Temperatures to plunge for Monday morning

The record-setting warmth so far this winter skidded into a slushy ditch over the weekend, as the icy fingers of Old Man Winter flicked our brittle ears. It was a reminder that this still is February and arctic air has not yet given up on a Florida vacation.

The National Weather Service in Ruskin issued hard-freeze watches for Pasco and Hernando and for the counties to the north for Monday morning. Cold weather emergency shelters were to be opened in Pasco on Sunday night.

The blame for the cold is a front that is moving over the state, which will be responsible for the plunging temperatures on Monday morning that were expected to dip into the mid-20s in Pasco and Hernando and slightly below freezing along inland areas of Hillsborough County.

Temperatures were expected to rise only into the lower 50s on Sunday afternoon, as 10 mph to 15 mph north winds chilled the region. The wind kept "feels-like" temperatures low. Forecasters said that at midmorning on Sunday, the wind chill temperature in Brooksville was no higher than 25 degrees.

Monday afternoon, a warming trend will begin, as daytime highs should reach the mid-60s. The lows Tuesday morning are expected to drop into the mid-40s. The trend continues Tuesday with highs rising to the upper 70s and overnight lows in the upper 50s.

But getting there may be a struggle for some.

Strawberry grower Carl Grooms said he didn't have to crank up his pumps Saturday night to protect his acres of plants, though he did monitor the temperatures closely.

The wind kept the frost away, said the owner of Fancy Farms, and just before dawn Sunday, the temperatures hovered between 30 and 33, he said.

"We were real close," he said. "We were watching it."

Sunday night, the winds were expected to die down, he said, and he and other growers in strawberry-rich eastern Hillsborough County may have to spray the crops to keep them from being nipped by frostbite.

"We'll definitely protect them," he said, "if conditions get bad enough."

In Pasco and Hernando counties, forecasters expect the lows to be cold enough to damage plants.

A hard-freeze watch has been issued for those areas Monday morning, caused by a cold and dry Canadian high pressure system that could leave temperatures in the mid-20s for three to six hours in Pasco and Hernando counties.

Keeping people without homes warm also was a priority.

In Pasco, these shelters were open over the weekend and remained open Sunday night:

• Impact Family Ministries, 5533 River Gulf Road, Port Richey, which is an adults' only shelter.

• The Holy Ground Shelter, 8835 Denton Ave., Hudson, at which families are accepted.

• The Christian Church, 34921 Chauncy Road, Zephyrhills, where families also are accepted.

Hillsborough and Polk counties were under a Monday morning freeze watch, forecasters said, and Pinellas County was not under a freeze watch, but folks there should take measures to protect their sensitive plants.