Tampa Bay area gets a taste of freezing temperatures

Residents in West Central Florida escaped a freeze Sunday night but weren't so lucky this morning as temperatures fell to freezing over most of the region.

Temperatures dropped low enough for most berry farmers to crank up the sprinklers to protect their crops, a step they did not have to take Sunday morning when clouds kept the fields above freezing.

The insulating clouds vanished overnight, and temperatures started falling.

Growers turned sprinklers on at 1 a.m. at one of the Parke family's fields near Plant City. The sprinklers were still running more than six hours later.

The temperature in the strawberry field hovered about 28 degrees just before dawn.

"We had ice forming 15 minutes after the water was turned on," Matt Parke said.

The ice forms around the berries and prevents the fruit from falling below 32 degrees.

It's too early to access how successful growers' efforts were to protect crops.

"I think we did pretty good. I mean we won't know anything until the ice melts off, you know," Parke said.

The lack of wind that helped temperatures drop was a break for growers trying to spray an even layer of water on the berries and plants.

"The one thing that helped farmers during this cold snap is there was no wind to speak of. When there is a breeze, it has a tendency of blowing the water where the farmers don't want it or they don't need it," Parke said.

Pickers should return to the fields today as soon as the fruit dries, said Ted Campbell, executive director of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association.

So far, temperatures have not fallen far enough to cause serious harm to this season's crop, and forecasts don't call for a severe freeze in the middle 20s that would create problems.

"Things will be back to normal a couple days after the freeze stops," Campbell said.

Blossoms are the most likely part of the plant to be victim of the cold, so there might be a slight gap in production a month from now, he said.

The temperature in Dover and Balm bottomed out at 29. An agricultural weather station north of Brooksville dropped to 28. The airport in Hernando County reached a low of 27.

Tampa International Airport, MacDill Air Force Base and Lakeland Regional Airport registered lows of 34 as temperatures continued to dip after sunrise.

With clear skies, temperatures should rise a bit, but the afternoon high is expected to reach only the low 50s around Tampa and stay in the 40s north of Pasco County.

The cold air stretched over all of Florida except the Keys, with freeze warnings this morning extending south into the Everglades and the winter vegetable growing region south of Lake Okeechobee.

Meteorologists predict another round of possible freezes tonight and Tuesday night.

The National Weather Service issued another hard freeze warning for Hernando and Citrus counties for 1 to 9 a.m. Tuesday. A freeze warning is in place for all West Central Florida counties south of Hernando except Pinellas, Charlotte and Lee from 1 to 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Things should warm slightly Thursday afternoon after another possible freezing morning. The brief warm spell could push temperatures Thursday afternoon into the 60s.

Another front is expected to arrive Thursday or Friday with the possibility of rain and another round of potential freezing mornings Saturday and Sunday.