Friday January 28th 2022

The sun returned to its typical position in the sky this morning. The clouds of the last few days were gone. The bright sun allowed the temperature to quickly climb into the high sixties. Unfortunately, the clouds returned shortly after the noon hour. By the end of the day it was just as gloomy as the last three.

The weather is the dominant topic in the news. On the national news they are spreading fearful information about the impending blizzard in the northeast. The local news broadcasts in Florida are focusing on spreading fearful information on the cold temperatures coming to central Florida this weekend. The daytime high temperature tomorrow is forecast to be in the forties with a windchill in the thirties. Overnight Saturday into Sunday is the real freeze. A very large area of Florida will have temperatures in the mid to upper twenties. The majority of the TV coverage has been on the potential impact to the citrus crop and how to cover or otherwise protect the plants in your yard. I’ll disconnect my water hose and maybe add another blanket on my bed.

The normal high and low temperatures for this time of year in this area are almost thirty degrees warmer than the weekend forecasts. The low seventies is the normal high and the mid fifties is the usual low. Next week the temperature is forecast to rebound. By Thursday it may be in the eighties in this area. I’ll be sixty miles or so further north in the Ocala area, so I will not get all the benefit.

There was a large turn over of sites in the campground today. The people filling in the available sites during the weekdays had to leave making room for the local people that had long awaited weekend reservations. When sites empty out during the week they are usually filled quickly by travelers stating about 1PM. The people filling the sites on a Friday usually don’t show up until late in the day. They work all day before traveling to the campground. This weekend some of the weekenders may not show up. It is too cold for a lot of activities.