Freeze Damages Florida Citrus
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
By: Tom Parkinson

December 28, 2010 | WMFE - Florida's citrus growers are still assessing the damage from 2 nights of sub-freezing temperatures across the peninsula. They say there was some frozen fruit but it's too early to know what the impact will be to the state's $9 billion dollar citrus industry.

Temperatures fell into the mid and upper 20s throughout Central and South Florida again Monday night for the second night in a row. Andrew Meadows, of Florida Citrus Mutual in Lakeland, says growers reported a heavy frost coating their groves this morning and some said ice had penetrated the fruit.
“Our line of demarcation is 28 degrees for four hours or more.” Meadows said, “We did reach those temperatures in all of our growing regions and we did get reports of frozen fruit in all of those regions.”
That frozen fruit can still be processed if it’s picked quickly but growers say the fruit will not yield as much juice. 
This was the second hard freeze in Central Florida this month. Growers say it will probably take at least a few days to assess the full impact.