Where is my global warming? – US big freeze continues

The U.S. East Coast faces the coldest night of the season as frigid air spills south and threatens agriculture in Georgia, Alabama and the orange crop in Florida.

Freeze warnings were posted by the National Weather Service as far south as the Orlando area, which may be as many as 20 degrees below normal tonight, the National Weather Service said. The advisory alerts growers that subfreezing temperatures are imminent and may kill crops or other sensitive vegetation.

Tampa and others cities in the central part of the state are under a freeze warning from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. local time tomorrow. Temperatures may fall below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (zero Celsius) for more than three consecutive hours, the National Weather Service in Tampa said on its Web site.

“This is a pretty significant cold snap,” Matt Keefe, a meteorologist with AccuWeather.com Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania, said in a telephone interview. “This could really put a hurting on the citrus crop.” He said the jet stream, which normally keeps the coldest air north of the Hudson Bay in Canada, is centered over parts of Alabama and Mississippi. “The cold temperatures could last for a good part of the week,” he said.

Tonight will be the coldest and offer the highest chance of crop damage, Keefe said.

Frigid in Jacksonville

Jacksonville, Florida, may see a record low tonight, Keefe said. Typically, Jacksonville doesn’t dip below 42 degrees this time of year, said Alan Reppert, a meteorologist for AccuWeather.com. Orlando’s normal low is 50 degrees, he said. Reppert said temperatures in Florida tomorrow night and through Jan. 5 might be as cold or colder than tonight.

The Miami area will see temperatures as much as 13 degrees below seasonal norms, meteorologist Keefe said earlier.

The next freeze may come next week when another wintry blast may push temperatures as much as 20 degrees below normal for the central Plains through northwestern Florida, Reppert said. From Houston across to Atlanta could be 20 degrees colder than normal by the morning of Jan. 8, he said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last month estimated Florida’s orange crop will be 0.7 percent smaller than earlier forecast because adverse weather reduced fruit size.

In New York, overnight lows may be 22 degrees, with wind chills dropping the experience to single digits. Philadelphia may see a low of 20 degrees, Keefe said. Washington may slip to 19 degrees, he said.

source: Business Week

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