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Forecast: Frost Possible

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 16, 2007

TAMPA - Folks living in eastern Hillsborough and Pasco counties, along with those in Polk and Hernando, could see some frost after midnight.

The National Weather Service says patchy frost is possible in places that usually are colder than Tampa, even though temperatures aren't expected to fall below freezing tonight.

Freezing weather is not expected south of Levy County, where the weather service has issued a freeze warning, with temperatures expected to fall into the 30-degree range for about three hours. Some places may see temperatures in the high 20s.

If you live in one of those spots around Tampa Bay that always ends up a couple degrees cooler than the official forecast, you might consider protecting plants that are sensitive to frost.

And protecting from a frost is different than guarding plants during a freeze, the agricultural extension service says.

A blanket – not just a sheet – works best because it provides a thicker layer of material between the air and the plant. It's OK for the material to touch the foliage if you use a blanket.

If you use a sheet or plastic tarp – both of which work fine for freeze protection – the covering should not touch the plant.

For frost, you want something to buffer the plant from the frost. Sheets and plastic aren't thick enough to do that.

During a freeze, the covering traps warmth from the ground, so any kind of covering will do, and it does not matter whether it touches the plant.

Frost can appear even when the weather service does not expect a freeze because the weather service forecast is for air temperature six feet above the ground.

But at ground level, where many of your plants live, the temperature can drop a few critical degrees lower, allowing dew that condenses on foliage to freeze.

And in case you're wondering, frost can form on parts of cars well above the ground because metal cools to below the temperature of the air.

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