Frigid weather fails to stop Florida’s surfing Santas

Surfer Corey Howell in a space man Surfing Santa suit, rides with waves with other surfing Santas for the 14th annual Surfing Santas of Cocoa Beach event Christmas Eve morning (Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP/PA)

For the surfing Santas off Florida’s central coast, the Atlantic Ocean felt more like the North Pole than the Sunshine State as temperatures on Saturday morning plunged to around freezing, while freeze warnings were in place for at least half of the state.

Parts of the Florida Panhandle had wind chills that dipped into the single figures on Saturday morning, and parts of central Florida had temperatures plunging as low as minus 2.7C.