A last look at the palms in Houston

[enigma99]

Galveston is supposed to get a couple nights down to around 25. Anything mature might fully defoliate and actually come back. There is hope! Anything like Royals etc in Houston are probably toast though 

[AnTonY]

8 minutes ago, enigma99 said:

Galveston is supposed to get a couple nights down to around 25. Anything mature might fully defoliate and actually come back. There is hope! Anything like Royals etc in Houston are probably toast though 

I noticed that sudden warm-up in the forecast. 

[palmsOrl]

The NWS now shows Houston getting down to 10F and Galveston getting down to 19F.  It is going to be palmageddon for these areas.

-Michael

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

This thread is so  depressing and sad. So much beautiful tropical stuff growing over there that is likely to be severely damaged or outright killed.  Sigh.  Wish it wasn't so. Sending positive vibes for a little loss as possible.  

[awkonradi]

>20' Washingtonia wrapped up in Austin, in my brother's backyard, on Monday morning.  50' x 30' tarps from Lowes.  Incandescent lamps inside to add heat.

Edited February 15, 2021 by awkonradi

[awkonradi]

Current conditions in Galveston, TX...

...not Cleveland, OH.

Pictures courtesy of an old buddy in Texas.

Edited February 15, 2021 by awkonradi

[PalmatierMeg]

Those Galveston photos are so grim.

[Hillizard]

2 hours ago, awkonradi said:

>20' Washingtonia wrapped up in Austin, in my brother's backyard, on Monday morning.  50' x 30' tarps from Lowes.  Incandescent lamps inside to add heat.

 

Now that is some serious commitment! I hope the effort is worth it! 

[Meangreen94z]

44 minutes ago, Hillizard said:

Now that is some serious commitment! I hope the effort is worth it! 

Those heavy duty tarps at Lowe’s are expensive. It looks like a 30 x 50 is $150

[redant]

Really going to be devastating, then in a couple days it's mild again to watch everything rot.

[Jimbean]

Those pictures of palms before the freezing event is like a captain touring his ship before a hopeless battle. 

It is actually a bit depressing.

Edited February 15, 2021 by Jimbean

[James B]

10 minutes ago, Jimbean said:

Those pictures of palms before the freezing event is like a captain touring his ship before a hopeless battle. 

It is actually a bit depressing.

It’s sad for all Palm fans to see. We all like to zone push, I do it, we all do it here in CA. But it’s a sober reminder of what can happen. 
 

[GottmitAlex]

Here's hoping for the best scenario. 

[Jimbean]

1 minute ago, GottmitAlex said:

Here's hoping for the best scenario. 

At this point I don't see anything zone 10 in Texas surviving unless it is protected. 

[GottmitAlex]

2 minutes ago, Jimbean said:

At this point I don't see anything zone 10 in Texas surviving unless it is protected. 

Holy mackerel.

 

[Palmaceae]

12 minutes ago, Jimbean said:

At this point I don't see anything zone 10 in Texas surviving unless it is protected. 

I don't think even the Queen palms will survive in Houston, if they do it will only be a few.  The low temperatures and the very long duration of below freezing temps will probably do them in.

[climate change virginia]

I cant believe it got this cold in Houston and VA didn't get below the mid 20s

[Jimbean]

5 minutes ago, Palmaceae said:

I don't think even the Queen palms will survive in Houston, if they do it will only be a few.  The low temperatures and the very long duration of below freezing temps will probably do them in.

Yeah anything zone 9B (queens, bismarks, etc) look like they will really survive along pockets of the coastline and the Brownsville area.  Galveston hit 19F, which I believe is the borderline for queens, but also taken into account how long temperatures have been below freezing, and as I type this current temperatures there are at 24F, which is not good.  Port Arkansas got down to 15F and the station at the airport in Corpus Christi recorded a low of 19F.  9B plants anywhere else are goners, and you can forget about anything zone 10 anywhere north of about halfway down Tampaulipas state in Mexico. 

[awkonradi]

5 minutes ago, Jimbean said:

Yeah anything zone 9B (queens, bismarks, etc) look like they will really survive along pockets of the coastline and the Brownsville area.  Galveston hit 19F, which I believe is the borderline for queens, but also taken into account how long temperatures have been below freezing, and as I type this current temperatures there are at 24F, which is not good.  Port Arkansas got down to 15F and the station at the airport in Corpus Christi recorded a low of 19F.  9B plants anywhere else are goners, and you can forget about anything zone 10 anywhere north of about halfway down Tampaulipas state in Mexico. 

NOAA forecasts 26F for Brownsville, and 34F for South Padre Island, early tomorrow morning.

[RedRabbit]

28 minutes ago, Jimbean said:

At this point I don't see anything zone 10 in Texas surviving unless it is protected. 

Do you happen to know what the freeze duration was like in coastal Brevard for the big freezes of the 1980s? 

[wrigjef]

41 minutes ago, awkonradi said:

NOAA forecasts 26F for Brownsville, and 34F for South Padre Island, early tomorrow morning.

South Padre has been below freezing all day today.  It’s 32 now and that is the warmest I have witnessed.  That one large Coconut will be a goner as well.  This is heart breaking for you Texans all over the state. Years of hard work and money down the drain.  

[ruskinPalms]

I take these big historic freezes as reason TO push the zones. If 90% of years are 9B or 10A then that is exactly how you should plant. Yes, the big one hit, but what would have been the point of planting only queen palms and washingtonia? They are going to be dead as well, just like during the big freezes in Florida in the 80s. You may as well enjoy your zone 10 palms in places like inner Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, RGV and south Padre Island if they look decent most years. And if they get nailed like this every thirty years or so at least you enjoyed them while you could. This will happen again in florida eventually, and if I’m not too old, I’ll immediately replant with zone 10 palms the very next spring. 

[enigma99]

28 minutes ago, wrigjef said:

South Padre has been below freezing all day today.  It’s 32 now and that is the warmest I have witnessed.  That one large Coconut will be a goner as well.  This is heart breaking for you Texans all over the state. Years of hard work and money down the drain.  

We will see how all of Elons royals do! They planted like a hundred of them in the last year 

[Jimbean]

2 minutes ago, enigma99 said:

We will see how all of Elons royals do! They planted like a hundred of them in the last year 

Goners unless they were protected. 

[Jimbean]

58 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

Do you happen to know what the freeze duration was like in coastal Brevard for the big freezes of the 1980s? 

I have to check, but I was told that it barely got above freezing in December 1989, and many areas in Brevard bottomed at 19F.  I think Merritt Island was 21F and Patrick AFB hit a low of 24F.

[Jimbean]

1 hour ago, RedRabbit said:

Do you happen to know what the freeze duration was like in coastal Brevard for the big freezes of the 1980s? 

This is the best info I could find quickly.  This is from the Melbourne Airport from the 1989 freeze.

https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/us/fl/melbourne/KMLB/date/1989-12-24

It shows a low of 22F.  Two data points are missing. 

[RedRabbit]

1 minute ago, Jimbean said:

I have to check, but I was told that it barely got above freezing in December 1989, and many areas in Brevard bottomed at 19F.  I think Merritt Island was 21F and Patrick AFB hit a low of 24F.

Thanks! We know some royals survived the 80s freezes in coastal Brevard... I’m wondering if this could be survivable for a massive royal sheltered from the wind in the RGV. I’m skeptical, but there could be some hope. 

[RedRabbit]

2 minutes ago, Jimbean said:

This is the best info I could find quickly.  This is from the Melbourne Airport from the 1989 freeze.

https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/us/fl/melbourne/KMLB/date/1989-12-24

It shows a low of 22F.  Two data points are missing. 

Shoot, that looks a little milder than this since the high made it to 40f. 

[Jimbean]

Just now, RedRabbit said:

Thanks! We know some royals survived the 80s freezes in coastal Brevard... I’m wondering if this could be survivable for a massive royal sheltered from the wind in the RGV. I’m skeptical, but there could be some hope. 

I think royals are toast generally if temperatures fall below 22F, and that's Florida conditions of warming right away after daybreak.  In Texas' case, of temperatures staying in the low to mid 20's much longer, even after daybreak, is going to be more devastating.  I will be surprised if any royals survive outside of a lot of protection. 

[RedRabbit]

Just now, Jimbean said:

I think royals are toast generally if temperatures fall below 22F, and that's Florida conditions of warming right away after daybreak.  In Texas' case, of temperatures staying in the low to mid 20's much longer, even after daybreak, is going to be more devastating.  I will be surprised if any royals survive outside of a lot of protection. 

Unfortunately I have to agree. This will be a more interesting test for zone 9 palms like Bismarkia.

[Jimbean]

I forgot to mention that there was a royal that survived not far from the airport that was planted back in 1970, so they can survive 21F or 22F, but it's probably pretty darn rare.

 

That royal is still there too.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Jimbean

[NorCalKing]

1 minute ago, Jimbean said:

I think royals are toast generally if temperatures fall below 22F, and that's Florida conditions of warming right away after daybreak.  In Texas' case, of temperatures staying in the low to mid 20's much longer, even after daybreak, is going to be more devastating.  I will be surprised if any royals survive outside of a lot of protection. 

Yep. I don't even risk Royals here in 9B West Coast. Where the all-time low was 18° 100+ years ago, and only for a few hours. Also 99% of the time after a brief freeze we warm up at least to 50°+. Still I won't try Royals. I think of them as very warm 9b/10a.

[awkonradi]

58 minutes ago, wrigjef said:

South Padre has been below freezing all day today.  It’s 32 now and that is the warmest I have witnessed.  That one large Coconut will be a goner as well.  This is heart breaking for you Texans all over the state. Years of hard work and money down the drain.  

Thanks for that info.

[Austinpalm]

1 hour ago, wrigjef said:

South Padre has been below freezing all day today.  It’s 32 now and that is the warmest I have witnessed.  That one large Coconut will be a goner as well.  This is heart breaking for you Texans all over the state. Years of hard work and money down the drain.  

I have seen this reported also.  Fortunately it is not exactly true.  We were above freezing by 10:30 am as much of the frozen rain on cars and stairwells was melting.  I think we made it to 38F before days end maybe slightly warmer as there was about an hour today where the sun shined and it was warm if you could get out of the wind. There are shady locations where ice still remains.  Most puddles that had ice this morning are only water now.  If we do not get some cloud cover tonight there will be more ice tomorrow morning.

 

[enigma99]

50 minutes ago, Jimbean said:

Goners unless they were protected. 

I think they will be fine. Only got down to like upper 20s at the worse?

 

Edit.. wunderground stations showing mid 20s for hours. Probably too young, older ones might have made it. I guess they can always replant!

Edited February 16, 2021 by enigma99

[Jimbean]

5 minutes ago, enigma99 said:

I think they will be fine. Only got down to like upper 20s at the worse?

The closest station is a little bit north on the southern part of South Padre Island, and it shoes a low of about 23F. 

https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KTXSOUTH113

[Palmaceae]

8 minutes ago, Jimbean said:

The closest station is a little bit north on the southern part of South Padre Island, and it shoes a low of about 23F. 

https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KTXSOUTH113

According to that weather station it barely went above freezing today, 32.7, and look at those winds. I don't see any Coconuts surviving this, way too long of a duration below freezing and of course the low of 22.8.

 

[ahosey01]

1 hour ago, ruskinPalms said:

I take these big historic freezes as reason TO push the zones. If 90% of years are 9B or 10A then that is exactly how you should plant. Yes, the big one hit, but what would have been the point of planting only queen palms and washingtonia? They are going to be dead as well, just like during the big freezes in Florida in the 80s. You may as well enjoy your zone 10 palms in places like inner Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, RGV and south Padre Island if they look decent most years. And if they get nailed like this every thirty years or so at least you enjoyed them while you could. This will happen again in florida eventually, and if I’m not too old, I’ll immediately replant with zone 10 palms the very next spring. 

This is quite literally the perfect mentality for a palm grower and exactly how I’d do it.

This is really the kind of thinking that makes defiant Americans well... classically defiant Americans. Lol

[wrigjef]

40 minutes ago, ahosey01 said:

This is quite literally the perfect mentality for a palm grower and exactly how I’d do it.

This is really the kind of thinking that makes defiant Americans well... classically defiant Americans. Lol

Great words and agreed 100 percent, it’s actually an amazing event to see from afar.  Sitting in Phoenix and it’s a chilly 58 degrees looking at my Palms and thinking I could be someone in Houston or Galveston or even Brownsville who will lose their entire lifetime collection of Palms, its very hard to swallow!   We’re talking catastrophic loss in Texas God Bless those who will be affected.  

Edited February 16, 2021 by wrigjef

[enigma99]

There are a ton of large royals and foxtails in brownsville. Cocos too? I bet most of them are gone. Low 20s is just too cold for anything. Bummer!