Frigid weather creeps in, sending region into shivers

As temperatures dip to their lowest so far this winter, angst rises among farmers, travelers and the homeless.

The coldest weather of the season swept through Florida over the weekend, prompting a flurry of activity.

Farmers worried about frozen crops. Shelters opened for the homeless. Air travelers were held up by snow in the Northeast.

And because of the chilly winds, the surf was up. Maria Tridas of St. Petersburg put on her wet suit, grabbed her board and headed to Treasure Island with friends.

"You can surf just on the really, really cold days, said Tridas, 15. "And the windy ones, too."

John McMichael, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in Ruskin, said intense low pressure off the New England Coast has combined with high pressure from the Midwest. Both regions have had heavy snowfall.

"Circulation between those two systems has pushed the front to us, draining through the region," McMichael said.

Forecasters on Sunday projected temperatures early today would drop as low as 29 degrees at Tampa International Airport - cold, but well above the day's record of 18 degrees in December 1962.

Farther north and inland, temperatures were expected to be lower. Brooksville and parts of Citrus County were expected to see temperatures as low as 18 degrees.

Warm winds off the gulf were likely to keep the temperatures in the low 30s in St. Petersburg and Clearwater.

"We will be seeing the possibility of freezing temperatures from Pasco north until Tuesday morning," McMichael said. "We still have pockets of (freezing) temperatures in the bay area. But that will be confined to eastern and interior sections of Hillsborough."

Marcia Crawley, a spokeswoman for Pinellas County government, said six shelters would open Sunday night, offering the homeless food and a warm place to sleep.

Pasco County also opened its one cold weather shelter in Hudson. Hillsborough opened two shelters Sunday night.

Airlines canceled at least 42 flights at TIA between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday because of snowstorms in the North.

But by Sunday evening, only two flights were significantly delayed, one to Akron, Ohio, and another to Newark, N.J. Most stranded passengers had boarded flights and headed home.

David Middlebrook was one of the unlucky travelers.

He arrived at the airport at 5:40 a.m., only to have a JetBlue representative tell him his flight to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport would be delayed.

Middlebrook, 54, checked into the Tampa Airport Marriott to get a few hours' sleep.

"It cost more for the hotel room upstairs than it cost me for my ticket," Middlebrook said of the $300-a-night rate.

As the mercury fell Sunday evening, power companies said they were prepared.

Progress Energy anticipated record demand for power today about 7 a.m. The utility has purchased reserve energy supplies, spokeswoman Deborah Shipley said.

Officials at TECO had studied weather forecasts and had been preparing for a spike in demand since last week, spokesman Ross Bannister said.

"We're ready," Bannister said. "These are the things that we prepare for."

The cold snap also had area farmers preparing through the weekend.

Tony DiMare, a tomato grower in Ruskin, had to pay workers to cover 300 acres of young tomato plants with plastic foam cups and plastic containers.

He also anticipated having to irrigate the crops with water during the coldest hours, when temperatures drop below freezing.

It comes at a terrible time, as many tomato farmers lost crops during the hurricanes.

"We are in a planting stage right now and we have young transplants in the ground close to 21/2 weeks old," DiMare said. "They are at a real tender stage right now, so we are real concerned."

It's harvest time for citrus growers. Exposing fruit to temperatures below 28 degrees for longer than four hours is a real threat, said Casey Pace, a spokesman for Florida Citrus Mutual.

Pace, whose organization represents about 11,000 citrus growers across the state, said farmers can only irrigate with warm water and hope for the best.

"(This) morning, growers will slice open some fruit and see if there was some freezing," Pace said Sunday afternoon. "If there's ice, then they will know how much damage occurred."

In Hernando County, where temperatures were expected to be among the lowest in the region - below 20 degrees - growers were waiting to see how bad it would get.

"It's the not knowing how bad it's going to be that makes you nervous," said Kathy Oleson, a grove owner from Spring Lake. "You can only hope that you've protected everything well enough to get through it okay. From there, it's pretty much out of your hands."

Growers were not the only ones waiting for bad news. Firefighters also were anticipating fires caused by people trying to keep warm.

"It usually happens this time of year," said Ray Yeakley, a spokesman for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.

Yeakley urged people to pay particular attention to space heaters; never leave them unattended and allow 3 feet clearance between heaters and surrounding objects.

Yeakley also warned against using ovens as heaters. "It opens everything up to catching on fire," he said.

Not everyone was dreading the cold weather.

Judy Polo bundled up and spent Sunday afternoon with friends walking at Pass-a-Grille beach. She and her three friends were visiting from Chicago.

They had hoped to spend the weekend swimming and golfing. They settled for a brisk walk and margaritas at the Don CeSar Beach Resort - inside.

"Our shorts and swimsuits will stay in our suitcases," said Polo, 63.

A few miles north, Tridas was taking a break from the waves.

The water was 54 degrees and the air was 50 degrees about 3 p.m., a real test for the teenager who has been surfing a little more than a year.

"This is probably the coldest I've surfed," Tridas said. "I was in for about 20 minutes and had to come out to warm my hands."

--Times staff writers Sherri Day, Logan Neill and Molly Moorhead contributed to this report.

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