December 2010 thread

[Trópico]

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Now you're starting to scare me!

[Jimbean]

I predicted in the low 30's on Monday night and Tuesday night.

[PalmatierMeg]

Was in the sunny mid-70s before noon today. Latest cold front roared in about 1:30 bringing clouds, wind and rain. Low Mon. morning to be 43F, Wed morning 35(!), Thurs 38 and so on. I wasn't here in 1989 but remember reading about that freeze. Heaven help us all if it happens again because I thought last winter was bad.....

[Rusty on Pine Is.]

Meg, i sincerely home i am wrong, but this isn't the end of it, look for at least 2 more cold events....spaced 7-10 days apart...now a lot of things can happen in the interim, so as usual the future is a huge roll of the dice.....but don't be surprised close to the 15th and 22nd of the month, a few days on either side of those dates....

I made a vow last year to stick to my "Hit List".....if a plant dies it is never coming back to The Flatts, no way, no how!

Best decision i ever made....i have had 2 decades in 2 zones fretting over palms and other plants...i am sure many will not agree, but i find it liberating.

Notwithstanding, i hope i am wrong...best of luck with your plants this month!!!!!!!

Rusty

[falcon1988]

wow not again I saw the weather forecast all i can say my god why and the bad thing its not even full winter yet. I think this year is really going to

be the test on the palms. I lost 10 palms to that winter 09-10, I haven't replaced any but there is a thing that its too much on what is thrown at you. And I fully agree with Rusty on pine island just raise my arms up saying oh well. I just hope it doesn't but then again mother nature can be so beautiful and so evil all at once. Wish all the people in Florida to have there plants be untouched and pray this weather pattern stops just keeps going and going. I moved to Florida for a reason not to freeze starting to ask are we really in Florida lol

[enigma99]

Hope all of you in florida make it through fine. We (California) got hit in November with lots of arctic air and it was horrible.. now it's mild though with lows in the 50s:)

Edited December 5, 2010 by enigma99

[Tyrone]

I can't believe you guys are having to endure this sort of thing again. I'm concerned even about our winter 6 months away now. All the best.

Tyrone

[PalmatierMeg]

Latest forecast this afternoon was 35 Tues a.m., 32 Wed a.m. Accckkk. It's not officially winter yet. I can only hope temps rebound quickly after sunrise.

[Alan_Tampa]

Getting ready. I want mangoes this year, not mango flavored sticks.

[tropicbreeze]

Wow! I'd hate to have to do that with my mangos, I've got over 500 trees, all over 3 times that height and over 10 times that width. The plastic tarp vendors would think it was Christmas.

Continues hot here with little rain. Just blazing hot sun most of the day with high humidity. Yesterday's heat index got up to 49.4C (120.9F). A few rainy days would be nice.

[ariscott]

2 huge mm yesterday at my place, Zig . This La Nina is not very nice to us... I hope it can bugger off and let us have our 'normal' November!!! Everything just dies at Middle Point these days...

Regards, Ari

[Dave-Vero]

NWS has been lowering our predicted temperatures for Tuesday and Wed. morning. I think the orchids are going to flee to the dining room and the frost blankets will come out. Yuk.

[happ]

Seems really strange for Florida to be bracing for frost\ sub-freezing temps so early in winter [actually still 3 weeks away officially]. Can anyone recall such conditions in early December for Florida? We got a nasty taste of early winter cold in California about a week ago and minimums plummeted in the Central Valley as well as inland areas around San Francisco bay. Even parts of southern California saw frost which is pretty rare in late November. I've given up trying to understand how La Nina effects the weather; throw in the Arctic Oscillation, lack of sunspots\ solar winds and it becomes a total crapshoot. Good luck in Florida.

Tonight is windy and occasionally wet as a storm blows though; may pick up 0.50 or more.

[Walter John]

[Daryl]

More of the same unfortunately Wal...still I guess it's better than the drought!

Forecast for the rest of Monday

A few showers and some local thunder. Light to moderate SE to E winds.

Precis: Few showers. Local thunder

Forecast for Tuesday

Few showers. Local morning thunder. Light to moderate SE to NE winds.

Precis: Few showers. Local morning thunder.

City: Min 20 Max 27 Bayside: Min 21Max 26 UV Alert from 7:20 am to 4:00 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 16 [Extreme]

Wednesday Few showers. Min 21Max 28

Thursday Few showers. Min 21Max 28

Friday Few showers. Min 22Max 28

Saturday Few showers. Possible late storm. Min 21Max 27

Sunday Few showers. Possible late storm. Min 21Max 27

Monday Few showers. Min 21Max 28

[Tyrone]

Eldersweather.com has predicted a decile 10 rainfall outcome for Jan in Perth. That's only 3 weeks away and I don't know how they work it out, but if that prediction is true it means 100-200mm of rain for Jan. For that to happen a cold front will not be responsible, but a cyclone or decaying cyclone would be the only mechanism strong enough to drop that level of rain at this time of year. Looking at the synoptic situation at the moment, (the almost absence of high pressure in the Australian area and the abundance of lows all over the continent) if a cyclone was to form in the NW with this lack of high pressure systems it may be free to move south as it pleases, and then east over the more southern latitudes. This sort of situation did happen in 1992 when a decaying cyclone dropped 125mm of rain over Perth. This was a record and the 225mm pipes draining all the roads couldn't cope. Everything flooded even on sand. No one here had seen anything like it, but boy everything greened up a few days later.

Bring it on.

Best regards

Tyrone

[SunnyFl]

Don't look now but the 18Z GFS model today showed a 1989 type freeze over Florida on December 13th. It's still 9 days out but some of the weather media outlets are talking about this.

Very interesting. Just this morning, DH said he had a feeling this winter might be one for the record books, "maybe worse than '89."

That's pretty d*** bad. But look at the temps - and it's still the first week of December.

More plants to be brought in for the next 2 nights - we're running out of room.

[ariscott]

Eldersweather.com has predicted a decile 10 rainfall outcome for Jan in Perth. That's only 3 weeks away and I don't know how they work it out, but if that prediction is true it means 100-200mm of rain for Jan. For that to happen a cold front will not be responsible, but a cyclone or decaying cyclone would be the only mechanism strong enough to drop that level of rain at this time of year. Looking at the synoptic situation at the moment, (the almost absence of high pressure in the Australian area and the abundance of lows all over the continent) if a cyclone was to form in the NW with this lack of high pressure systems it may be free to move south as it pleases, and then east over the more southern latitudes. This sort of situation did happen in 1992 when a decaying cyclone dropped 125mm of rain over Perth. This was a record and the 225mm pipes draining all the roads couldn't cope. Everything flooded even on sand. No one here had seen anything like it, but boy everything greened up a few days later.

Bring it on.

Best regards

Tyrone

Good luck to both us... Tyrone. I don't mind a bit more frequent rain... it doesn't have to be 50mm a day... 10-20mm a day is plenty for me...

Regards, Ari

[PalmatierMeg]

Freeze warning for our whole area tonight, maybe Tues too. I'm sitting at my work desk plotting how to move/protect sensitive stuff in the hour or so of daylight after I get home. That's logistics.....

[rozpalm]

This stinks! I am so happy I avoided buying any of the cold sensitive stuff I came across at the various plant sales I attended this year. I guess I should also be happy that most of my really cold sensitive stuff died last year.

[gsytch]

All is snug and covered...frost cloth saved over the years comes in handy. I am seeing a hint of next week's cold snap. It may be scary if the storm gets its act together. It is the nor'easter that will pull down ANOTHER Arctic blast! This is feeling more like last year than the predicted "milder" winter. Dry. So dry. Barely 2" of rain since Sept. Today, my portable at school hit 57F by 2nd period, 63F by the last period at 2pm. I teach 15 mi N and W of here, rural area, and it was 33F this morning on campus, 40F here at the house = 28F or so tomorrow morning at school, expected near freezing here. I HATE winter!

[SubTropicRay]

The long range foreacast for next Sunday night/Monday morning does not look good. Let's hope the European model and not the GFS comes to fruition. The European drives the low into the Great Lakes and not up the coast. That would also not put any snow down in the southeast and the air can modify before it arrives here. If the GFS pans out, I'll be convinced the 1980's type weather pattern has come back.

[tank]

WTF 24F on Monday, 25F on Tuesday and 28F on Wednesday.

I thought I lived in Florida?

Yeah, really - I heard about those 20s up your way and I couldn't believe it. Seems like a re-run of last winter only earlier. If it's this bad in early December what will January bring......

Very cold here. Already sick of it.

But the Sybil Griffin in my living room sure looks terrific.

Hopefully, the jet stream will remember that this is supposed to be a La Nina year and get back into its proper latitude.

[Walt]

Today I finished putting the last of my tender potted palms and tropicals inside my greenhouse. I will fire up the infrared propane heater when temperatures fall below 35 degrees F (1.65C).

On some of my in-ground palms close to the house were electric is available I installed heating cables around the trunks, crownshaft and meristem, then wrapped them with insulative wraps. At least if the fronds are damaged or out right killed the palm will survive and regrow a new crown next year. Some smaller palms I mummified completely, using heating cables and wraps. The should be fine.

I heard yesterday this December, so far, is the coldest December in 27 years. I know in my 13 years living here it's the earlist cold I've experienced in December. This cold is at least three weeks early.

The above video shows some of the stock I put inside my greenhouse. Click on photo to start video

[Alan_Tampa]

I dont think this current cold event will be all that bad. Then again, I do drink a little bit when worry comes. Maybe Jim Beam works on plants? (the booze, not the palmtalk guy)

Alan

[Alan_Tampa]

Remember, live as if you will die tomorrow and garden as if you'll live forever!

Also, time heals all wounds

This link might be useful:

http://fawn.ifas.ufl.edu/

Alan

[Alan_Tampa]

Ray, which long range forecast are you using?

Alan

[spockvr6]

Im in Dallas for work, so I get to watch this nastiness back home remotely. This morning was a rather early foray into the 30's (39F at my house).

Looks like there is still some NW breeze blowing in tonight and the temps ar holding at 50F around 11PM. But, what happens much of the time is the winds will die off, and/or shift to the NE and the temp at my place can then plummet.

Theres nothing in my yard yard that will be bothered by this weather though. Last winter toughened em all up!

[tropicalb]

good luck to you all in Florida....my brother especially!

[Takil-Explorer]

Nah, your folks in Florida are not used to cold! Where I live its cold for most of the year with frost sometimes as late as June. We had -10 C here a couple of days ago! Florida gets spoiled by all that hot weather! Eager to swap the your cold) climayte to mine!

Alexander

[JayW]

25.5 was our low... ugh!

[SubTropicRay]

Alan,

I'm using the GFS long range viewable through the Climate Prediction Center. Unfortunately, I've become way too proficient with this thing. Check out the 7 day forecasts through the NAM and MET models.

Ray

[Kailua_Krish]

Weather Underground's station nearest to my house says the low was 29. I feel like I missed a bullet if that is the case, they had predicted 23!

-Krishna

[tank]

Supposedly got to 29F up here. Definitely not 23F. We'll try again tonight.

[Kailua_Krish]

Jason, lets not try this again for a while

-Krishna

[tank]

Krishna, unfortunately we have 2 more days of sub 30Fs in our forecast. Hopefully tonight will be warmer than expected. Good news is that the expected temps have been inching up, and that is a trend that I like.

[PalmatierMeg]

Predicted low for last night was 36 and clear. But the clouds over the Gulf moved inland and kept my temp to 40 - let's hear it for the clouds. It is still cloudy which will keep daytime high (a predicted balmy 59) down but I really don't care about that. Tonight is supposed to be 36 and clear (deja vu?). Warmer weekend but another training arctic front early next week. I spent 2+ hours last night moving and covering stuff.

[Trópico]

Evidence of a light freeze on exposed areas as if weed killer was sprayed. No further damage. Low was close to 34°F but exposed areas saw freezing temps. My avocado tree looks good.

[cfkingfish]

It was 44F at the nursery, and 38.5 at the house. No frost in my yard, but I drove out to the farms near I-75 and saw spotty frost in open fields.

[PalmatierMeg]

Low tonight lowered to 35, maybe upper 20s in farming areas. A weekend warmup to almost normal temps, then another polar plunge bigger and badder than this one.