Arctic air pays visit to Sunshine State

This winter's record-setting warmth skipped a beat over the weekend as the season's icy fingers flicked our brittle ears, reminding us this is still February and the arctic air hasn't yet given up on a Florida vacation.

The National Weather Service in Ruskin issued hard-freeze watches for Pasco and Hernando counties and communities farther north for this morning. Cold weather emergency shelters opened in Pasco and Hillsborough counties Sunday night.

A cold front moved over the state this weekend, and was expected to drop temperatures this morning into the mid-20s in Pasco and Hernando counties and slightly below freezing along inland areas of Hillsborough County.

Temperatures in the Tampa Bay area crept into the mid-50s Sunday afternoon, but 10 to 15 mph north winds made things feel even colder.

A warming trend is expected this afternoon, with daytime highs predicted to reach the mid-60s in some areas. The lows Tuesday morning are expected to drop into the mid-40s, but high temperatures are expected to hit the upper 70s, with overnight lows in the upper 50s.

Getting there, though, might be a struggle for some people.

Strawberry grower Carl Grooms said he didn't have to crank up his water 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 in Plant City. Just before dawn Sunday, the temperatures hovered between 30 and 33 degrees, he said.

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

Sunday night, the winds were expected to die down.

He and other growers in strawberry-rich eastern Hillsborough County were braced to spray their crops to keep them from being nipped by frostbite.

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

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 counties this morning, spurred by a cold and dry Canadian high-pressure system that could leave temperatures in the mid-20s for three to six hours there.