Cold Blast no1 for Texas

[surgeon83]

Here is the test between weather.com and the noaa site- weather.com says 32 for tonight's low, while the national weather service says 38.  And its only 8-12 hours away.  Obviously I hope it errs on the high side.  My tender palms are protected with heat, insulation, and waterproofing.  What a pain to set up!

Good luck everybody for punch number 1.

[NBTX11]

(happ @ Jan. 15 2007,18:14)

QUOTE

Good luck Texans.

This is a nasty air mass from HELL  :laugh:  Actually nothing to laugh about.  Just read the woes of Californian's who experienced this record-breaking event.

I only barely escaped because of elevation [top of a hill] and being in an active wind flow region.  

It did manage to break 50F pretty much everywhere in the state each day but the night temps plummeted & areas unaccustomed to sub-freezing weather were hurt badly.  Citrus/avocado/strawberry losses were quite significant [meaning higher prices  

If it stays cloudy in Texas then perhaps the minimums won't drop too low but cloudy days keep the maximums down.

I would take every precaution you can to survive this Arctic assault.

This will be a freeze to remember [like a bad memory  

Yeah, the actual lows we are experiencing (around 30F) are nothing too bad at all.  It the length of the cold, which is supposed to stick around for days, with cloudy conditions, and temps barely rising above the night time lows, into the 30s and 40s.  This thing is supposed to last several days, and with temps right around 32F we are supposed to get a mixture of rain/sleet/freezing rain/ice.  99% of the time during a cold snap, we get a big rebound almost immediately, but this time it is hanging around.  Looks like a long wet cold.

[ZoneTenNut]

(happ @ Jan. 15 2007,18:14)

QUOTE

Citrus/avocado/strawberry losses were quite significant [meaning higher prices  

Happ,

Thats a good point I hadn't really thought about, but with CA producing the lions share of winter vegetables and probably fruits as well, prices most certainly are going to go up. I haven't seen much of anything on the news over here about this aspect of the front. Has much been said in local news there about the estimated impact?

Roger

[steve 9atx]

Matt

I tried a sheet over my king to protect it from freezing precip, but the new growth won't support the sheet and the wind keeps on blowing it off.  At this point a more rigid structure is out of the question.  This king is from seed David Johnson in CA had collected in one of the colder areas of its range in NSW and is supposed to take the low 20's in habitat.  I'm sure that's without frost, though.  Time will tell, but I'm sure the newest frond is toast.  I have three more that are sheltered if the big'un doesn't make it.  I guess I should count my blessings that I haven't touched freezing in the three winters prior to this one.

Steve

[happ]

(ZoneTenNut @ Jan. 15 2007,20:11)

QUOTE

(happ @ Jan. 15 2007,18:14)

QUOTE

Citrus/avocado/strawberry losses were quite significant [meaning higher prices  

Happ,

Thats a good point I hadn't really thought about, but with CA producing the lions share of winter vegetables and probably fruits as well, prices most certainly are going to go up. I haven't seen much of anything on the news over here about this aspect of the front. Has much been said in local news there about the estimated impact?

Roger

Roger

The financial impact of this freeze will be considerable.    75% of citrus in the Central valley has been lost.  The intensity of this cold will prevent avocado production by 2 years in some areas [Ojai Valley looks like a wild fire engulfed the groves    California produces more lemons/oranges than even Florida.  I'm sure Texas will experience crop damage also.

Sub-freezing temperatures and the duration of 2007 Freeze certainly resembles the 1990 disaster and may be worse.  It has entered Texas/Deep South while still icy in CA & AZ; that 2000 miles of COLD

Florida/Hawaii remain the only warm states.  I haven't seen any models suggesting that the arctic air will reach Florida.  But the entire nation    This is absolute fantasy for weather nerds [like myself] but a major setback for both individual & commercial gardens.  All those beauties, esp kings scarred  

[ZoneTenNut]

Thats some serious impact to fruits and vegetables, not to mention general landscaping damaged. I was looking at tonights forecast map on weather.com and the blues and purples have just about gobbled up the entire nation. We're in a shrinking warm pocket and hoping it doesn't nail us as well. Right now, it appears we'll be O.K.

[palmsrgreat]

I've got my king wrapped in a sheet and protected with a tarp roped to the ground and a 250w halogen aimed up from the base, the temp inside the wrapped king 34.6 @ 9:50pm. Put a bag over my bizzie for good measure, its only about 3 1/2 ft.

[KatyTX]

Steve,

Too late now, but my bungee cords are doing a good job of holding the sheets on w/25mph gusts of wind.

On my group of kings, I wrapped a king sized comforter around the trunks, then a king sheet over the top.  It looks like a giant mushroom,but it seems to be staying put (without too much weight on the crowns.

Maybe pics tomorrow...Good luck.

Matt

[NBTX11]

(happ @ Jan. 15 2007,21:38)

QUOTE

 California produces more lemons/oranges than even Florida.  I'm sure Texas will experience crop damage also.

Happ,

The citrus areas in TX are limited to 4 or 5 counties in Deep South Texas.  I looked up the forecast for Brownsville and their lowest is projected to be 38F, so I think the TX citrus industry will be unaffected.  We grow great grapefruits and oranges in deep S TX.

This cold front is actually very tepid compared to the big freezes, at least in TX, as far as lows go.  Lows only around 30F or upper 20s, no big deal really.  What makes this one different is the length it is hanging around, and the fact it isn't warming up during the day very much.  Usually after a cold snap, we get a big rebound almost immediately.  Tonight we will drop to around 30, but only get into the mid to upper 30s tomorrow, almost 30 degrees below average.  Very unusual.  If we were above normal as much as we are now below normal, we would be in the 90s (average is 60s in Jan).   Plus with temps right at 32F and with precip forecasted, we're supposed to get a winter mixture of precip-rain/sleet/ice.

[surgeon83]

39 degrees at 4:45am when it was "supposed to" be 32!  Looking good so far, except for the unnecessary protection.  They say 35 tomorrow.  We've already had that TWICE this year.

[ZoneTenNut]

(syersj @ Jan. 15 2007,23:26)

QUOTE

What makes this one different is the length it is hanging around, and the fact it isn't warming up during the day very much.  Usually after a cold snap, we get a big rebound almost immediately.

Jim,

I agree. In the 89 freeze that sweep through, here in West Palm Beach, it got down to upper 20's, but only briefly, and then the temps rebounded. I don't recall how quickly and how high temps bounced back up to, but it definitely didn't linger like this one appears to be doing everywhere.

Roger

[KatyTX]

5:45am - 33.5F on my temperature guage - 32F on the local news.  No rain all night.

If we can get through today, I think we're out of the woods on this one...

[ZoneTenNut]

(KatyTX @ Jan. 16 2007,06:42)

QUOTE

5:45am - 33.5F on my temperature guage - 32F on the local news.  No rain all night.

If we can get through today, I think we're out of the woods on this one...

Matt,

Sounds like good news for you and us downwind of you, in Florida.  

Roger

[spockvr6]

The winds looked to be vicious over there in TX...and that probably helped.

[KatyTX]

My kids left buckets of water outside last night..disappointed to only find water this morning.  They still remember the snow of 2004 and expect that to be a regular occurance here.

Well, we have one more night to get through.  All of the local weather "doomsday reporters" have been wrong so far - so I don't know whether we'll get to 29F tonight.  Not a big deal really - we already got down to 29F before x-mas.

The news is such a joke.  They have all of these dummy reporters standing out on the dry roads @ 33F talking about this "Arctic Blast".  Almost as bad as the ones that stand in the middle of hurricanes 'demonstrating' how hard the wind is blowing (in case you didn't know that the wind blows hard during a hurricane).

I'm glad Florida was spared in this one Roger.  The rest of the country will need somewhere to order replacement plants from this spring...  

[NBTX11]

Their still saying a chance of sleet/ice tonight in Houston.  We are finally getting a mixture of rain/sleet  right now at my house with temps in the low 30s.  A light layer on my car windshield.  West TX is supposed to get some accumulation.  I think we'll survive this "arctic blast", as they are calling it on the news.

[ZoneTenNut]

(KatyTX @ Jan. 16 2007,08:19)

QUOTE

My kids left buckets of water outside last night..disappointed to only find water this morning.

Too funny.     Leave it to kids to find some "fun" in the event.

[spockvr6]

(ZoneTenNut @ Jan. 16 2007,12:38)

QUOTE

(KatyTX @ Jan. 16 2007,08:19)

QUOTE

My kids left buckets of water outside last night..disappointed to only find water this morning.

Too funny.     Leave it to kids to find some "fun" in the event.

Last Feb 14th, my neighbor left has trash can lid outside by mistake (and it was upside down).  He also had his sprinklers go off over night (which is not really a terrible idea in many cases).  Well, that upside down trash lid got filled with water and in the AM it had about an inch of ice in it!  This was at 34F "air temp".  Obviously, that water was not at 34F....it was at the ground (where I measured 28F since the air was dead calm) and the pool of water faced skywards (and thus able to radiate heat to the sky rapidly), so it cooled off drastically below the "measured air temp".  What temp it dropped to I have no idea....but that lid was frozen solid

[NBTX11]

The sleet continues outside.  I now have a glaze of sleet covering my car and roof.  Coming your way, you Houston guys.  I'm sending it over.

[KatyTX]

36.5F outside right now + light drizzle...could turn to sleet tonight.  31F forecasted low.

My temperature guage only got down to 33.2F last night.  I hope my sheets & blankets don't harm the plants more than the cold.   ???

[GREENHAND]

it is around 29 deg now and getting to 25 tonight, with a chance of snow tommorow, but going up to 37deg in the afternoon, better get my suntan lotion and flip flops and a cold one its a  heatwave!!

[NBTX11]

I now have a light layer of sleet/ice covering all my palms.  My queens look sad, drooping down due to the weight.  Still in the low 30s with rain/sleet, but if freezes upon contact.  About .2 inches of sleet/ice covering everything right now.

[KatyTX]

Yeah - ice here too.  I have a couple of foxtails that are drooping sadly (I ran out of cover blankets and had to make some tough choices).  It's been hovering around 32F all night.

We'll see how foxtails like ice, I guess...

Matt

[steve 9atx]

Jim and Matt

Fortunately, no ice at my place.  From what I can tell from the news, the ice is 20 miles north and west of me. We may have touched freezing last night but more likely 33-34F; just rain, rain, rain.

Steve

[Bilbo]

Good luck guys!

Now maybe I got this Rong in a big way but was not the Citrus groves growing originally in Fla?

It then moved to Ca. cos the climate was more reliable I believe.

Also did they not attempt commercial Olea europa down there at some time?

If thats all a boo-boo I sure apologise!

Regardez

Juan

[KatyTX]

Since this is the official Texas freeze thread, here's some pics.  I won't be able to tell if there is any damage for a few days.

#1 - W.Robusta weighed down by the ice (with son about to slip off waterfall onto bushes).  Small foxtail on the left:

[KatyTX]

#2 - Son climbing out of bushes - foxtail not looking too happy:

[KatyTX]

#3 - bed of ghosts:  Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, Ravenea rivularis, Phoenix roebelenii and Wodyetia bifurcata (in case you couldn't tell).  I'm afraid to 'open' them.

[KatyTX]

#4 - Encephalartos ferox (I forgot to cover this one...)

[KatyTX]

#5 - Zamia furfuracea glaring at me in disgust...

[KatyTX]

#6 - Dioon edule laughs at Phoenix roebelenii..."What ice?"

[ZoneTenNut]

Matt,

Nice landscaping!

Looks like you did everything you can to protect them and give them best chance to survive. Hope they all come out on top for you.

[NBTX11]

I'll post mine on the official Texas cold thread.  Got a quarter inch of ice.

House and car looking like ice cubes

Washys weighed down with ice

[NBTX11]