Ice
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (121548)
Gainesville, Florida
February 10, 2022 3:54pm CST
Sometimes I forget that living in the Sunshine State doesn’t guarantee that we always have warm, sunny skies. It does actually get cold here from time to time, although not often.
I was surprised early this morning when I had to scrape ice off the windshield of my truck. Not just a thin layer of frost, but a pretty thick layer of ice that just didn’t want to come off, no matter how hard I tried with my ice scraper.
Our low was only supposed to be 37 degrees (2.8 C), but apparently it got a little colder than they thought. I was almost late to work due to the time it took to scrape off the ice.
Luckily, by lunchtime the temperature was warm enough that I sat outside at a picnic table without my jacket and soaked up the warm sunshine.
Has the weather ever surprised you first thing in the morning?
Actually, the real question here is what the heck I’m doing with an ice scraper in my possession living here in Florida? Even I’m baffled sometimes by the things I have!
27 people like this
27 responses
@sweetashoney (3597)
• United States
10 Feb 22
My son was laughing at me the other day when he looked in the drawer and seen a ice scraper that you plug in. Since I live in SC and he just movied back from CO. he said I didn't need a ice scraper, that no more ice the we get I could just cut my heater on to defrost and the ice will melt off.
I do remember growing up in Florida though, some morning can seem real cold. I'm so old that I can still remember when us girls had to wear dresses to school and when it got real cold you were allowed to wear a pair of pants under your dress. lol
7 people like this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Feb 22
@sweetashoney Yeah, I thought wearing two pairs of pants was funny too.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Feb 22
It was so cold a week ago that I had to wear TWO pairs of pants under my dress!
Wait...
...why was I wearing a dress? lol
1 person likes this
@oahuwriter (26777)
• United States
11 Feb 22
Sometimes, the weather does surprise me! Glad you made it in time for work! We're having sunny weather, now until, next week. I'm hoping we'll have to nicer weather, I've a doctor appointment on Thursday, 17th. 
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Feb 22
@oahuwriter That's for sure. I think that this is the "new normal" for us now.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
We’re going to warm up in time for the weekend, and then it will get cold again next week. So many people get sick when the temperatures go back and forth so much like this.
1 person likes this
@oahuwriter (26777)
• United States
12 Feb 22
@moffittjc
Weather can't make up it's mind!
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (471354)
• Switzerland
11 Feb 22
@moffittjc - Today is definitely Spring, tomorrow I do not know, but it seems that Sunday will be very cold.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
@LadyDuck I will be back in shorts tomorrow
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
Our weather this time of year can be quite an example of extremes. We can wake up in the morning to winter, then by lunchtime it’s spring, by the late afternoon it feels like summer, and then when the sun goes down it’s fall.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (105948)
• Marion, Ohio
11 Feb 22
Good thing you have an ice scraper I am never surprised by the weather here
I am never surprised by the weather here1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (105948)
• Marion, Ohio
11 Feb 22
@moffittjc Just be glad you did have it. Maybe someone bought it as a gag gift for you
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
@wolfgirl569 The only thing I can think of is that I may have bought it 10 years ago when I got caught in a freak blizzard in Virginia.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
Yeah, but my question is…why do I even have an ice scraper and where did I get it? I live in Florida; I don’t even think they sell them here.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
Just a week ago we hit a low of 20. Doesn’t happen very often, but it will surprise us occasionally
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
@RubyHawk I don’t think we’re quite done with winter yet, so hang on for a little while longer before you put away your winter coats.
1 person likes this
@RubyHawk (99405)
• Atlanta, Georgia
11 Feb 22
@moffittjc Thank goodness it’s turning warmer. I’ve had enough cold weather for this year.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
I layered up this morning, then took them off at work because I started getting hot. Now I’m cold again, but don’t want to layer back up, so I have a little space heater sitting at my feet right now.
I’m such a Florida wimp!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
@CarolDM It’s ok, I don’t mind being called a wimp. When I get cold when the temp drops below 80 degrees, that qualifies me for wimp status.
1 person likes this
@CarolDM (203422)
• Nashville, Tennessee
11 Feb 22
@moffittjc You are not a wimp. Just not used to the cool weather.
1 person likes this
@Tina30219 (81899)
• Onaway, Michigan
11 Feb 22
Sometimes you might need it you never know. I am sure you are glad it warmed up so you could sit at the picnic table at lunch time
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
I don’t know why I own an ice scraper though. I don’t remember buying it. I live in Florida for Pete’s sake, what the heck am I’m doing with an ice scraper? Lol
@Tina30219 (81899)
• Onaway, Michigan
11 Feb 22
@moffittjc Right that is for sure
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
@Tina30219 instead of an ice scraper, I should have a salt shaker (for my margarita)! Lol
@Juliaacv (51109)
• Canada
11 Feb 22
@moffittjc They could be plowing the crop under and opting to collect crop insurance if the season is not over.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Feb 22
@Juliaacv It's possible, but it looked like they all had a bumper crop of strawberries this year. I know I have been buying big juicy packs of locally-grown strawberries at our grocery store lately.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
Strawberries are in season here right now and most of them have already been picked for market. Not sure what gets planted next, but I’ve been seeing all the John Deere tractors out plowing the land on my morning commute to work, so they are all getting ready to plant whatever the next season of crop is. So I think the farmers all dodged crop damage from the frost.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137257)
• United States
10 Feb 22
You should be asking your son and girlfriend how long it took them to make the temp drop there and make ice on your windshield. I'm sure they could get jobs setting up skating rinks during the summer. 
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137257)
• United States
12 Feb 22
@moffittjc Let me know if I've just given them an idea for summer jobs.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
I just don’t know where I got the ice scraper. It’s not like I ever need it, but there it was in the center console in my truck.
1 person likes this
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
11 Feb 22
@moffittjc Good to have just in case!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 22
Our weather has been mixed this season. We had cold spells where we broke record lows, and then periods of warmth where we broke records for record highs. It's been a flip-flop season here in north Florida. It's currently very hot here, almost feels like summer, minus the humidity.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 22
@just4him The heat is not so bad here when there is no humidity. It makes being outside tolerable. During the summer, it's the excessive humidity that makes being outside so uncomfortable.
1 person likes this
@just4him (317040)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
26 Feb 22
@moffittjc That must be good to have the heat without the humidity.
It's been strange here too this winter. Our warm days got to 50.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (178131)
• United States
11 Feb 22
Ice? In Florida? Not acceptable. There are many times when I was surprised with a thick coating of ice and s**w on my windshield. Now the car is in the garage...nice! And I don't have to work.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
Yes, I couldn’t believe how thick the ice was. Usually it’s just a light coating of frost that the defroster can melt in a few minutes. The other surprising thing was the fact that our low was only forecast to be 37 that night. Obviously got a little colder than they predicted.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Feb 22
@LindaOHio Hope you have a great weekend too! Stay warm!
...and no ice skating on your driveway!
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (178131)
• United States
12 Feb 22
@moffittjc Our driveway is a solid piece of ice; and there is a ton of s**w left to melt. It's going to be in the 50s next week; so we are hoping for a lot of white crap to be gone. Hopefully it's a sign of an early spring....Have a good weekend.
1 person likes this
@Fa_Maverick (9487)
• Australia
17 Feb 22
As a South Australian I am very confused. Ice? Like outside? How did it get there without a freezer?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
17 Feb 22
As a Floridian, I was confused too. Ice comes from the freezer and is used to cool down our drinks. How did it get all over the place outside?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
17 Feb 22
@Fa_Maverick Possibly. But you would have to tell me what an eskie is first.
1 person likes this
@Fa_Maverick (9487)
• Australia
17 Feb 22
@moffittjc maybe someone emptied their eskies on your car and yard and all down the street?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
Florida is normally a warm, tropical paradise. Every now and then it will get cold here.
1 person likes this
@Anqaya (3033)
• United States
11 Feb 22
@moffittjc Oh. I see. Hope it does not get too cold you know.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Feb 22
But I don’t have any other use for it on the remaining 364 days of the year! Lol
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
That’s only slightly less surprising than having ice and freezing temps in tropical Florida.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (37350)
• Toccoa, Georgia
11 Feb 22
Yes the weather does surprise me sometimes. I remember once many years ago being with my family in Florida around this time of year and it was freezing. We were down near Sanibel island. I think I remember the news saying that it was a record temp at the time.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Feb 22
It doesn't get freezing cold down in Sanibel that often.
I once took a vacation down in Key West in late April, and there was a freak cold front that came through. It was freezing cold even that far south, and nobody had jackets or sweaters for sale, because everyone there was used to wearing shorts and tank tops. I just remember being constantly cold the entire week we were there.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
11 Feb 22
Here in NC, we often have frosted windshields on a winter's morning. Normally, I would use the scraper to remove it. Now that I drive The Beast, I cannot reach enough of the windshield to bother. I just warm up the truck and let the defroster take care of it.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
Since I drive a big truck, I couldn’t reach to scrape a very big portion of my windshield. I did just enough to give me a peephole to see out while driving. It took the entire 25 minute drive for the defroster to remove the rest.
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Feb 22
It's alarming that it rarely happens any more, when 10, 20 or 30 years ago it occurred on a regular basis.
@lovebuglena (44504)
• Staten Island, New York
11 Feb 22
Wow! I’d never picture ice in Florida, except in a drink lol.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121548)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Feb 22
In Florida, the only acceptable presence of ice should be in a drink! Lol
1 person likes this
