ALERT: Possible frost and freezing temps

[MattyB]

Wow, Jack and David both hit 37F, that's amazing. The only good news is that I was warmer than you for once @ 43F.

The wind was a major disaster here on the west facing slope. SDG&E crews were out on the road cutting down several pepper trees and eucalyptus that had fallen over and blocked the road. A lot of my trees are completely uprooted and laying over on the ground. All of my potted plants ended up 300 feet away in the canyon. My neighbors place looks like a hurricane hit it. He's got 60 foot tall pine trees completely layed over across his yard. Eucalyptus snapped off at 40 feet like a toothpick. Winds were so strong that I went out on the balcony and got pushed to the edge where I had to grab the handrail to not fall over. This was the windiest I've ever felt in my life. I suspect we got gusts up to 60-70 mph. The house was shaking but luckily didn't fall. It's not gonna be a good winter with all this root damage to all my plants so early on. Crap!

I just hope it dosen't get too cold tonight now that my canopy is laying on the ground.

[PalmGuyWC]

I'm with Robert as I don't trust my temp. readings. My low shows 28F but I think it's much colder in the open places. It looks like snow here, and everything exposed is glazed with a thick white frost. Alocasias, cannas, etc, all black and wilted. They are having to de-ice the airplanes at San Francisco airport this morning, so that should tell you how cold it is. I didn't even know they had de-iceing equipment at SFO. This is going to be a very, very, damaging freeze in the SF Bay Area, some reports of 19F scattered around in the bay area. The snow on Mt. Diablo never melted yesterday, and it looks like the Swiss Alps. There is ice in my rain buckets.

Please don't anyone mention global warming to me cause it sure as hell isn't here. (or in Houston).

Dick

[tinman10101]

It hit 28F in Santa Clarita. Grass was covered with frost and some palms have brown spots. All empty pots with water collected from previous days were frozen solid!!! Tonight should be much worse.

[DoomsDave]

34.5 F last night, at the lowest. Cold, but, so far, not deadly.

Ice in the water in the wheelbarrow left in the rain.

Frost on the roofs of cars and houses.

Hmm. TONIGHT! No.

No!

I suspect will be much worse . . . . Riding in the car was riding in a mobile fridge before it warmed up.

[Palmy]

It was 7F when I woke up. It has warmed up to 12F so far (10am) in Eugene OR. I poured ice on my car this morning on the wind shield, and a whole cup of water made it about 1/3 of the way down before it was frozen solid. I got a bunch of hot water and threw it in the air... It turned into snow... Thats cold! To top it off, there is a nice breeze makng it feel below 0f! Going to class today was tough! High isn't even suppose to crack 30 today... Good thing all my palms are back in the balmy bay area.

Edited December 8, 2009 by Palmy

[happ]

Recorded 39.4F\ 4.1C for coldest reading of the year [Feb 17th was previous coldest: 41F\ 5C]. Review of 7AM temps were mostly in the 30's in all valley areas as well as the LA basin though above 40F\ 4.4C downtown\ LAX. Tonight should be colder though clouds could modify the radiational cooling.

[elHoagie]

Wow, Jack and David both hit 37F, that's amazing. The only good news is that I was warmer than you for once @ 43F.

The wind was a major disaster here on the west facing slope. SDG&E crews were out on the road cutting down several pepper trees and eucalyptus that had fallen over and blocked the road. A lot of my trees are completely uprooted and laying over on the ground. All of my potted plants ended up 300 feet away in the canyon. My neighbors place looks like a hurricane hit it. He's got 60 foot tall pine trees completely layed over across his yard. Eucalyptus snapped off at 40 feet like a toothpick. Winds were so strong that I went out on the balcony and got pushed to the edge where I had to grab the handrail to not fall over. This was the windiest I've ever felt in my life. I suspect we got gusts up to 60-70 mph. The house was shaking but luckily didn't fall. It's not gonna be a good winter with all this root damage to all my plants so early on. Crap!

I just hope it dosen't get too cold tonight now that my canopy is laying on the ground.

Yikes, that sucks dude! I am REALLY glad that my place is on the east facing side of the hill. I'm sheltered from all of these horrendous winter storms that come in off the ocean. It was basically calm all day/night yesterday at my place. The lack of air movement makes for colder temperatures, but I'll take that over wind any day...

[Kim]

MattyB, what a wicked storm! Sounds like your area took the full brunt of the winds. We had the wind, but no trees down in the neighborhood, just tons of small debris strewn in the streets, nothing major. I am totally shocked to hear Blonddude got down to 37! I recorded 1 1/2 inches of rain, 42.6F low, lots of blown over bromeliad pots, and a slight hangover.

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(just kidding!)

[KMartin]

I think a small tornado went through part of San Diego County down there. The radar did show rotation in a segmeant of the severe line. It was in position to the surface low where the shear was the strongest. A tornado certaintly cannot be ruled out.

[MattyB]

Kevin, where abouts? I wouldn't be surprised if it was in my area, because it sure felt like it.

[KMartin]

It went South of Downtown, eastward to just west of Alpine. I got a photo in this morning but it could be someone pulling my leg.

[Bags]

My low was 44F last night and totaled 1 1/10'' of rain yesterday.

[epicure3]

MattyB, what a wicked storm! Sounds like your area took the full brunt of the winds. We had the wind, but no trees down in the neighborhood, just tons of small debris strewn in the streets, nothing major. I am totally shocked to hear Blonddude got down to 37! I recorded 1 1/2 inches of rain, 42.6F low, lots of blown over bromeliad pots, and a slight hangover.

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(just kidding!)

Too much onion soup in the sherry again?

[epicure3]

Ur telling me, this is the coldest I ever had my frost/freeze/hard freeze warning map to looking like Alaska at SCWXA.org!

Here's a Screenie of what I issued on Sunday for Monday night to Tuesday morning...

None of the links to warning maps are working on your site.

[KMartin]

Such a large area and they are by micro-climate that I just put what each mean on the page for tonight. What temp.

Happ, What would cause it to be colder than last night?

My numbers are showing warmer, at least for my area. Thanks

[Walter John]

Wet and stormy all day, heckuva drive home, even though I don't even get on the freeway. Clouds unleashed their last fury, then brightened, leaving behind gutters like rivers, cars spraying waves of water unexpectedly, had to go to the alternate grocery, traffic halted for long slow minutes and minutes and more minutes. It's a french onion soup night, with a jolt of sherry, a little stilton on the crackers, while we listen to the wind blow through the palms... No worries about the temps, not getting very cold.

Jason, that is a great photo capture!

Kim, you're a writer !

Give me more please, anything.

[MattyB]

Whoah!!! Kevin, that supposed twister pic looks scary. According to the freeway signs the photo was taken on I-8 Eastbound at the San Diego, La Mesa area just near Palmgrover and Pohonkelapa. It's still a few miles away from my place, as the crow flies. But the description you talk about, "South of Downtown, out east to Alpine" describes a line that goes directly through my neighborhood. Man, no wonder.

I'm in Hollywood tonight and it's already in the low 40's. I hope Spring Valley stays warm tonight.

[tropicalb]

very low 40's and pretty clear skies here in San Marcos CA as of 10:25 pm.....i just got done setting up the heater in the greenhouse.

[BS Man about Palms]

Wow! Dec 7th IS a day of infamy! I was warmer in the morn than Jack, Happ and Matty!! Not sure if I'm gonna do Green house protection yet...

[osideterry]

Right now dropping below 40F at 11:10pm. 15 greenhouse palms are now in the dining room. I caved.

[Paul The Palm Doctor!]

I'm sorry guys & gals that this Arctic invasion is hitting y'all. I remember that in 1983 the same thing happened here. Icey, biting winds & sleety,cold rain. Temperatures never got above mid 40'sF. Clear night followed with water still in all palms' crowns. It went down to 27 F. at my house and I lost three twenty-five foot coconuts due to freeze in the crowns, and fungus afterwards. Remember, I'm at 26 degrees North latitude so this was definitely a "big deal." The area looked worse than when Hurricane Wilma damaged the area. Just palms flopping over everywhere! All the ficus trees were defoliated, same with scheffleras, ixoras, mangoes and tropical vines. It took two years for me to replant back then, but it has never been that cold ever since then. I don't think that it has cracked 39 F. in 20 years! Are we "due again?" Probably, but one never knows until a couple of weeks before "the event" so denial of its possibility runs strong until a few nights before the cold comes. I usually just look at everything one last time, or photograph the "before the cold" landscape, and then snap shots about a week after the freeze. It's a numbing experience, certainly. Thank God, though that springtime DOES show itself soon enough, and new Palms' spears DO push upward. Within another two months, it's roasting here. and there are new leaves/fronds everwhere. It's like nature apologising for what happened

These colds events are all so "flukey." The good thing is that landscapes DO REPAIR THEMSELVES pretty readily when June rolls areound, but that's little comfort in Feb. & March when everything looks like Chicago! Hopefully, at least SOME thin clouds will form to keep temperature somewhere in the mid-upper 30'sF.

[doubravsky]

I moved my pots into the living room and caved, but 5:30 a.m. and I don't think it dropped below 35f around here.... false alarm. Weather.com had it at 26f two days ago....

[freakypalmguy]

I chickened out as well, the greenhouse is stuffed to the gills with overflow in the garage, but only hit 34.7 so far. Not too bad.

[epicure3]

46F at 6:30AM. Bottomed out at 42F sometime during the night.

[osideterry]

I can't believe it only dropped from 39.9F to 39.0F between 11pm and 6am. But I'll take it. The cloud cover must have moved in around midnight.

[epicure3]

Such a large area and they are by micro-climate that I just put what each mean on the page for tonight. What temp.

Happ, What would cause it to be colder than last night?

My numbers are showing warmer, at least for my area. Thanks

But, if you don't have the map that corresponds to those meanings, it's essentially useless.

[BS Man about Palms]

Yeah, I started seeing reports that clouds would come in late. That was good. I think I hit 39 or 40 about midnite, then the temps rose.

[doubravsky]

Yep... nice that it stayed warm. Guess I moved stuff in for nothing I can live with that!

[MattyB]

Here in Hollywood it was noticeably colder at 9pm where I could see my breath, then at 12:00 midnight where I couldn't, because some high clouds rolled in.

Back home in Spring Valley the wife said the same thing happened. At 11:00pm it was 43F and actually warmed up from there to a toasty 45F by 6:00am. Not too shabby.

[tropicalb]

with the heater on......a toasty 52 inside my greenhouse in the backyard in san marcos @ 7 am......not bad!

[PalmGuyWC]

Dave,

It's better to be safe than sorry, and I wish I could say the same as you. Just at dusk yesterday there were some high clouds here and I thought last night would be warmer. WRONG!! It's clear and about a degree colder than yesterday morning. In the open and moist places in my garden, the ground is crunchey from ice crystals. The ground is frozen about 1/2 inch down, and there is ice in my rain buckets. My elephant ears and cannas look like a scene from a horror movie, even in areas with canopy. It's a good thing I brought all my tender Chamaedoreas inside. Out in the open, I expect it is about 25F here this morning.

We have been wanting to cold test some of Patrick's cocoid hybrids. I guess this is a good test.

Dick

[doubravsky]

Dick,

Sorry to hear about your temps.... hope the hybrids pass the test! I'm excited to hear about them from reading the reoprt in the main forum!

[happ]

Such a large area and they are by micro-climate that I just put what each mean on the page for tonight. What temp.

Happ, What would cause it to be colder than last night?

My numbers are showing warmer, at least for my area. Thanks

Kevin, you're the man! How did you predict a warmer night esp when the temp dropped so fast earlier in the evening last night? I know dew points were higher than originally predicted & high clouds moved in a bit. It seemed to settle down around 43F from shortly after sunset & then all night. Interestingly, the NWS issued a "freeze warning" for the San Fernando valley due to pressure from independent meteorologists that they were too conservative the night before. They caved to the pressure then had to reverse the forecast to a frost advisory & hardly anywhere had frost. Heights were up but I still thought 30's would be even more widespread than the night before.

Low: 42.4F 5.7C

[KMartin]

The NAM and GFS had colder temperatures. I basically used a formula I was developing on how the freezing level would come into play. It rose to 10,000 feet on the numbers by at least 11pm, kinda of showed we were going to be a bit warmer. Hard to explain though, lol.

Edited December 9, 2009 by KMartin

[palmcurry]

Here in San Juan Cap it got to about 37 F at lowest. Feeling rather good that I did'nt cave and drag in my prize dypsis plants. On the other hand Wimter is just starting so I may still have to.

Greenhouse stayed in low 50s high 40s F with heater on. All my pinangas are in there and I am starting to have seconds thoughts if they are going to make it full time outside. My house is at the bottom of a hill

[osideterry]

2 sources are forecasting 35F for me tonight. I'm not moving palms back out to the greenhouse until tomorrow - I think they are enjoying being inside. My cat seems to like them also.