Florida didn’t just get cold this winter. It got cold in a way that most growers working those fields hadn’t seen in over a decade, and the damage to the state’s produce supply is still being tallied. What started as a warning on the weather radar turned into one of the most consequential agricultural events the Sunshine State has seen since Hurricane Ian ripped through in 2022. For anyone moving refrigerated freight for a living, or shipping temperature-sensitive product out of the Southeast, you need to understand what happened, what it means for available loads right now, and where the market is likely to head as the dust settles.

What Actually Happened Out There

Between late December 2025 and the first week of February 2026, Florida was hit with a series of freeze events that stacked on top of each other like bad luck on a Monday morning. The first freeze came on December 30th. Another one followed in mid-January. Then came what farmers are calling the real gut punch – an extended cold period that kicked off in late January and sent temperatures plummeting into the low 20s across Central Florida and the mid-to-upper 20s across inland South Florida.

Miami hit 35 degrees on February 1st – the lowest reading the city had seen since December 2010. For a region whose entire agricultural identity is built on year-round warmth, that’s not just uncomfortable. It’s devastating.

Farmers tried everything they could. Many used flood irrigation, lett