Florida on alert for falling iguanas as Arctic air dives south
Temperatures could fall more than 10 degrees below seasonal across much of Florida to start the week
Watch your head if you’re headed to Florida next week.
Plummeting temperatures could cause iguanas to fall from the trees as a potent trough drags Arctic air into the region by the middle of next week.
While the western half of Canada warms considerably, the beginning of next week will feel like the middle of winter across the southeastern United States.
Temperatures will register as much as 15 degrees above seasonal on parts of the Prairies. Meanwhile, we’ll see readings fall as much as 20 degrees below seasonal in places like North Carolina and Georgia.
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Wild temperature swings cover North America this week
A building ridge over the western Prairies will coincide with a potent trough diving all the way toward Florida, allowing for large temperature anomalies between Sunday and Tuesday. This is the same pattern responsible for the looming snow potential in both Ontario and Quebec.
Mild southwesterly flow from the Pacific Ocean will carry warmth well inland late this weekend into early next week. Warm air will snake across the Rockies, compressing and warming further as it descends toward the foothills and lower elevations of Alberta as a Chinook wind event.
Farther east, we’ve got a trough digging deep into the U.S. Deep South. You’d expect to see this setup over the Great Lakes around this time of year—not all the way toward the Sunshine State. As a result, unseasonably cold air will reach the Gulf of Mexico on Monday and Tuesday.
This unusual setup will make portions of the Prairies warmer than Florida for much of Monday and Tuesday.
Monday’s high temperatures of 15°C in Calgary and 19°C in Medicine Hat contrast sharply with expected high temperatures of just 6°C in Atlanta and 4°C in Nashville.
For context, the average high this time of year in Atlanta is about 19°C and a seasonable reading hovers around 18°C up the road in Nashville.
Conditions will get even colder overnight. Tuesday morning could see frost as far south as Orlando, Florida, with below-freezing temperatures possible in the northern fringes of the state.
These temperatures are likely cold enough to slow the metabolism of even the hardiest iguana, leading to the potential for raining reptiles on Tuesday morning.
Cold weather is hard on iguanas
Why does this happen in the first place?
Iguanas, which thrive in Florida’s hot and humid climate, sleep in trees at night to avoid predators at ground level. These ‘cold-blooded’ creatures have to rely on the environment to supply the body heat they can’t generate themselves.
When temperatures fall into the single-digits or even colder, an iguana’s metabolism slows considerably to save energy and survive the temporary chill.
This internal slowdown essentially stuns the iguana in place, at which point it loses grip and quite literally falls out of the tree. Fallen iguanas remain locked in place where they land until temperatures warm enough to resume normal functions.
Header image created using graphics and imagery from Canva.