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The chilly weather is on its way out

The cold caused the governor to issue a state of emergency, though temperatures are supposed to reach the 60s today.

By GRAHAM BRINK
Published February 14, 2006

	[Times photo: Scott Keeler]
	Mike Ross, and friend Kathleen O'Neill, both from St. Louis, watch the end of Monday's sunset against a chilly wind at Clearwater Beach. It was Ross's first visit to the gulf. "The cold isn't too bad," said Ross. "At least it's not snow." Temperatures are supposed to rise into the 60s today.

After spending the night struggling to safeguard their crops against the coldest weather of the winter, farmers across the Tampa Bay area are expected to get some relief this morning.

Temperatures are supposed to rise into the 60s in most area counties today and back into the 70s on Wednesday.

The warming will help growers around the state, whose plight prompted Gov. Jeb Bush to issue a state of emergency.

"This is not a deep, hard freeze yet," said Ray Gilmer, a spokesman for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.

Temperatures Monday night were expected to plunge into the 20s for several hours in eastern Hillsborough and northern counties, and into the 30s in the rest of the area.

Freeze warnings were issued for all bay-area counties except Pinellas.

Many growers spent the night spraying water on their plants for protection. Heat is released when water freezes, and the ice also forms a protective barrier. Other farmers used protective coverings to help retain heat.

As a general rule, the temperature has to drop to 27 degrees or below for more than four hours before orange and grapefruit trees are damaged.

Crops will be assessed today.

The night was not supposed to be good for farmers, with clear skies and calm winds. Wind can help mix up the atmosphere, preventing temperatures from dropping too low.

"Without wind or clouds, it's ideal for radiation cooling," said John McMichael, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin. "There's nothing to hold the heat in. It just goes back up and out into space."

In the governor's state of emergency order, Bush instructed the Florida Department of Transportation to relax certain size requirements on vehicles to allow farmers a better chance to get thawed crops to processing sites before they spoil. The order also allowed the DOT to issue temporary permits to increase the number of trucks able to carry the goods.

While the temperatures were below normal for this time of year, forecasters were not expecting any significant records to be set.

The record low temperature for Tampa in February is 22 degrees, set in 1895 and 1899. The coldest day ever recorded in Tampa was Dec. 13, 1962, when the temperature dropped to 18 degrees. February 1958 set the Tampa record for most days with temperatures of 32 degrees or below with four. It is unlikely the temperature will get below 32 degrees that many times this month.

"This winter has been pretty mild overall," McMichael said. "Once we get past this cold night, it looks like we'll be back to normal, at least through to next week."

--Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

[Last modified February 14, 2006, 02:45:31]