The North Bay threat is causing popular building supplies to sell out

SANTA ROSA, California – The North Bay is bracing for a cold spell with temperatures expected to drop near freezing.

Parts of Marin, Napa and Sonoma Counties were under a freeze warning from the National Weather Service Saturday from midnight to 10 p.m. 8, prime time to protect the Four Ps of winter weather safety: people, pets, plants and pipes.

For Jo Little, freezing temperatures are a harsh reality he is not ready to face.

“I haven’t even thought about that yet,” Little said.

The 35-year-old told KTVU he has been homeless since February and has nowhere to go.

Small worries about his friend who uses a wheelchair who is also out in the cold.

“I’m going to try to help him out and get him warm, make sure he gets a blanket and then go from there,” Lille said.

The team at King’s Nursery i Santa Rosafamily owned since 1896, protects their most vulnerable plants when temperatures drop into 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 fresh-growth citrus plants with a pine extract, like Wilt Stop, to add an extra layer.

“Double protection,” Goodman said. “Wilt Stop and the frost plates are your first line of defense.”

The team at King’s then covers the plants with frost sheets, a blanket of sorts, which is something you couldn’t find at Bennett Valley Ace Hardware last Friday.

“Within two hours, we sold out,” said Jesse Luis of Bennett Valley Ace Hardware.

“Every twenty minutes someone comes in (asking) ‘do you have any frost blankets?’ No. We didn’t think it would hit this early,” said Luis, who added that it could take several days to rebuild.

Another hot commodity, pipe insulation, was in stock Friday as at least one hardware store trader embraced 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. “Maybe wear a little more clothes.”

Both the owners of Battaglini Estate Winery and a representative from the Sonoma County Farm Bureau told KTVU they don’t expect the freeze to threaten the local wine industry.

The grapes have already been harvested and they do not expect other crops to be affected Sonoma County.