SAN ANTONIO — Cold and mostly clear with a chance of... iguanas? Yes. Iguanas. Floridians had to watch for iguanas as temperatures fell 20 degrees or more below normal Wednesday morning.
The National Weather Service in Miami, Florida released a rare "iguana warning" late Tuesday night.
Temperatures were expected to fall into the upper-30s to low-40s around Wednesday morning. Many counties across Florida were under a Hard Freeze Warning and a Wind Chill Advisory from Tuesday night through Wednesday morning.
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Observed low temperatures were in the low-40s to upper-30s. A breezy wind made it feel much colder with wind chills in the upper-20s to low-30s.
A low temperature of 40° was recorded at Miami Wednesday morning. This is the coldest it has been in Miami in nearly a decade.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, green iguanas are not native to Florida. They were first reported in Florida in the 1960s in Hialeah, Coral Gables and Key Biscayne along Miami-Dade County’s southeastern coast.
Iguanas are cold-blooded and their metabolism will slow down which makes them become lethargic as temperatures get lower. As cold air settles in, iguanas will become immobilized. The cold snap will make iguanas go into a trance-like state and if this happens in a tree, in a non-secured position, the iguana can fall from the tree.
Iguanas will stay dormant for a little while when or if they fall to the ground. The good news is, the cold weather generally does not last that long in South Florida.
Temperatures are expected to climb into the 60s on Wednesday and 70s on Thursday.
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