Cold March Start for Bay Area?

[WestCoastGal]

My yard guy told me today that our area might be getting some winter freeze weather after the next front that brings rain comes through. He said possible few inches of rain and very cold temps behind it--just one night likely. He's been reluctant to remove previously freeze burned leaves off of plants as a result. Honestly I thought he said he heard projected temps as low as mid 20s. I checked wunderground and accuweather for far out forecasts and in early March saw the possiblity of rain and low temps in the mid 30s. We still have our frost cover poles up and hope we don't need to recover with material. Had hoped to pull them for storage at this point. Anyone out there following long-range forecasts for the Bay area seeing anything like what our guy was talking about?

Considering what's been going on in the east and south, feel very fortunate with our temps so far (although really wish we were getting more rain). Everything here in the Bay area has started to bloom, trees, flowers, palms and I'd hate to think what a really cold blast could do.

[John Case]

I think mid-30's in lower valley areas may be what is expected.....I am proceeding with early spring planting, perhaps to my demise, of course.

[enigma99]

I checked the GFS 850 and as it is right now for March 1 and 2, it's not a freeze event. It will be chilly but mid 30s to start the morning, I think. After that, warms builds again

[enigma99]

Keep in mind these are temps at 5,000 ft. So yeah, we're good, at least for now.

[enigma99]

And... like I said things can change. Going to be mild, not cold. Go ahead and plant your stuff, we're in the clear until next winter.

[WestCoastGal]

Thanks for the charts Enigma. I see they go to March 1. Let's hope it holds up through the first week or two of March as well.

Went ahead and had my canna cut down, with LOTS of new shoots coming up already. We managed to save three groupings of SunPatiens in one of our flower beds from the freezing temps earlier this winter but others didn't get covered soon enough so am anxious to replace those. Our palms provide lots of green, just need to throw in some of that more tender color stuff. The palms have been loving our weather though, warms days and cooler nights.

[enigma99]

Thanks for the charts Enigma. I see they go to March 1. Let's hope it holds up through the first week or two of March as well.

Went ahead and had my canna cut down, with LOTS of new shoots coming up already. We managed to save three groupings of SunPatiens in one of our flower beds from the freezing temps earlier this winter but others didn't get covered soon enough so am anxious to replace those. Our palms provide lots of green, just need to throw in some of that more tender color stuff. The palms have been loving our weather though, warms days and cooler nights.

Yeah no problem. I think the only night I am concerned about is Monday night. (23rd). There will be a lot of cold air flowing in and I think a lot of areas will get down to around the freezing mark or close to it. (or at least mid 30s) By that I mean the typical areas that get cold, like bottom of valleys for example. Or protected areas that do not get wind at night. But I think this is the last real threat of the year

[enigma99]

Updated GFS.. MUCH colder than the one for 12z March 1 pasted above. Spring can't come soon enough.

Edited February 22, 2015 by enigma99

[enigma99]

Tonight NOAA has me at 31! Other sites say 35/36. Anyone else's NOAA temps low?

Last night NOAA predicted a low of 39, actual was 44. Todays high is 69...

Humidity is 21% and still windy. But if the wind drops it could quickly fall. Just as a precaution I am going to move my tender potted items under a canopy. Plus I already watered the yard to let this hot sun warm it and provide additional protection tonight

Edited February 23, 2015 by enigma99

[enigma99]

Actually the pinpoint temp is 32F. Sounds a little crazy to me, but we'll see.

[WestCoastGal]

NOAA has us at 46F now with a low of 37F tonight, low of 38F tomorrow.

My closest Wunderground station is recording 45 now with a low of 37 tonight, 41 tomorrow. So pretty right on for me. Our humidity is 56%, dew point 31, no wind right now.

I see from Wunderground that Rocklin has a frost advisory alert, so probably was a good idea to protect some of your stuff with the canopy just to be safe. It's so close to warm weather you hate seeing any damage now.

[enigma99]

Low of 35.1... No frost. Now it's going to warm up today and thank goodness.

[enigma99]

Models can't figure out mid 30s or low 40s for March 4. I honestly think it will be upper 30s at worst because by March 4th, we'll have another 15 minutes of daylight + what really matters is a higher azimuth of the Sun. From now onward, it will take a pretty strong event to do any damage

[WestCoastGal]

Last day of February we were one of those spotty sections of the Bay that got rain, actually a pretty good downpour over a decent amount of time (radar had us green with lots of yellow/orange too). 1/3 of an inch over all. Fortunately no hail which warning was given earlier in the day. Even heard thunder over here. Starting around 9 last night to about 9 this morning Wunderground has us with temp and dew points aligning with each other down to about 36F and then breaking off in their own directions at 50F this morning. Figure the plants enjoyed it. Sunny today. Nice! Chances of more rain today or tomorrow are much lower although I see some spots of precip on radar in the area.

Forecast for next 10 days here all above freezing. Guess we got lucky with regard to freezing temps. The Sierras to the east of us did get a good amount of precip in snow; resorts are happy. Sugar Bowl reported 24 inches. Also the Southwest got rain and snow.

[enigma99]

Today was 69 for me. Just shy of 70. Couple more days of this "cool" weather until its well into the 70s and low 80s. Around 50 at night.. Glad Spring is here

[WestCoastGal]

Kind of overcast at times where I'm at but saw that the rain and Hail was in the San Jose area today. Didn't compare to Huntington Beach's beach full of hail down in So Cal. though! Still no forecasts down near freezing for here coming up. Squaw Valley in the Sierras east of here got almost 3 feet of new snow.

[Jim in Los Altos]

90F here today and it's still winter! This was a mild winter indeed with no frost here at all.

[enigma99]

Yeah we hit 86.. Can't complain Also I could get used to waking up to 65 degrees in the morning at 6AM

[WestCoastGal]

I saw some parts of the bay might have received some rain over the past weekend but for the most part we just saw a sprinkle or two on the car windshield. Opened the door this morning and lo and behold everything was wet. Must have rained overnight. By the looks of our fountain which we never filled this past year, we got a little rain, emphasis on little although the patio dining table cover had a nice pond on top. Sure the plants liked it.

After the rain clouds passed, it stayed on the cooler side. Rest of week however is expected to be in 70-80s. Both our trachy and chamaerops are in bloom.

I understand Santa Clara County is voting tomorrow on a 30% reduction in water use. Highest conservation in our area. We already have a high efficiency washer, low-flow toilets, cut back our grass area, added drought tolerant Bolero grass, added drips and high efficiency sprinklers, composting and mulch, and our irrigation controller is one of those smart weather based ones. None of our softscape requires heavy watering either (moderate to draught-tolerant). Not much more I can see doing. Undoubtedly this is going to be a tough year. March pretty much was the last month for any good amount of rain and it doesn't bode well for fire season.

[enigma99]

Yeah we didn't get much... Quarter Inch.. and 90s later this week.

[_Keith]

Cold start here in Louisiana as well, much colder than normal.

[enigma99]

Title is a little misleading. It's been 70s and 80s all month.. We did have a day or two of chilly but not threatening weather around March 2nd. Hope it warms up there