The area’s wave of freezing weather has heated up business for some companies while leaving local growers out in the cold.

Among the companies reaping the rewards of the frigid weather are retail stores, plumbing and heating companies.

Meanwhile, area vegetable growers have curtailed their harvesting and are waiting to see what impact the cold weather will have on their crops, according to Richard Quandt, president of the Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.

“We’d expected some cold, but nothing of this magnitude,” Quandt said. “It’s having a pretty big impact on the agricultural industry,” he said.

Three nights of freezing temperatures have cost California as much as three-quarters of its billion-collar citrus crop, an industry source told The Associated Press Monday.

While citrus and avocados are the most at-risk from freezing, Quandt said, they’re not major crops on the Central Coast. Celery, broccoli, cauliflower and strawberries are the most prominent Central Coast crops that could be affected.

“It’s been so cold, and so cold for such a long time, that the vegetables aren’t really thawing out during the day,” he said.

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And growers are not out of trouble yet.

The temperature early Monday morning in Santa Maria dipped to 25 degrees, a record low for that date. The previous local record was 27 degrees in 1962, said Bonnie Bartling, weather specialist with the National Weather Service.

Night time low temperatures are expected to increase slightly throughout the coming week into the high 30s and low 40s, but the National Weather Service anticipates daytime high temperatures will remain in the lows 60s.

“The northeast winds will help warm it up a little bit,” Bartling said.

Quandt said the lack of rain is also a concern for farmers, and Bartling said there is a 20 percent chance of rain over the weekend.

However, the cold weather has meant more sales for local retailers, where employees are hurrying to restock shelves with space heaters and other cold-weather items as quickly as they are snapped up.

“We’re really trying to keep up with the heaters,” said Jeni Roesner, manager of Wal-Mart in Santa Maria.

She said fireplace logs and hand warmers are other top sellers.

“All cold-weather apparel has been doing well for us,” Roesner added.

John Watkins, manager of Sears in Santa Maria, said Monday that space heaters had sold out. Electric blankets, comforters, jackets and sweaters were selling quickly as well, he said.

Watkins said the stock of cold weather items usually wouldn’t need replenishment until as late as February, but the store has been restocking every week.

Richard Zierman, owner of Zierman Plumbing in Santa Maria, said his business was inundated this past weekend with calls of burst pipes and failed heaters. “(We) had about four times as many emergency calls as we normally get on a weekend,” he said.

Zierman said water in outdoor plumbing that is exposed to the elements is susceptible to freezing in low temperatures. The frozen water can then break the pipes.

He recommended that exposed outdoor plumbing be covered with rags or blankets to protect it from the cold.

Zierman said that many of the heaters he replaced this past weekend were already on the brink of failure when they were first turned on for the winter.

“I think we probably exchanged more heaters this winter than any other winter so far,” he said.

Zierman suggested that furnaces and heaters be fired up well before they are needed to ensure they work properly, and that they be inspected periodically by a professional.

Samantha Yale can be reached at 739-2159 or syale@santamaria

times.com.