Severe frosts across the US have Florida citrus growers scrambling to protect their crops, Bloomberg reported.
In central and south Florida, farmers are trying to salvage millions of dollars worth of citrus crops by spraying them in protective layers of ice and covering them in plastic.
Overnight temperatures were forecast to be 15-35oF below average in some areas along the US Gulf Coast, said Jim Rouiller, a meteorologist for Pennsylvania business weather intelligence firm Planalytics Inc.
Spokesman for trade organisation Florida Citrus Mutual Andrew Meadows said Tuesday would be 'a nerve-wracking night' for growers.
'I would expect fruit damage to occur in colder areas by early today,' said Pete Spyke of Arapaho Citrus Management Inc., a company that farms 121ha of oranges, grapefruit and mandarins.
Speaking from his orchard in Citra, northern Florida, Mr Spyke said workers were frantically trying to protect what fruit they could.
'We're out picking today as fast as we can go to try to get fruit off the trees and into their bins where they won't freeze,' he said.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that Florida's governor Charlie Crist has signed an emergency order to deal with the cold weather threatening the crops.
On Tuesday Mr Crist signed an order to relax restrictions on transporting crops. It also gives the state's Division of Emergency Management and other agencies the authority to assist growers.
Forecasters believe the cold snap will last throughout the weekend, and is likely to break records for continuous cold temperatures.
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