DESPITE GLOBAL WARMING, SOUTHERN USA GETTING DANGEROUS COLD SPELL

AP: Southern Farmers Fret As Cold Sets In

A wintry system that added inches to record snow accumulations in some Northern states sent temperatures plummeting Wednesday in the South, where farmers scrambled to protect their crops.

Temperatures were expected to drop into the 20s and teens in parts of Florida by Thursday morning, following the 30-degree temperatures some northern parts of the state saw Wednesday.

The cold spell could prove devastating to the state's citrus industry, which is the nation's largest and already has suffered from years of disease and hurricanes.

"We will have a lot of growers across the state pulling all-nighters and keeping a close watch on their groves and the temperature," said Andrew Meadows, a spokesman for the grower advocacy group Florida Citrus Mutual. "We are cautiously optimistic the industry can weather this cold snap without significant damage."

To help growers, Gov. Charlie Crist has signed an emergency order to relax restrictions on transporting produce.

Crops can withstand some cold, but not for long. Thirty-two degrees for four hours will damage an orange, for example, but 28 degrees for that long can actually ruin the tree. Most of the citrus industry is situated south, for this very reason, and in those areas it was not expected to get as cold.

But citrus crops were not the only ones at risk. A broad variety of plants and produce - from broccoli and cabbage in the north to strawberries, tomatoes and corn in the south - are also threatened.

• TOO BAD THEY DON'T HAVE GLOBAL WARMING DOWN THERE.

THEY SHOULD QUICKLY BUY SOME CARBON CREDITS - AND BURN THEM TO WARM UP!

HURRY, IT MIGHT SNOW!