At this time of the year, vacationers head down south to the beautiful state of Florida for their sandy beaches, warm temperatures and sunshine. But Floridians woke up to the coldest temperatures in 169 years on Tuesday.
According to the
Sun Sentinel, cities like Fort Lauderdale had temperatures in the low-40s (4 degrees Celsius) but it felt more like in the mid-30s (1 degree Celsius) because of the wind chill factor. At 7:24 a.m., Fort Lauderdale broke the 169-year-old record when the temperature dipped to 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
On Monday, orange juice futures skyrocketed to their highest level in nearly 4 years due to concerns over freeze warnings, reports
Options Headlines. Another freeze warning was expected until Wednesday.
Fruit damages only occur when temperatures hover around 28 degrees for least 4 hours. Judging by the fruits, there were no indications that temperature reached that point. Parts of the central east coasts did experience, though, temperatures at the 28-degree mark.
“We did not sustain any damage to the trees or the crop,” said fruit grower, John Arnold, in an interview with
NBC News. “As the winter progresses, it's one cold front after the next and we have to be prepared for the worst. This was like a dry run, so we can test our irrigation measures.”
Florida maintains an annual $9 billion fruit industry.
According to the
Weather Network, Fort Lauderdale will experience temperatures in the mid-50s (10 degrees Celsius) on Wednesday and go up as the week progresses but it will go back down again by Monday.
