Florida braces for frost and possible snow flurries as winter storms hit other parts of the US

MIAMI — Florida is a winter escape, but for the next few days much of it will have below-freezing nights and the Tampa Bay area might even see snowflakes for the first time in over a decade.

The Midwest and South have been getting major winter storms for several days, and a giant cyclone forecast in the Atlantic Ocean is expected to pull that cold weather east as a powerful blizzard this weekend. The worst seems to be heading toward the Carolinas, but the Sunshine State is preparing for winter weather.

Florida could experience record cold

Ana Torres-Vazquez, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Miami, said that a cold front earlier this week has already caused temperatures to dip, but the region could experience record-setting, freezing temperatures this weekend.

South Florida residents are less likely to have heavy coats and other winter clothes, so Torres-Vazquez said it's important to layer up and limit time outside. Dr. David Nestler, with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, said frostbite and hypothermia, two health dangers not always top-of-mind among Floridians, are real concerns when temperatures drop this far.

Meanwhile, visitors from cooler climates are finding it easier to acclimate to Florida's version of cold weather. Doug Brubaker said it was minus 20 F (minus 29 C) with windchill when he left Cleveland, Ohio, on Wednesday.

''Whatever's coming this weekend to me is not cold, but I know it's cold for Florida,'' Brubaker said.

The last two times the area got snow was flurries in January 2010 and December 1989. A record 2 inches (5 centimeters) of snow fell in January 1977 about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Tampa.

Despite the forecast, Tampa will host the annual Gasparilla Pirate Fest on Saturday. And Sunday, the Tampa Bay Lightning are set to host the Boston Bruins for an outdoor NHL game at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL stadium.

Few tourists will be swimming or lounging on beaches this weekend, but many attractions will remain open. Most of Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando will operate normally, though their water parks will be closed. Most of the state's zoos and animal parks will also remain open while keepers take steps to protect the inhabitants.

Keeping animals safe and warm

Zoo Miami spokesman Ron Magill said keepers have been setting up heaters and moving reptiles and smaller mammals indoors, while primates like chimpanzees and orangutans are given blankets.

But invasive, nonnative animals like iguanas and other exotic reptiles will suffer the most. Iguanas in South Florida go dormant in the cold, and though they usually wake when temperatures warm, many die after more than a day of extreme cold.

''I think in South Florida you're going to see iguanas falling from trees, I mean a lot, once it gets under 40 degrees,'' Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday at a news conference in Vero Beach. ''In some of these places, it's going to be in the 20s and 30s.''

Protecting crops

Farmers are working to safeguard their crops during winter harvest and the start of spring planting, Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association spokeswoman Christina Morton said.

The biggest concern for Florida's citrus growers is temperatures below 28 F (minus 2.2 C) for more than four hours — that's when damage occurs. Trevor Murphy, who has groves in the interior of the state, said he planned to turn on his irrigation system when the thermometer hits just above freezing to create a protective layer of ice on the trees and also fog, which helps warm the groves.

Robert Moehling Jr., whose family has been growing tropical fruit for generations in south Miami-Dade County, said the excessive water from running the irrigation can actually do more damage to their crops.

''In our experience over 66 years farming the avocados and mangoes and jackfruit, you leave the water off, run the risk of killing some versus destroying all,'' Moehling said.

An arctic blast from Canada is also spreading south, where thousands of people remain without power to heat their homes. A new storm is expected to churn along the East Coast, prompting people in mid-Atlantic states to prepare for possible blizzard conditions and the Carolinas and nearby states to brace for near-blizzard conditions.

Temperatures in hard-hit northern Mississippi will feel as cold as minus 5 F (minus 21 C) when winds are factored in, National Weather Service forecasters say. People in a large part of the southeastern U.S. were under a variety of alerts warning of extremely cold weather.

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