Citrus frost

Growers in the San Joaquin Valley are preparing for possible freezing weather in the region this week that could negatively impact the citrus industry.

With forecasters predicting that temperatures will drop considerably on Thursday, the industry has brought in some 12,000 wind machines with many set to run between 8pm and 7am on Thursday morning.

'That's what we are looking at,' Joel Nelson, president of Florida Citrus Mutual, told the San Francisco Chronicle when talking about the potential for freezing temperatures. 'It depends on a lot of things, like cloud cover, but we will have wind machines primed.'

However, national weather forecasters have predicted that the low temperatures will last only a few hours – not enough time to seriously damage fruit.

Around 15 per cent of the navel orange crop has been harvested so far this season with the rest at risk, according to local news reports, with lemons and mandarins also vulnerable to freezing temperatures.