Uncommon Cold Snap Not Quickly Remedied

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. issued a cold-weather alert Wednesday, predicting that the cold snap gripping the county will greatly increase natural gas use over what is considered normal for this time of the year.

Utility spokesman Fred Vaughn said SDG & E expects natural-gas use to rise to 300 million cubic feet a day--50 million cubic feet more than a normal December. Shortages are not expected, however, because the utility has about 100 million cubic feet in daily reserve, he said.

The cold alert came as weather forecasters issued frost warnings in anticipation of subfreezing temperatures through New Year’s weekend, a prospect that has triggered bleak memories of Decembers past when the county’s crops took a beating.

By Wednesday, 4 inches of snow was on the ground at Cuyamaca; Mt. Laguna had 8 inches. Figures for other areas were not available.

National Weather Service forecasts Wednesday called for lows down to 12 to 20 degrees in the county’s mountains. No new snow is predicted for today, but snow flurries could begin again Saturday morning. Forecasts said temperatures would dip to the low- to mid-20s in low-lying inland areas and to freezing along the coast. Highs in the coastal and inland-valley areas are not expected to rise out of the 50s for the next few days.

Cold Snap to Soften

Wilbur Shigehara, NWS meteorologist, said the cold snap throughout the county is expected to moderate slowly, with a possibility of light rain Saturday morning.

Winds of 25 to 30 m.p.h. are predicted in the mountains and deserts, which will cause hazardous driving in parts of East County.

The subfreezing temperatures expected through the balance of the week will not be as severe as those that caused widespread crop damage last year and in 1986, forecasters say. Last year, the cold ruined about 30% of the winter avocado crop and nearly wiped out the early strawberry harvest.

In Escondido, grower Ben Hillebrecht is hoping that the recent cold wave will not set off the frost bell in his bedroom until at least 3:30 or 4 a.m. By then, he explained, he can turn it off and go back to sleep, confident that his avocado groves can cope with a few hours of frigid temperatures without his help.

Alarm Sounds at 29

Hillebrecht’s frost alarm sounds when the temperature in his groves dips to 29 degrees. An early-evening alarm mobilizes him to defensive measures--turning on wind machines, activating irrigation systems, “and doing a lot of praying.”

Although cold temperatures have gripped the area for the past several days, commercial growers as of Wednesday had experienced little or no damage to their crops, said Wes Yamamoto of Vista Sales. But he said readings in the 20s might change that.

Strawberry growers can protect their plants from the severe weather by running irrigation sprays to form “little igloos” of ice around the plants, assuring that the temperature will remain at about 32 degrees under the ice shield, Yamamoto said. The watering is expensive, however, and not all growers can afford to irrigate through cold nights, he explained.

Frost in the next few days may damage the blossoms and the green fruit on the plants, which will be harvested beginning in late January, he said. However, the full extent of strawberry crop losses may not be known for up to six weeks after the freeze.

A Few Tips on Protection

Vince Lazaneo, horticulture adviser with UC San Diego’s agriculture extension division, has a few tips for homeowners trying to save their plantings from the uncommon cold:

Tents erected over the plants will protect them, Lazaneo said. Use burlap or old blankets or sheets, he advised. Plastic isn’t much protection against the cold. A high-powered light bulb hung in the lower branches of a tree will radiate heat upward and reduce damage, he said, and watering the ground around plants before the temperatures dip too low also helps.

Hillebrecht rates recent winter cold snaps as “medium freezes,” not in the class with the hard freezes that hit the county in l937, 1949 and l969.

Grandaddy of Them All

The granddaddy of them all came in 1913, before Hillebrecht’s time, but he has heard many a tale about it from relatives and friends. In Riverside, an uncle of his washed down the sidewalk in front of his store about 4 p.m. the day the big freeze of ’13 came, only to find that passers-by were slipping, sliding and falling on the ice that formed.

And, in the La Mesa area, a prospering lemon grove was turned into firewood when the big freeze hit, Hillebrecht recounted.