Weather Trouble for Cotton Bowl?

My first year in Gainesville (1980), I remember a 17-degree day. Campus was closed to cars back then for students, so I rode my bicycle everywhere. I grew up in warmer parts of Florida, so all I had was a light windbreaker and a pair of old socks for my hands. As the Norwegians say, there's no bad weather, just bad clothes. That was a miserable morning.

 

I lived in Mt. Vernon Apts for a while, too. The cockroach population was impressive, to say the least.

 

I remember that storm. I worked at Kmart in Lake Mary and the power was out. Customers were lined up outside and we had to get a customer, escort them through the store, and the cashiers were using calculators to check them out. That was the coldest I remember in Florida.

 

I recall Gatortown, knew a girl that lived there. Spent my first year at the end of 16th in La Bonne Vie or something like that. Used to walk to campus from there, no bikeI recall the train waking me up many mornings. Also recall the day old bread store down the street, long since gone. Last I was in the area, 16th street was a crappy area, hopefully some improvements since.

 

I was in Jax for only there one winter and that would be it.

 

I had some bad clothes too. Had plenty of layers to keep warm, but those cold morning rides from the quadroplex on Archer near the interstate were brutal wearing cotton garden gloves.

 

1983 Gator Boel, December 31, Iowa v UF. 10 degrees, 10 below with wind chill. Plumbing rupture in the stadium. First year they put a BIG Diamond Vision TV in the south end zone on a special stand. When the players collided, you could see the air shimmer on the screen. Iowa fans looked like they were in space suits that were black and gold.
Gators won in the coldest game I ever attended.