Farmers Spend a 2nd Night on Frost Watch

With news that temperatures would slide dangerously close to the freezing mark for a second night in a row, weary Ventura County farmers spent another day Thursday preparing to battle the frost.

They set alarms ready to blare warnings when temperatures dip low enough. They checked propane tanks on giant, warmth-generating fans. And then they tried to sleep, if only for a few hours.

“You’ve got to go to bed early,” said avocado and lemon rancher Bob Pinkerton, predicting he would be up baby-sitting fruit most of Thursday night. “I’ll probably go to sleep right after dinner.”

Forecasters said temperatures in parts of the county could plunge into the low 30s, just cold enough to damage tender crops left unprotected. But forecasters also offered good news to worried farmers, promising warmer temperatures and even a chance of rain by tonight. And by early next week, the highs may creep back to 80 degrees, forecasters said.

“That’s just how Mother Nature is right now,” said Bill Hoffer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “It’s a transitional time, trying to go from winter to spring. So we can expect up-and-down temperatures until at least April.”

The weather changes when fast-moving cold fronts collide with warmer air. “And that raises all kinds of problems,” said Hoffer, noting the record heat Tuesday followed a day later by snow flurries in Simi Valley.

Temperatures were expected to sink to the low 30s Thursday night and early this morning, possibly even dipping under the freezing mark of 32 degrees.

Tony Thacher of Friend’s Ranches in Ojai said despite the frigid temperatures, his oranges probably will survive because they are so far along in their development.

“It would be more stressful if this was earlier in the season,” Thacher said. “If it had gotten to be 25 degrees or lower, it would be more serious. But still, it’s serious enough to keep us from sleeping.”

Thacher said the larger oranges are harder to freeze because they are so full of water.

“It’s like making ice cubes,” he said. “It takes a least a few hours of freezing temperatures.”

Rex Laird, executive director for the Ventura County Farm Bureau, agreed it usually takes several days of cold before real damage begins to set in. But temperatures that move up and down bring their own kind of aggravation, he added.

“Just about the time you get your wind machines going, the temperatures go back up and you have to turn the machines off again,” Laird said. “So it’s off, on, off, on, all night. That’s the thing that drives people crazy.”

Hoffer promised more stable temperatures by this afternoon. Skies should be cloudy and offer a 20% chance of rain during the day, he said.

Temperatures are expected to reach near 60 degrees before dropping into the 40s tonight. Rain is also expected by nightfall and stretching through the weekend. Highs through the weekend are expected to hover around the 50s and lows in the 40s.

Ken Turner, ground water department manager for United Water in Santa Paula, said the rain should help aquifer levels. While the underground water levels are sufficient near Saticoy, they are low near Point Mugu and Camarillo.

“But they’ve been low for a few decades,” Turner said, “even in the wettest years.”