SANTA ROSA, Calif. - The North Bay is bracing for a cold snap with temperatures expected to drop near the freezing mark.
Parts of Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties were under a freeze warning from the National Weather Service on Saturday from midnight until 8 a.m., primetime to protect the Four Ps of winter weather safety: people, pets, plants, and pipes.
For Jo Little, freezing temperatures are a harsh reality he isn’t ready to face.
"I haven’t even thought of that yet," said Little.
The 35-year-old told KTVU he has been homeless since February and has nowhere to go.
Little worries about his friend who uses a wheelchair who is also out in the cold.
"I’m going to try to, like, help him out and get him warm, make sure he gets a blanket, and then go from there," said Little.
The team at King’s Nursery in Santa Rosa, family owned since 1896, protects their most vulnerable plants when temperatures fall to the thirties, by bringing seedlings and potted plants indoors.
"Know your garden. Know your plants," said King’s self-described cold weather care expert Scott Goodman, who suggests spraying citrus plants that have fresh growth with a pine tree extract, like Wilt Stop, to add an extra layer.
"Double protection," said Goodman. "The Wilt Stop and frost sheets are your first line of defense."
The team at King’s then covers the plants with frost sheets, a sort of blanket, which is something you couldn’t find at Bennett Valley Ace Hardware on Friday.
"Within two hours we sold out," said Jesse Luis of Bennett Valley Ace Hardware.
"Every twenty minutes someone’s coming in [asking] ‘you guys got frost blankets?’ No. We didn’t think it was going to hit this early," said Luis, who added it could take several days to restock.
Another hot commodity, pipe insulation, was in stock Friday, while at least one hardware store shopper was embracing the changing weather.
"It’s been welcoming because it’s been so hot here lately," said Brendan Taylor of Santa Rosa, who often works outdoors as an electrician. "Might have a little bit more clothes on."
Both the owners of Battaglini Estate Winery and a representative from the Sonoma County Farm Bureau told KTVU they do not expect the freeze to threaten the local wine industry.
The grapes have already been harvested, and they don’t expect any other crops to be impacted in Sonoma County.