Winter Storm Effects in Florida
By: Lucia Misasi
Recently in Florida a harsh winter storm has hit, causing extremely cold temperatures. In Jacksonville on January 16th, the lowest temperature recorded was 22 degrees, which tied the all-time city record. The average temperatures are around 40s to 50s. But because of the chilly winds, the temperature can end up feeling around 30s and even the 20s to teens. Along with these shockingly freezing temperatures, there have also been snow flurries and even snow reported in Florida.
North Florida and the West Coast reported snowfall and in an even rarer occurrence, Central and Southern parts of Florida as far as Tampa received snow flurries. The last time Tampa saw any sight of snow until recently was January 2010. However, with all these fascinating rare sightings and temperatures, there have been some negative impacts on the usually sunny state.
Since Florida agriculture is used to the sunny climate, the rare coldness is causing damage to plants and citrus trees. The cold is also causing many power outages because of the demand for electrical heat and ice on the power lines. This is causing people to have a lack of heat source, leaving them cold in their homes. The icy conditions are also causing traveling issues with flights being canceled. It’s also been said that it’s “raining iguanas” as iguanas have been reported to be falling out of trees. This is because iguanas are ectotherms, which means that their internal body temperature is affected by the weather. And as the weather has gotten colder, iguanas’ internal temperatures have gotten so cold that they are being cold stunned. And since iguanas have been essentially become frozen, they are falling out of trees. So, although these rare sightings are fun to experience, there have also been some bad effects with it.
Photo: CBS News
