A former colleague used to say, whenever we would lead our newscast with a cold-weather story during the winter, “It's supposed to be cold in the winter; if there was a heat wave, then it would be news.” He was right, yet every winter the cold weather continues to make big headlines.

But these past couple of weeks, the attention to weather woes definitely is warranted. There are record-low temperatures all over the country and the usual nightmares that come with them: automobile accidents, stranded passengers, school closures, thousands of people without electricity and a tragic loss of life.

Yet those of us who are not used to taking out our coats, gloves and scarves unless we travel outside the state or overseas are having a difficult time dealing with the cold weather. Yes, I happen to be one of the lucky ones who live in a city where cold fronts usually mean the thermostat is going down to the 50s and will stay there two or three days at most. But when my daughters and I returned to Miami after our New Year's family vacation to Colorado, we were forced to keep our thermal underwear handy.

We were so looking forward to returning to the warm weather and thawing out after a week in the snow, but, as unbelievable as it sounds, temperatures in South Florida were down to the low 30s. That is glove weather, hat weather, earmuff weather. It's difficult for folks living in the Northeast or Midwest, or even on the West Coast, to understand how Floridians could be suffering so much with temperatures in the 30s when so many of them have to endure below-zero temperatures and shovel tons of snow out of their driveways to get to their automobiles.

The problem is that we don't know how to deal with the cold. December and January usually are still flip-flop weather months in this part of the country. That is what keeps us here and what draws thousands of tourists from the North to our area. Our brains are programmed to use cold-weather clothing articles only when we travel to those unfortunate destinations where the sun shines a mere couple of months out of the year.

One of my co-workers tried to purchase a small space heater to put under her desk but was unable to find one anywhere in Miami. “Businesses here are just not used to storing them, and the few that were in stock were sold out quickly,” she said. She had to resort to wearing tights, socks and boots to keep her feet warm -- something unheard of in Miami.

The rest of Florida had bigger concerns. The multibillion-dollar citrus industry faced serious problems. Florida produces three-quarters of the country's orange crops and constitutes about 40 percent of the world's orange juice supply. The first week of the cold front caused some damage to the crops, but growers were bracing for prolonged low temperatures, which could cause a disaster. Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency ahead of time, preparing for the worst.

Hopefully this will soon pass, and we can get on with our lives in the Sunshine State. Many of us have our Bermuda shorts, flip-flops and tank tops ready to resume our winter routine. We are spoiled. We'd rather have sandy toes than Popsicle toes.

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(Maria Elena Salinas is the author of “I AM MY FATHER'S DAUGHTER: LIVING A LIFE WITHOUT SECRETS.” Reach her at www .mariaesalinas.com)

© 2010 by Maria Elena Salinas

Distributed by King Features Syndicate