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Posted: 9:22 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Cold weather tips

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Blast of cold weather photo
Temperatures were cold enough in January 2010 to freeze blades of grass that had been watered overnight near Palm Beach International Airport.



• Follow portable heater instructions carefully. Take the word "space" literally. Keep the heating unit 3 feet from other objects to avoid starting a fire. Avoid using older units that don't have a tip-over switch. These switches are a safety feature that turn off the unit if it falls over. Check that the cords are not frayed or damaged. Do not use with extension cords. Kerosene heaters must be used in large rooms with a steady air supply. Use in small, sealed rooms risks carbon monoxide poisoning.



• Use appliances and heaters sparingly. The power surge can cause a blackout. Try not to use appliances from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., or 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Florida Power and Light suggests that instead of turning the heat down at night, keep it at the same level-- four degrees lower than usual-- all day.


Your pets

• Bring them inside.


Your plants

• Bring in potted plants.

• Give extra protection by covering them with burlap or another fibrous cloth. Don't cover them with plastic because it draws heat from plants. If the plant is too big, douse the ground around it with water before nightfall. Cold-tolerant plants left outside include junipers, hollies, ligustrums.

• Don't worry about citrus trees or hardy vegetables such as broccoli, but irrigating or covering them won't hurt as long as there is no water sitting on the plants overnight.

• During the day before a possible freeze, get as much water into the ground as you can but don't get water on the plant after sunset. While commercial growers sometimes turn on sprinklers to protect plants during a freeze, it can backfire and ruin plants if you don't know exactly when to turn them on and off.



• Check the plant's buds if leaves have shed because of the cold. The plant should be fine if the buds are still green.


Your heater







How to dress warmly

• Dress in layers. The more, the better. They trap insulating air when you're cold and are easy to peel when it gets warm.

• Start light and go heavy - Say a T-shirt, a shirt, a sweater.

• Silk may be thin, but it's great at keeping you warm.



• Wool and down make great outter layers.

• Cover your head, even if it doesn't feel cold. Your body is sending heat there to insulate your brain. When that heat gets there, keep it there.


• A scarf isn't just a fashion statement, it fills the space between the coat collar and the hat you're going to wear.

• Turtle neck shirts and raised collars also suit this purpose.

Do Floridians actually have thinner blood?

It's as predictable as January following December. When the season's first blast of wintry air arrives, northern and midwestern transplants lament how, having become South Floridians, their "blood has thinned," rendering them less tolerant of cold weather. So, is this a real phenomenon or old wives' tale?

The latter, according to Dr. Ashok Kumar, a professor of family and community medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center. "What happens when you go to a cold climate, the blood viscosity - the technical term for the thickness - doesn't change," he said. However, at high altitudes, where it often is colder, your blood can thicken as it produces more red blood cells. But, said Kumar, "It's not the temperature doing it — it's the altitude."

Kumar and other experts tend to agree: The human body simply becomes accustomed to the temperatures it's most often exposed too - and unaccustomed to the ones it's not.

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