Temperature of 25 degrees recorded at Lakeland airport Thursday set new low for the date
DUETTE, Fla. — Despite a record low temperature in Lakeland on Thursday morning, an extended freeze did little damage to Central Florida’s major agricultural commodities.
“There was probably some minor damage because the wind reached 20 mph,” ►said◄Gary Wishnatzki, CEO of Plant City-based Wish Farms, said Thursday at his strawberry field in Duette in northern Manatee County. “It’s a minor amount of loss.”
Wishnatzki was referring to the fact that strawberry growers run their irrigation systems during a freeze event to protect the plants. High winds prevent the water from spreading evenly over the plants, leaving some open to damage from the freezing air.
The Thursday morning freeze was notable for the low temperature and duration, he said. The temperature on the Duette farm fell as low as 27 degrees, and it stayed at or below freezing for about eight hours.
That was the case for most of Polk County on Thursday morning, said Dustin Norman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin.
Most of Polk saw low temperatures between 27 and 29 degrees, he said. The 25-degree low recorded at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport beat the previous 29-degree record set in 1977.
The low temperature at Gilbert Field, the Winter Haven airport, was 27 degrees, but that was warmer than the 23-degree record also set in 1977.
Temperatures stayed at or below freezing from about 1 a.m. to 9 a.m., Norman said.
“It was a pretty long duration freeze event,” he said.
At the Florida Strawberry Growers Association’s 12-acre experimental field in Dover, freezing temperatures lasted for about nine hours and fell as low as 25 degrees, said Kenneth Parker, the association’s president. The University of Florida tests new strawberry varieties in the field.
Parker agreed with Wishnatzki’s assessment that the wind conditions caused problems with irrigation coverage but the damage to the plants would be minor.
“That was a pretty long duration, but we’ll have minimal damage, probably to some blooms,” said Parker, who added the flower blooms are the most delicate part of a strawberry plant.
The fruit, however, looked good Thursday afternoon, he said.
The area’s tropical fish farms survived the Thursday morning freeze much better than the three-day freeze at the beginning of the month, said Michael Drawdy, owner of Imperial Tropicals in Lakeland.
That’s because the temperatures stayed warm until late Wednesday afternoon, allowing the farmers to build up heat in their covered ponds, he said.
Tropical fish farmers protect their animals by covering the outdoor ponds with a heavy plastic, which acts like a greenhouse. A warm, sunny day will boost the temperatures under the covers that normally will last through a freezing night.
“We did a lot better than the freeze earlier this month,” Drawdy said. “This one I think we’ll come through OK.”
The outdoor ponds that hold most of the tropical fish crop need to stay above a water temperature of 50 degrees for many tropical fish species but above 60 degrees for some sensitive species, he said.
Officials at Polk’s two adult shelters in Lakeland reported taking in a few additional people Wednesday night.
Lighthouse Ministries, which has 36 beds for adult men, took in about 80 men over the night, about the same as earlier this month, said Executive Director Steve Turbeville.
Talbot House Ministries saw slightly less demand for shelter than earlier this month, said Claudia Jordan, the development director.
It took in 116 men Wednesday night, she said. It took in 100 more people than that earlier in January.
But Talbot expected that number will go up Thursday night, the second night for freezing weather, Jordan said.
The National Weather Service put out a freeze warning for midnight to 9 a.m. Friday.
Temperatures for most of Polk would stay in the low 30s with freezing temperatures expected for about two to five hours, Norman said. The Green Swamp and other normally cold areas could see lower temperatures.
But calm winds are expected, so strawberry growers will get better protection from irrigation, Parker said.
Friday morning will be the last of the freezing temperatures for at least a week, Norman said. Long-term forecasts show near- to above-normal temperatures for the next two weeks.
Today’s (Friday) high temperatures are expected to reach the mid-60s.
“This (Friday) will be the last potential night for a freeze,” he said.
Kevin Bouffard is a reporter for The Lakeland (Fla.) Ledger.