs this afternoon will reach only into the mid 40s over the northern half of the state, with only low to mid 50s expected further south. Breezy north-northwest winds of 10-15 mph will make conditions feel much colder, especially during the morning, as wind chills will range from the teens over the north to lower 20s in the south. Wind Chill Advisories and Wind Chill Warnings are in effect for nearly the entire state, including the Keys.

Tonight, Freeze Watches and Freeze Warnings continue as freezing temperatures will once again reach as far south as the South Florida mainland. Lows are forecast to drop into the upper teens to low 20s from the Panhandle to North Central Florida, with mid to upper 20s forecast for the remainder of Central Florida southward into interior South Florida. Temperatures in the Keys are forecast to dip into the low to mid 40s. Locations along the immediate coast will be slightly warmer; however, a brief period of temperatures at or below freezing cannot be completely ruled out. Durations of sub-freezing temperatures will be around 12-14 hours across North Florida, 6-12 hours across Central Florida, and 3-6 hours across South Florida.

Tonight’s Forecast:

Lake Okeechobee south to the tip of mainland - 25-35degrees for 3-6hrs
Colder in the interior

Lake Okeechobee north to I-4 – below freezing for 6-12hrs
Colder in the interior

I-4 north to the Suwannee river – 17-22degrees for 12-14hrs
Colder in the interior

Power – No capacity issues

Red Cross – Opening and closing shelters on a “as need basis”
Vulnerable population i.e. residents with no or little heat, migrant worker families in addition to homeless are using the shelters. Shelters are using foodbank resources i.e. toiletries , etc.

Emergency Vehicles – All medical facilities anticipated the freeze and all are in good shape

DOT – St Lucie bridge is still closed

Strawberries - Growers had another very difficult night. Temperatures were barely 40 at midnight on Friday and have remained in the 30's and 20's through 11:30 Sunday morning. Last night was below freezing for at least 14 hours - compounded by a low dew point which requires watering above the 32 degree point to prevent evaporative cooling effect on the plants. Some fields reached as low as 20 degrees overnight, and damage will be assessed over the coming days. The wind velocity was higher last night, so some areas will certainly be freeze burned where constant overhead irrigation could not be achieved. The higher wind also created the unintended consequence of icing on roads adjacent to some farms due to drift and runoff. FSGA is working with the Department of Transportation, County Public Works, and the Sheriff's Office to close & mark affected roads and to warn motorists in general to be alert to such conditions. Workers grabbed paintbrushes and bottles of lubricant to coat sprinkler heads — a precaution taken only during the coldest weather. When it's really cold, ice forms on the sprinklers and they can't move. Large patches of valuable plants could die. Strawberries are scarce now because the plants don't produce many berries when they're cold, so farmers are getting higher prices for their fruit. That doesn't mean much when overhead is high — the pumps use expensive diesel fuel — and there's not much to pick. Most farmers don’t have crop insurance. A pilot federal strawberry crop insurance program no longer exists. Disaster relief, if farmers qualify, comes in the form of low-interest loans. (Fancy Farms / Ted Campbell, FSGA)
Strawberries are the top commodity in Hillborough County. There are 8,700 acres of strawberries in the County, and farmers produced about $315 million worth of berries in 2008. If the crop were wiped out, that would be a significant economic blow to the county and the state, as well as to individual farmers. (Stephen Gran, director of Hillsborough's Agriculture Industry Development)

West Central Florida - Last night we experienced a devastating hard freeze throughout the region with temperatures well below freezing for a prolonged period of time; more than 14 hours. Strawberry growers turned their sprinklers on between 6:30-7:00 p.m. and still had them operating at 11:00 a.m., this morning. In speaking with a few older growers, they informed me they have never experienced weather this cold for as many consecutive days as these past few weeks. Tonight is forecast to be even colder than last night. Growers fear they may have to turn on their sprinklers even earlier tonight. Total extent of the damage may not be known for a couple of weeks.(Cindy Suszko, Regional Ag Market Supervisor , Plant City)

Eastern Pasco County – Kumquat Growers Inc. one of the nation's largest distributor of kumquats, said there wasn't anything that could be done to protect all 45 acres of the small citrus fruit. "We're just going to sit here and hope. (Frank Gude, co-owner of Kumquat Growers Inc)

Freeze Report Update 6, Jan.9

Following are the latest updates relating to the current freeze that is gripping our state. This report will be updated as soon as events and/or measures occur. (updated 1:45PM)

- Snowflurries were recorded in Central FL this morning at dawn
- Temperature is struggling to get up, some areas still experiencing sleet and rain
- NWS Melbourne issued a freezing rain warning till 1:00pm

Tonight's Forecast:

South FL
Lake Okeechobee to southern tip of the mainland: 29-38degrees
Freezing temperatures for 3-6hrs
Winds will be up so with the wind-chill factor it will feel colder.

Central FL
Lake Okeechobee north to I-4: 26-31degrees
Freezing temperatures for 6-12hrs
Longer duration of freezing in the interior
Western interior of peninsula 27degrees for 4-8hrs

Big Bend/Panhandle
17-24degrees at least for 12hrs
Tallahassee Sunday with wind-chill 7degrees
Note: no specific city temperatures due to windchill and regional topography it is difficult to give accurate forecast. Some low lying areas might see record lows.

DOT - St Lucie bridge still closed, update forthcoming

Power - No capacity or delivery concern at this moment

Red Cross
- Have opened more shelters from Escambia down to Charlotte on the West coast and down to Belle Glade on the East coast
- Overflow is experienced in most locals
- Non-gov't agencies (churches, community centers) are opening as well

Note:FEMA allocates $13.3 million yearly for community assistance, the counties have been informed

Strawberries - It appears that last night's temps were at or just above the freezing point in most strawberry production areas, so our situation is still about the same. Harvesting has been severely slowed as has new fruit generation on the plants. However we still believe that plant damage is within expectable tolerances. Tonight will be the ultimate test with long duration of dangerously low temperatures. We all hope mitigation procedures continue to provide adequate crop protection. We will better see the full amount of residual damage about a week after it warms up to normal.
(Ted Campbell, FSGA)

Freeze Report Update 5, Jan.8

Following is today's freeze update as reported by our AG-ER response teams around the state. We will continuously update you on events and/or measures as they occur. (Updated 3:50pm)

Hardee - No irrigation was run last night as the cold moderated. Grove owners and berry growers are hoping for drying conditions today with little precipitation tonight and into the weekend. They expect Sunday morning to be really bad with lows in the 20’s and possibly the teens and the possibility of winds that will interfere with their watering and misting. (Diana Durrance, Wauchula Senior Market Manager)

Flagler/Volusia - The prolonged bout of freezing temperatures produces mixed results for area crops. It may be weeks before the full extent of damage is known. It threatens the fern crop and reduces the amount of time cutters can be in the fields during the busy Valentine's Day season. The long hours of freezing cold means fruit must be picked within the next two weeks. However, the steady cold helps protect damaged cabbage plants in Flagler County by limiting disease spores from attacking damaged leaves on the plants being grown and harvested through late next month, right now the cabbage looks good. The frost and ice on the plants stress them and there are lost production days, there is some wilt and burned leaves. Flagler County growers are spraying the plants to help kill and prevent any diseases from taking hold. (David Griffis, coop. ext. Dir.,Volusia County / AG agent Mark Warren)

Mia/Dade - We were very fortunate with the cloud cover and winds staying up night before last. We stay in contact with the local forecast office of NWS here in Miami on their webinar each afternoon. Though actuals have differed from the forecast somewhat, it always been for the good so far. We are monitoring the situation here for the weekend.
(Don Pybas, Ext. Director, IFAS)

South FL – For Saturday and Sunday night The National Weather Service forecasts a hard freeze for most of Florida, overnight temperatures are expected to hit around 30 degrees in the Belle Glade and Immokalee tomato and vegetable growing regions. The weather service says freezing temperatures for those regions are expected to hit in the normally colder spots. The freeze damaged some older squash plantings. The new plantings seem to be okay with no damage, the pepper fields appear to be okay as well. Fields are being covered up today and tomorrow in preparation of the coming cold weather. At this time it is too early to provide an estimate on damages. (Jim Monteith, sales mgr., Pacific Collier Fresh Co., Immokalee)

Wildlife - At least 269 sea turtles, mostly endangered green sea turtles and a few loggerheads, which became lethargic in frigid water that shocked their tropically inclined systems, were found floating in the Mosquito Lagoon in eastern Florida and rescued Wednesday. Snook and other subtropical fish going belly-up in the Brevard County's northernmost waters, with some dying as their metabolism slowed and they stopped eating. (Dorn Whitmore, chief ranger, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge)
In Gulf County more than 200 cold-stunned turtles were rescued Thursday from the frigid waters of St. Joseph Bay. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
The cold was helping get rid of iguanas, a nuisance not native to the state, iguanas lose consciousness, fall from trees and die of the cold. (Gabriella Ferraro, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)

Seafood
Dade County - Few boats out yesterday and today, catching mostly King Mackerel and Spiny Lobster, but will be shut down again for the weekend. (Incredible Fish, Tim Lycke, Miami)
Franklin County - Oyster production is still doing fine. The cold temperatures are actually better for the oysters. (Buddy Ward’s 13 mile, Leavins, Apalachicola
Escambia County - They still have fresh fish to sell. They are not out fishing in this cold weather. No boats in the area are out commercially fishing. (Joe Patti’s, Frank Patti, Pensacola)
Nassau County - Cold waters have forced young shrimp and fish into ocean and warmer waters. It will be June or July before the extent of damage to the shrimp is known. (Gerald Pack, Fernandina)

Aquaculture
Polk County - OK so far. Covered ponds and circulating water. (Interstate Tropical Fish Hatchery, Lakeland)
Seeing severe losses in open ponds and also seeing losses in the covered ponds today. Will not know the extent for a couple of weeks when they seine the ponds. (Sunrise Tropicals, Lakeland)
Started losing fish in open ponds two days ago-could be total loss in open ponds. Yesterday saw losses in covered ponds, 2 farms in Lakeland and 2 farms in Plant City. Plant city farms are open ponds. Expecting more impact from the cold this weekend (Aquatica Tropicals, Lakeland)
Losses of tilapia in covered ponds w/circulating water. Half of his breeders in greenhouse tanks, Koi are doing fine so far. (Hammond Koi & Sea Aquaculture, Leesburg)
Subsidizing with well water. Metabolic rates are slowest seen in 7 years. When it is time to spawn, the numbers will be lower. They have no ecological problems as they are composting dead fish. Oldest fish are dying due to cold waters. Sunday is expected to be the most difficult day. (Mike Rodriguez, Lake Wales)
Volusia County – Using solar and propane heat, coverings and circulating 72 degree water and is still losing fish. Cichlids are more cold hardy than most other tropicals (except koi and goldfish). Even though he has tried to protect fish from severe temps, fish are still dying. The fish start exhibiting sores & distress then ultimately perish. Total losses not known till a couple of weeks. (Mike’s Cichlids, New Smyrna)
Brevard County - Breeders in greenhouse tanks. Outside covered ponds showing signs of damage. Open ponds (154) showing big losses. (could be 100% on open ponds) Outlook for the weekend is grim with cloudy skies today and tomorrow and low temps. He is expecting more losses. (Aqua Blue Cichlids)
Will know next week how many fish have died.(Kingery Farms, Melbourne)
Hillsborough County - Saltwater tropical fish in inside tanks are faring okay but not as good as usual in a freeze due to the duration. Ornamental flame scallops dead yesterday. This is a low cost item and they did not have a large quantity so the loss will not be significant in terms of dollars. They contribute the loss to the fact that they are having trouble keeping the water at 60° consistently. (Margaret Carleton, Seaview Wholesale Marine Life, Inc., Dover)
Hillsborough Community College lost nearly 100% of their Fire-mouthed Meekies (South American cichlid) at the Ruskin facility. It would only be a couple hundred dollars to replace the brood fish, but the fry they would produce this Spring would be potentially another $3,000-$6,000. (Craig Kasper, Aquaculture Program Manager, Hillsborough Community College)
Segrest Farms has 180 tropical fish ponds and buys from 90% of the other tropical fish farms in the state. Segrest is seeing dead fish on about 10% of their ponds. They are in southern Hillsborough County. Other farm losses are ranging 25%-50% with the higher numbers in northern Hillsborough County and further inland in Polk County and surrounding area. Fish are staying on the bottom and not feeding so it is difficult to tell at this point if they are dead and what the full damage is. By next Thursday or Friday, farmers will begin making decisions whether to drain ponds to see what they have. It may be possible to put a dollar value on the losses by then. After the freeze, if the temps warm up too fast, there is another potential problem. The surviving stocks could develop fungus and disease especially in covered ponds. (Mike Norton, Segrest Farms, Gibsonton)
Counties currently affected are Hillsborough, Polk, Hardy and Volusia. They will not be able to know until it warms up how many of the fish that are on the bottom are just lethargic or dead. When it warms up they will also be facing fungus and disease because the fish are weakened. Farmers do begin preventive antibiotic and fungus treatment when waters begin warming. He says all the guppies are gone. Farmers should be able to start putting dollars to the losses by the end of next week. (Art Rawlins, Rawlins Tropical Fish, Lithia, 813-737-3418),)
Dade County - Pumping warm water all day this week and will keep the pumps running. No losses yet.(American Shrimp Farm, Belamino Enriquez, Homestead)
Pumps still running, everything still OK but very concerned about this weekend. (Angels Hatchery, Paul Radice, Homestead)
Wakulla County - Will not know any damage until Sunday. If the clams are exposed to the cold air for an extended period there is potential for damage to babies and adults. Mostly the clams bury themselves in the sand. Sometimes the loss does not occur for many months down the road. Will be pulling clams from the shallow waters to move to deeper waters. Some clam farmers in the area have been manually covering clams with sand. (Southern Clams, Clayton Lewis, St. Teresa Island)
Putnam County - Some loss of fish, able to assess damages in a week or two. (Dugan Whiteside, Hastings)
NOTE: Art Rawlins, President of Florida Tropical Fish Farmers Association, is calling the freeze effect a “catastrophe” and although they will not have hard data until the end of next week he thinks the affected counties should be declared a National Disaster.

Overnight Temps around the State

Click on the report to enlarge the image.

Cold Invasion Plunges Southward

Extremely cold weather is coming to the Deep South this weekend.

In northern Florida starting Friday, all nights will be well below freezing, but there are no big orange groves up there.

All the major citrus production takes place in central and southern portions of the state.

There, the coldest night will be Sunday, when the freezing line almost gets to Miami.

The middle 20s that will happen through interior counties Sunday night will be enough to cause light damage to the orange groves.

Worst-case scenario is a situation that would produce low 20s and teens for several hours through the citrus region, but fortunately, that will not occur.

Story By AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist John Kocet.

Freeze Report Update 4, Jan.7

Following is a preliminary freeze update as reported by our AG-ER response teams around the state. We will continuously update you on events and/or measures as they occur. (Updated 2:50pm)

West Central FL - Another hard freeze occurred last night with temperatures dipping once again to a low of 24-25 degrees for a prolonged period of time. Strawberry growers began to turn the sprinklers on their crops between 8:30-9:00 p.m., last night. At 6:00 a.m. temps remained between 25-27 degrees in the Plant City/Dover area and were not expected to go above 32 degrees until 9:00 a.m. Daytime temperatures are expected to reach the upper 50's to low 60's; with no freeze warnings tonight. The freezing temperatures are expected to return over the weekend with possibly the coldest temperatures still to come. It will take several days after the ice melts on the strawberry plants to determine the extent of damage.(Cindy Suszko, Regional Agricultural Market Supervisor)

Homestead/Florida City - Temperatures dropped to the mid to high 30’s. Corn, snap beans, squash and zucchini faired good. Overhead irrigation is being used by avocado growers. Overall, crops look good. (Paul Cardwell, Sr. Mgr, FL City Farmers Mrkt.)

St Lucie County - Temperatures dropped to freezing in the early evening, rebounded as some cloud cover moved into the area and then began a slow fall to 28 degrees at sunrise. We did hit 26 degrees in the western portion of the county and that temperature held for some time. Durations below freezing were not nearly as long as Tuesday night and citrus growers in St. Lucie and Indian River Counties reported no icing in fruit. However, increased moisture and light winds resulted in a heavy frost that will probably result in some minor leaf loss. Evaluating 2 vegetable fields, those tomatoes and peppers that had not been harvested were all lost. This represented around 20 acres of tomatoes and 25 acres of peppers.

Field Grown Nurseries - All Coconut Palms looked severely burned as did 70% of the Queen Palms evaluated, this represented 25 acres of each variety. It is still too early to estimate what the % of damage to the ornamental industry in St. Lucie County will be. Often times especially with field grown material weather related problems are not personified until the follow spring when new growth comes on. (Tim Gaver, Extension Agent II, Citrus & Ed Skvarch, Commercial Horticulture Educator St. Lucie County IFAS)

Collier/Hendry/Lee - Around Labelle/Immokalee temperatures dropped to freezing by midnight and rebounded as some cloud cover moved into the area. Then a slow fall began to a low 29/30 degrees at sunrise of Jan 6, accompanied by a hard frost.

Crop damage was significant but variable from site to site. Many tomatoes, peppers, eggplants had tops frozen some severely in other places only a few leaves were frosted. Tender crops like corn, beans, squash were destroyed in some places. Again damage was variable reflecting microclimates. In some instances a portion of a field was frozen and other parts spared. Many growers covered crops and these faired well.

In addition to freeze damage, the past 8 - 10 days of temps below 45 degrees have knocked bloom off surviving plants and this will be reflected in reduced yield. Also anticipate that fruit quality will be compromised down the road. Also expect to see increased problems with diseases as growers have held water up for an extended period of time damaging roots. Frost damaged foliage will also be more susceptible to disease.

Cane also suffered significant damage. Some 4 -5 month old cane was frozen to the ground. This sort of damage will result in significant yield reduction in next years crop.

Pastures were injured which may result in livestock owner having to supplement feed in coming weeks.

Last night cloud cover moderated temps and only light patchy frost was seen.

Temps in Glades and Charlotte County were colder and crop damage greater with most vegetable destroyed if not covered.(Gene McAvoy, Director, Hendry & Regional, IFAS)

Citrus - Some groves got down in the 20's, and many are already reporting frozen fruit.
There will be some damage.
(Andrew Meadows, Florida Citrus Mutual)

Strawberries - Same story different day. Last night was about the same: 26-27 in many places. Damage is still minimal, winds were reasonable, etc. With some respite in temperatures today & tomorrow there will be some harvesting, and we're bracing for the next front this weekend. Many sleepless nights for growers, but so far the plants appear ok. (Ted Campbell, Florida Strawberry Growers Association)

Seafood

Lee County – Due to the drought and cold weather Shrimp production is very low and about a third of the fleet is tied up. (John Williams, Executive Director, Southern Shrimp Alliance)
Manatee County - The weather is impacting the fish and harvest. Many are dying in the water due to the temperatures being so low for so long. Species mainly affected: sandbrim, jack crevalle and sheepshead. (Karen Bell A.P. Bell, wholesale/retail)
Franklin County - Freeze has not affected production.(Grady Leavins, Leavins Seafood)
Escambia County - Nothing new to report, boats are still not fishing.(Frank Patti, Joe Pattis)

Aquaculture
Hillsborough County - Twenty five tropical fish ponds, 10 covered and 15 uncovered. The covered ponds seem fine. Some losses in uncovered and expectation to lose all the stock in the 15 uncovered by the end of the next six days of freezing temperatures. (James Fricks, Riverbend Aquatics, Ruskin)
Tropical fish farmers struggle to keep temperatures in their ponds above the critical temperature of about 60 degrees. Almost impossible for three nights straight, the fish started dying yesterday. Many lethargic survivors have been plucked off by birds. It's going to be a bad year. (Art Rawlins, Rawlins Tropical fish farm, Lithia & President Florida Tropical Fish Farms Association)
Dade County - Not quite as cold last night low of 38 degrees on the side of his building, 43 at 8:30am. Still pumping warm water and everything is still OK. (Angels Hatchery, Paul Radice, Homestead)
Monroe County - Unable to go offshore to harvest wild tropicals. They are hard to find in cold weather. Lost approximately $2,000.00 fish in his holding tanks. He has a problem finding good kerosene for heaters in his location. Has to travel to central Florida to find it. (Ken Nedimyer, Sea Life, Inc., Tavernier)
Levy County - No change in report. Clams in the field should be buried and not experience any negative impacts….again, clam harvesting in Cedar Key is up, as areas up north are inaccessible due to ice. (Leslie Sturmer, University of Florida Extension Office, Cedar Key)
Indian River County - Clams are hearty animals. The crop in the field, raceways and upwellers are doing fine. They’re hoping for the same, even with the forecasted colder temperatures over the upcoming weekend. (Ed Mangano, Aquagem Farms, Sebastian)

FAWN to host winter weather school for Florida farmers

The Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN) will be hosting a free winter weather seminar on Jan. 12 at the Polk County Extension Office in Bartow, Fla.

The free seminar, which will last from 9 a.m. to noon, will cover the basics of freeze protection for various crops (including an emphasis on citrus) as well as use of the FAWN Cold Protection Toolkit and other technology to better evaluate cold protection needs.

FAWN is a program of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences that provides weather data and weather-related services to a wide variety of users in the Sunshine State. The seminar is funded by the Alafia River, Coastal Rivers, Hillsborough River, Manasota, Northwest Hillsborough, Peace River, Pinellas-Anclote River and Withlacoochee River Basin Boards, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

To register, contact Gail Crawford at 863-519-8677, ext. 111, or at dorothyc@ufl.edu.

For more information on the seminar, contact Rick Lusher at 352-392-0429, or at rlusher@ufl.edu.

Overnight Temps around the State

Click on report to enlarge the image

Freeze Report Update 3, Jan 6

Following is a preliminary freeze update as reported by our AG-ER response teams around the state. We will continuously update you on events and/or measures as they occur. (Updated 2:15pm)

Tri-County Area - The weather has delayed harvesting of crops, i.e. Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale etc. due to freezing temperatures in Putnam, St Johns and Hastings area.

West Central Florida - Last night experienced a hard freeze where temperatures dipped below 26 degrees for a prolonged period of time with the lowest temperatures reportedly dipping to 23 degrees in some low lying areas. By 7:30 a.m., this morning, temperatures remained at 26 degrees in most local areas with wind chill advisories in the teens. Temperature highs today are only expected to reach the upper 40's with a brief warm up to the mid-60's for highs on Thursday and Friday; followed once again by freeze warnings returning for the weekend with possibly even colder temperatures at that time. Local meteorologists are predicting possible sleet for this area Friday night/Saturday morning. The hard freeze encompassed all of Pasco, Hillsborough, Polk and our northern counties. A freeze warning covered our counties to the south; Manatee, Hardee, Highlands, Sarasota and DeSoto. A freeze warning will be issued once again tonight for Pasco Hillsborough and Polk Counties with a hard freeze warning for Citrus, Hernando and Sumter Counties. While it is still too early to speculate on the extent of any damage; no widespread damage has been reported as yet. (Cindy Suszko, Regional Agricultural Market Supervisor, Bureau of State Farmers' Markets)

St Lucie/Indian River - Reports from growers recorded 32 degrees by 10:00 pm in some locations with a slow cooling down to 25-26 degrees by about 3:00 AM. A little cloud cover in the south end of St. Lucie County raised temps to around 30 for most of the morning hours. Citrus growers reported some slush ice in small oranges but no ice in thicker-skinned grapefruit. Lots of frost evident as winds calmed about 4:00 AM. (Tim Gaver, IFAS Extension Agent II – Citrus)

Homestead/Florida City temperatures dropped to the low 30’s. Overhead irrigation was used on snap beans, squash and zucchini. There will be some crop damage but too early to determine. Tomatoes/cherry tomatoes, overhead irrigation was in place but not used.(Paul Cardwell, Sr Market Mngr, FL City Market)

Miami/Dade - no damage to speak of, with some very limited burn. Temps got down to 37 in most areas with winds staying up. We faired very well. Growers were getting some private forecasts for 27-28 degrees down here in the morning. I am going to get in touch with the local NWS office to get a better picture. (Don Pybas, Charles LaPradd, IFAS Ext.)

State - Some areas of damage to corn, beans, cucumbers, squash. Other crops fared reasonably well i.e. citrus and strawberries. Still have several more cold nights in front of us, so we won’t know extent of damage and the cumulative effect until next week on the other side of the next cold blast. - Vegetable production had some problems for sure – a 2-hour period w/some clouds where temps went back up after dropping. No extended freeze, but a hard frost in many areas. Lost tops in some of the older tomato plants; younger, smaller plants fared better because they’re closer to the ground where temps are warmer. Corn and beans farther away from the lake got hit pretty hard by frost. Some farms saw damage; others didn’t see as much we won’t see full effect for a day or so. In Glades County beans, corn and young cane got burnt; again more damage farther out from the lake. Will have to wait and see the prolonged effect of so much irrigation in tomatoes, squash, peppers, and cucumbers, anything that sets fruit. By keeping the water up for 10 days straight, we’re basically damaging roots will see disease issues down the line; since it flushes nutrients out of the soil. There will be bloom drop and gaps in production - going to miss a week of fruit several weeks from now. This could create quality issues that will affect the product’s marketability. However not as bad as last year’s January freeze. In SW Florida – tomatoes temps right at 30, high 20s for a brief period. Marginal damage where the wind laid off – heavy frost in some areas. Nothing disastrous, still have the rest of the week, so we’re not out of the woods yet. (Lisa Lochridge, Public Affairs Director, FFVA)

Citrus – Preliminary reports indicate there may be isolated areas that have minor fruit damage however; temperatures do not appear to have dipped low enough for long enough duration to create substantial problems. Parts of the industry received some minimal damage in the colder locations especially south off of The Ridge. There were isolated areas with temperatures reported by growers as low as 22-23 degrees. Most growers spoken to expect isolated fruit drop as well as minor leaf damage. There have been some reports of ice cut in some fruit as well. Reports from the Indian River region indicate that the grapefruit crop came through with no damage, while there was very minimal scattered damage on the orange crop. Highlands County area a mixed bag up on ridge. Down off the ridge temps for 8-9 hours in the mid-20s. Traditionally lower, colder pockets saw 24 and 25drgrees for quite a bit of time; cutting some ice there. A lot of heavy frost in some trees off the ridge area. Leaf loss and some juice loss in some areas will happen. The wind laid down more than people thought it would. It got colder earlier than people thought it would, there may be some minor juice and leaf loss. Please note all of these reports are preliminary (Lisa Lochridge, Public Affairs Director, FFVA / Citrus Mutual Report)

Strawberries - Shortly after sundown last night area temperatures plummeted, forcing most strawberry growers to turn water onto their crops between 7:30-8:00 p.m. Tuesday morning was mild compared to this morning. Hopefully be able to pick some today
Calm, no damage, ice kept fairly well. Only question is how windy will it be Saturday night. They probably have to run water again tonight. We had a long cold night with lows of 23-24 in some places. The wind picked up early (3-4 AM), so there will probably be a few spots of damage due to irregular water coverage. We hit 32 at 8 PM Tues & it's still below freezing at 8:30 this morning. On the positive side the plants are becoming conditioned, so when we finally get some warm days there will be an abundance of really sweet fruit. At this point it looks like freezing every night except Friday thru early next week. The length of this cold period is probably unprecedented. I am limiting communication with growers during the daytime hours so they can get some rest. (Ted Campbell, FSGA)

Seafood
Franklin County - OK, they put out salt to melt some ice on the docks. ( Leavins Seafood, Apalachicola)
Fishermen are not out fishing due to the cold temperatures and wind. (Waterstreet Seafood, Apalachicola)
Duval County – No problems with harvesting or sales due to cold weather. (Grame Thompson, Mayport)
Levy County - Business is slow with inability to harvest fresh seafood due to cold weather. (Carl Robinson, Cedar Key)
Gulf County - Their production is down at this time of year anyway. They are not out fishing but that is typical for this time of year. They have some production going on in South Florida right now. (Raffields, Port St. Joe, Woods Fisheries)
Pinellas County - Has not heard anything regarding the freezing temperatures affecting the Florida shrimp industry, but he is checking with the folks in the Ft. Myers and the panhandle areas to see if they have an opinion. (John Williams, Executive Director, Southern Shrimp Alliance, Tarpon Springs)
Lee County - Wholesaler of variety of species has seen no decrease in supplies except for stone crabs and clams. According to owner Amber Haines, the clams in the Pine Island and Bokeelia area are being tested for potential red tide caused by the cold. (Blue Star Shrimp Company, Fort Myers)
Escambia County - No commercial boats in the area are out fishing in this cold weather. The last boats went out 2 days ago.. - Joe Patti Seafood, Pensacola)
Monroe County – last Day Company able to fish was Sunday, January 3rd. Wind still keeping boats at the dock. No seafood product coming in right now. ( Ada Veiga,D&D Seafood, Marathon)

Aquaculture

Dade County - It was 37 degrees this morning with ice on vehicles. Pumping warm water into the tropical fish ponds. They are OK today. (Paul Radice, Angels Hatchery, Homestead)
Pumping warm water into ponds and everything is OK for now. (Greta Theile, Naranja Tropical Fish Farm, Homestead)
Hillsborough County - Aquaculture -live rock – Richard Londeree, owner, cannot harvest in the Gulf due to wind... visibility goes to zero. Also water temperature is 51 degrees. He has a back up site but it takes three days to harvest one load as opposed to one day in the Gulf. (Tampa Bay Saltwater, Tampa)
Levy County - Anyone that is handling very small seed in a hatchery or nursery may have problems. Clams in the field should be buried and not experience any negative impacts. Tonight is supposed to be coldest yet. (Leslie Sturmer, Cedar Key)
Columbia County – Tropical fish in aquariums unharmed. (Gloria Talbot, Lake City)
Polk County - OK so far. Covered ponds and circulating water. (Interstate Tropical Fish Hatchery, Lakeland)
OK so far. Tanks in buildings and outside covered. Circulating water. (V-W Tropical Fish, Lakeland)
Ok so far. Circulating 72 degree well water to keep temperatures up. (CR Fish Farm, Lake Wales)
Orange County - OK so far. Clams are hardy and cold doesn’t affect them adversely. (Indian River Shellfish Farm, Orlando)

Overnight Temps around the State

Click on report to enlarge image!

Executive Order 10-01

Governor Declares State of Emergency due to freezing temperatures across Florida, issues Executive Order 10-01.

This declaration will ensure that timely precautions are taken to protect Florida’s agricultural crops and citrus.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please call Governor Crist’s press office at (850) 488-5394.

http://www.flgov.com/release/11254 (Download document here)

Freeze Report Update, Jan. 5

Following is a preliminary freeze update as reported by our AG-ER response teams around the state. At this point we have no grave reports of significant damage to our industry. We will continuously update you on events and/or measures as they occur.

-Growers in North and Central FL have covered or are sprinkling their crops when needed. So far strawberry consensus is that the damage is minimal.

-Tropical Fish Farms in Central FL have covered ponds and/or are pumping warmer well water in the ponds. Consensus here is that heavy losses will be tallied next week.

-Citrus areas haven’t actually had a freeze yet, temperatures maintained around the low 30’s. This is perfect citrus weather as temps in the 30’s help kill citrus pests.

-Produce S.W. FL area so far so good – however low temps will hurt fruit set and quality on vegetables in the long run and prolonged irrigation to protect crops against frost will leach fertilizer and cause root damage and an increase in disease over the next few weeks.

-S.E. FL all the tropical groves here also have microjects and reservoirs/ponds full. Some farms that have large acreage of corns and beans also reserved helicopters yet didn't have to deploy them last night.

-Growers in Miami-Dade and other areas in S. FL have increased harvesting in advance of the projected cold weather.

The bad news is that the worst is yet to come. Tonight’s forecast lows are:

Plant City – 26degrees for up to 6hrs.

Alachua and Sebring – 26degrees for up to 5hrs

Acadia – 27degrees for up to 5hrs

Okeechobee – 26degrees for up to 8hrs

Clewiston and Immokalee below freezing for up to 3hrs

A warming trend on Thursday, but that will bring more moisture in the air, which causes more chance for frost in low-lying areas.

Saturday and Sunday night will see a repeat of what is forecasted for tonight!

Florida Freeze Tonight

Near-record low temperatures will occur again tonight as a cold wave brings frost and freeze into the heart of the Sunshine State.

The cold will hold greatest significance for central Florida away from the immediate coast, along a corridor reaching north to south from about Orlando to Lake Okeechobee.

Here, any area having important citrus and winter vegetable crops will register low temperatures between 25 and 35 degrees.

Variations in wind as well as proximity to lakes or built-up areas will help to make the difference between relatively harmless lower to middle 30s and potentially damaging hard freezes.

Most of the region will fall within the former category.

Nevertheless, the coldest spots across the heart of central Florida will dip as low as 25 degrees with readings below freezing for several hours tonight into early Wednesday morning.

Story By AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews and Brett Anderson.

Overnight Temps around the State

Click on report to enlarge the image.

MONDAY NIGHT’S FORECAST

Hazardous Weather Outlook from the National Weather Service


NORTHWEST FLORIDA - TONIGHT-PART OF THE HARD FREEZE THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT FOR TONIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY FOR ALL AREAS OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...INLAND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE HAS NOW BEEN CANCELED FOR PARTS OF LOWER SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND ALL OF FLORIDA. THIS IS DUE PRIMARILY TO A LARGE LOW CLOUD DECK INVADING FROM THE NORTHWEST COVERING MOST OF THE REGION. A VERY DRY AIRMASS WILL INCREASE THE THREAT OF WILDFIRES OVER THE REGION TUESDAY.

EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA - TONIGHT....EXCESSIVE COLD IMPACT...A REINFORCING SHOT OF COLDER AIR WILL BEGIN TO BUILD DOWN OVER THE AREA TONIGHT WITH SEVERAL HOURS OF BELOW FREEZING TEMPERATURES EXPECTED. LOWS WILL REACH THE UPPER 20S OVER MUCH OF THE INTERIOR TO ALONG THE VOLUSIA COUNTY COAST...WITH NORMALLY COLDER LOCATIONS OVER LAKE AND VOLUSIA COUNTIES FALLING TO THE MID 20S FOR A COUPLE HOURS TOWARD SUNRISE. ALONG THE BREVARD AND TREASURE COAST...MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WILL REACH THE LOW 30S WITH NEAR FREEZING TEMPERATURES OVER THE BARRIER ISLANDS OF NORTHERN BREVARD COUNTY AND DIRECTLY ALONG THE COAST OF SAINT LUCIE AND MARTIN COUNTIES.
ADDITIONALLY...NORTHWEST WINDS AROUND 10 MPH WILL RESULT IN WIND CHILLS DROPPING INTO THE UPPER TEENS TOWARD SUNRISE IN LAKE AND VOLUSIA COUNTIES...AND THE LOWER TO MID 20S ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA.

SOUTH FLORIDA - TONIGHT-LOW TEMPERATURES TONIGHT COULD DROP TO AROUND OR JUST BELOW FREEZING ACROSS PARTS OF THE INTERIOR. THE GREATEST THREAT IS OVER THE LAKE OKEECHOBEE REGION. WIND CHILLS BELOW 35 DEGREES ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE INTERIOR, METRO PALM BEACH AND METRO BROWARD COUNTIES WHERE A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT. WIND CHILLS ACROSS METRO MIAMI AND THE NAPLES AREAS WILL RANGE FROM 35 TO 40 DEGREES.