I know you folks in Minnesota will get a kick out of this. Florida weather people were warning about a “deep” freeze for many days before it arrived. The mercury was predicted to dip just below 20 degrees for a couple of days.
There were news reporters interviewing people about whether they were feeling cold. When it gets below 40 degrees, people who have spent a long time in Florida start wearing insulated underwear, gloves, scarves, and winter jackets. I get some pretty funny looks when I show up at the grocery store or golf course wearing short-sleeve shirts and short pants.
Cold weather (below freezing) is big news in Florida because there are thousands of acres covered with orange trees that have oranges close to harvest time, and freezing weather destroys that crop. Interestingly enough is the fact that orange groves turn on the irrigation systems to help cover the trees and the fruit with ice. I guess the ice helps insulate the bark of the trees and offers a chance that the trees won’t die.
Temperatures dipping into the 20s in Florida is big news because it doesn’t get that cold often. The last time it was that cold in central Florida (where I now live) was about 20 years ago.
It’s funny to listen to native Floridians talk about anything below freezing being big news, and when I mention those times in Minnesota when the high temperature didn’t get above zero, they always ask how anyone could live in that kind of cold. Then again, most of the people living in Florida have never seen snow. The weather people said they might have their chance on the West Coast as far south as Tampa.
That area has only had measurable snow two times in the past 136 years, so I guess it starts making sense that weather cold enough to create snow becomes big news. It’s still funny to me because I’m still able to remember those five months of every year when snow was a real possibility, and temperatures not only dipped below freezing, but they often got below zero. I also remember that this was the time of the year when I started wanting the weather to warm up and get rid of all the dirty snow that accumulated throughout the long winter.
Don’t worry, things are looking up; the days are getting longer, so the sun angle is changing and will bring warmth before long.
Have A Good Week!
