Miami — Florida won’t be subjected to huge blankets of snow and ice like the rest of the United States, but even a frozen windshield and a few flurries can feel like Antarctica to people with perpetual sandal tans.
The Midwest and South are exposed to major, multi-day, giant winter storms Hurricane Cold weather in the Atlantic Ocean is expected to pull this cold weather east as a powerful snow storm this weekend. The worst appears to be headed toward the Carolinas, but people, animals and even plants in the Sunshine State are bracing for winter weather.
A cold front earlier this week has already caused temperatures to drop some, but the area could see record cold this weekend, said Ana Torres Vasquez, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami.
“Temperatures across South Florida appear to be dropping into the 30s (Fahrenheit) for most of the metro area and possibly into the 20s in areas near Lake Okeechobee,” Torres-Vasquez said. “Then cold winds can make temperatures even colder.”
South Floridians are less likely to have heavy coats and other winter clothing, so Torres-Vasquez said it’s important to wear lighter clothing and limit time spent outside.
Moving north, Tony Hurt, a national meteorologist for the Tampa Bay area, said there is a 10 to 20 percent chance of snow in that area this weekend.
“Most likely, if there is any snow that does fall, it will be primarily in flurries, without accumulations,” Hurt said.
The last time it snowed in the area was in January 2010 and December 1989. The record snowfall was in January 1977, with 2 inches (5 cm) of snow about 20 miles (32 km) east of Tampa.
Despite the possibility of snow, Tampa will host the annual event Gasparilla Pirate Festival on saturday. On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Lightning are scheduled to host the Boston Bruins in a game Outdoor NHL game At the NFL stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Only a few tourists visiting Florida will be swimming in the ocean or lounging on sunny beaches this weekend, but many attractions will remain open. Most Walt Disney Parks and Universal Orlando will operate normally, although their water parks will be closed. Most of the state’s zoos and animal parks will also remain open while rangers take steps to protect residents.
Zoo Miami spokesman Ron Magill said keepers are setting up heaters and moving reptiles and small mammals into indoor enclosures, while primates such as chimpanzees and orangutans are given blankets to keep warm. Big cats and animals with large hooves generally do well in cold temperatures and do not need much help from keepers.
“It can be a stimulant for animals like the tiger, so they will become more active,” Magill said.
Outside the safety of the zoo, Florida’s native wildlife has evolved and learned how to survive occasional cold snaps, though casualties still occur, Magill said. ManateesFor example, they have spent decades congregating at outflows of warm water from about a dozen power plants throughout Florida.
But invasive and non-native animals love it Iguana Other exotic reptiles will suffer the most, Magill said. Iguanas in South Florida have been known to go into a lethargic state during cold snaps, and even fall out of trees. They usually wake up when the temperature rises, but many of them die after more than a day of extreme cold.
“At the end of the day, they don’t belong here, and this may be nature’s way of trying to clean that up a little bit,” Magill said. “This is part of natural selection.”
Florida’s agricultural industry is also bracing for the cold. Farmers are working to protect their crops as the winter harvest continues and spring planting begins in some Florida Fruit areas & Vegetable Association spokeswoman Christina Morton said.
“Preparations vary depending on the crop and include harvesting and planting before the freeze, increasing water levels in ditches, using overhead irrigation and, in some cases, deploying helicopters to protect sensitive fields,” Morton said.
The deep freeze in Florida comes as the Arctic blast is also spreading from Canada to southern states where thousands of people remain without power to heat their homes, and people in the mid-Atlantic states are bracing for possible blizzard conditions as a new storm is expected to blow along the East Coast.
National meteorologists say temperatures in hard-hit northern Mississippi will feel as cold as minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 21 degrees Celsius) when expected strong winds are taken into account. People in much of the southeastern United States have received a variety of alerts warning of extremely cold weather on the way.
The storm expected to hit the East Coast sparked more warnings in the Carolinas and neighboring states. The weather service warned that this storm is expected to bring heavy snow and strong winds, which could create “dangerous near-blizzard conditions.”