Cold-Hardy Citrus Damage Expected From Incoming Freeze

Trees in the cold-hardy citrus region have already experienced severe cold weather in 2026. If forecasts come to fruition this weekend, freezing temperatures will make things worse.

Mary Sutton, University of Georgia (UGA) assistant professor and citrus Extension specialist, discussed the impact of recent sub-freezing temperatures that citrus in North Florida, South Georgia and South Alabama has been subjected to.

“I know with some of the sites I’ve been out to in the past couple of days, we’re already seeing some freeze damage on younger trees and along the outer edges of canopies. I imagine it’s only going to get worse this weekend,” Sutton said. “It definitely seems like this cold snap is going to cause some damage.”

Reminiscent of the Christmas freeze event in 2022 that lasted for four days, temperatures have dipped at or below freezing all week. According to weather.com, temperatures in Tifton, Georgia, are projected to drop into the teens Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Monday’s forecast currently calls for lows in the 20s.

“The forecast is changing, pretty much every time I check, but I know we’re expecting possibly upper teens, low 20s in places in South Georgia. If we stay at those temperatures for several hours, I think we’ll definitely see some damage,” Sutton said. “At least from what I’ve heard, everybody is implementing their freeze protection for this freeze event. Again, since the forecast is changing so much, it’s hard to say for sure what’s going to happen.

“It doesn’t look like the lows are in the upper teens or low 20s every day. That might be our saving grace. But I think the few days we do drop that low are definitely going to hurt.”

How the low temperatures will impact satsuma mandarins remains to be seen. Satsumas are the predominant variety grown in the cold-hardy region, largely because of their cold tolerance. However, that tolerance will be tested throughout the region.

“Generally, we would think between 26 and 28 degrees is the cutoff. But the longer trees are exposed to cooler temperatures, they can acclimate and survive lower and lower temperatures. It would be very difficult to guess what that damaging temperature is going to be for this time of year,” Sutton concluded.