Cold Blast no1 for Texas

[steve 9atx]

Just in time for MLK day, we're supposed to have lows in the "low 30's".  I have a King, Triangle, S. uresana, and A. micrantha pushing spears and two Queens starting to bloom!  I don't know if it'll do any good, but I broadcast muriate of potash and epsom salts and watered them in.  It's probably not soon enough for them to absorb the anitfreeze.

Steve

[KatyTX]

Yeah Steve,

Maybe upper 20s - slight chance of frozen precip (aka snow).

For me, p.elegans, d.decaryi, c.mitis, a.cunninghamiana (8ft tall) - along with dioon spinulosum, several aloes, agaves and other shrubbery...  The p.elegans has already seen 29F without a blemish (new spears are opening).

The good news is I didn't pay more than $10 for any one plant....and I got more in pots where they came from.

I'm going to be out of town for a few weeks in Jan/Feb - I hope things don't 'go to hell' while I'm gone.

Matt

[palmsrgreat]

I hear you guys, I've got some of the same palms. The bad news is I have to go to Dallas this weekend and won't be back until Sunday afternoon.

Do yall know when the rain is supposed to come on Sun? I guess I need to setup my tarp with PVC frame  before I leave on Sat am.

[NBTX11]

They are saying 28F for San Antonio next Tuesday,which would be the coldest of the year.  Not worried about it yet, that won't hurt my queens any.  Now next year when I put Kings in the ground, I might be worried.

[steve 9atx]

Palms:

It looks like the precip crecendos until late Sunday afternoon when the front actually starts to pass through.  So Monday night (Tuesday early a.m.) and 24 hours later are the radiational freezes.  I just hope my urban heat island ace-in-the-hole comes through to keep me above 32.

Matt:

My A. cunninghamiana is also about 8' - I raised it from seed along with three other laggards about 3-4' tall.  They are the progeny of palms claiming to take the low 20's from where the seeds were collected.  Anyway, a little anitfreeze never hurt.  I'm going to roll the dice (what is it with the gambling metaphors?) and leave everything uncovered during this spell.

Steve

[NBTX11]

I think your King will be fine, unless it gets a lot colder than projected now.

[galveston1602]

I think im inheriting the doom and gloom bug or something but, I predict that the temps are going to be 5 degrees cooler that they are currently predicting.   for us they are saying 36.  I bet its going to show up at about 31 on tuesday morning....

I probably wont cover anything unless it looks even worse than that, although I am going to be pulling the pot plants in sunday...

[SubTropicRay]

It's still a few days off.  Perhaps the forecast will change for the better.  Good luck.  In Florida, our day is probably coming sooner than later.

Ray

[spockvr6]

(Ray, Tampa @ Jan. 11 2007,07:57)

QUOTE

In Florida, our day is probably coming sooner than later.

Ray

Take your pill this AM Ray  

[palmsrgreat]

(steve 9atx @ Jan. 10 2007,23:32)

QUOTE

Palms:

It looks like the precip crecendos until late Sunday afternoon when the front actually starts to pass through.  So Monday night (Tuesday early a.m.) and 24 hours later are the radiational freezes.  I just hope my urban heat island ace-in-the-hole comes through to keep me above 32.

Matt:

My A. cunninghamiana is also about 8' - I raised it from seed along with three other laggards about 3-4' tall.  They are the progeny of palms claiming to take the low 20's from where the seeds were collected.  Anyway, a little anitfreeze never hurt.  I'm going to roll the dice (what is it with the gambling metaphors?) and leave everything uncovered during this spell.

Steve

Yeah, I forgot to cover my A. cunninghamiana just one night awhile back when it gold cold just before Christmas. Now pretty much 80% of the leaves are fried and crispy. Its a double and the small one pushed up a new frond, which is good news. My bizzie hasn't blinked an eye, never covered.

[KatyTX]

Strange - I haven't protected any of mine this winter (except the bottles I have in pots).  My p.elegans and a.cunninghamiana have had 0 damage.  They look great.  Supposedly, it gets colder out here on the west side than it does in the city.  I just bought a digital thermometer, so I can't say exactly how cold it's gotten in my yard this winter so far  (36F is the lowest I've seen since X-mas).  My d.decaryi was planted in October - it appears to have some 'goldening' of the leaves - partially from adjusting to sunlight I assume.

I'm not sure what variety my a.cunninghamiana is.  I bought it at Home Depot at the end of last winter (marked down to $10 because of freeze damage    ).

I didn't plant these in the ground so I could bust my ass all winter protecting them.  It was a gamble that things wouldn't get below 28F (like last winter).  

Accuweather is showing my 15 day low as 34F now.  We'll see...

Accuweather - Katy,TX

[galveston1602]

Matt,

I hate to say it but you better come up with some way to protect them....

2 days of 28 degrees and sleet/freezing rain = very unhappy palms!

heres the site that I use for a reliable forecast

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/forecas....ap.y=44

just to paraphrase from your forecast  

M.L.King Day: A 50 percent chance of rain. Cloudy, with a high near 41.

Monday Night: A chance of sleet or freezing rain. Cloudy, with a low around 28. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Tuesday: A chance of rain, freezing rain, or sleet. Cloudy, with a high near 42. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy, with a high near 49.

Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33.

Thursday: Partly cloudy, with a high near 52.

[NBTX11]

It's still too early to know exactly what is going to happen.  The forecasts are too far out yet.  A day or 2 out, we will know more.  I don't think it will get below 30F (I hope).

[KatyTX]

Geez, weather.com puts it at 31F with a high of 42F...

A couple of weeks ago, the long range forecast put January 9 at 27F.  It actually only got down to 39F.

By Sunday we should have a better picture.

[happ]

Hang in there, Texas buds  

What you fear is, at the very moment, invading California w' what could be record cold temperatures & widespread freeze  

This arctic air mass will engulf the entire western 2/3rds of the nation by next week.  

I am hoping for a miracle that it will stay cloudy or windy  

[spockvr6]

(happ @ Jan. 11 2007,21:51)

QUOTE

I am hoping for a miracle that it will stay cloudy or windy  

My miracle is that it avoids FL (at least the lower half)  ???

So far so good with the forecasts, but we all know how those can change on a dime.

[NBTX11]

It sure doesn't feel like a cold front is coming.  Low was in the 60s last night, warm and muggy, almost needed the A/C.  Warm and humid today.  I hate shocks to the system.

[ruskinPalms]

It doesn't look too bad for most of Texas:

[ruskinPalms]

Galveston:

[ruskinPalms]

Houston is a little ugly:

[ruskinPalms]

Let me qualify what I ment - it is not looking too bad for coastal texas. Pretty nice weather forcast for around here, but this coldfront is coming our way by the middle of next week. I hope it loses some of its punch.

[NBTX11]

It's in the 70s now where I am, I am not looking forward to 30s.  I wish the front would just die out, stop, and retreat back north.

I don't believe we are getting any winter precip,  that should be for North Texas.

[galveston1602]

any way you swing it this is not a good forecast for us... it'd be nothing for them to miss it by 5degrees and us have 3-5 days of below freezing lows... I cant remember the last time I saw a forecast like this for our location....  

yeah, its not that bad overall but when you throw in the length its not looking good as we usually rebound from the 30's very quickly!

[galveston1602]

Jim,  its not lookin too good for yall either except it looks like you may miss most of the sleet/ice

[NBTX11]

Yeah, slight possibility of sleet for me on Tuesday with temps in the 30s and 40s.  But no real subfreezing temps yet, just a lot of cold 30s/40s.

[Tad]

i hate to say it but better you than me jimbo!!! did you plant your bismarckia?

[NBTX11]

(palmotrafficante @ Jan. 12 2007,20:26)

QUOTE

i hate to say it but better you than me jimbo!!! did you plant your bismarckia?

No, it died Tad.  Due to heat this summer.  I had it in that pot on my back porch, and it was doing great, I was watering every day.  I was planning on putting it in the ground.  I went away for a couple weeks, and when I got back it was all shriveled up and wilted.  Was looking forward to planting it.  I'll put another one in in the spring.  I am also going to get adventurous and expiriment with some A. Cunninghamiana's.

[Tad]

hmmmm to bad but it sounds like dehydration not the ambient heat

[NBTX11]

Probably a combo, it gets crazy hot on my back porch.

[palmsrgreat]

Tad, the one you gave me has exploded! Even with all the recent cold weather it continues to push out new fronds at a rapid pace. I think this spring/summer it is going to love the heat and take off even more.

Jim these things love the heat so I'm a little puzzled as to how it died? I know when its kicking in the summer I'm watering a lot. I couldnt imagine leaving some things unwatered more than 2/3 days. A week or two would have done it in for sure. I actually plan on getting a timer drip system to keep my labor down this summer and allow me to take vacations without worrying.

[NBTX11]

Well, next time I will plant it in the ground right away, that's where I screwed up.  Left it in that pot too long unwatered, when I got back it was toast.  Didn't know it would shrivel up that fast.  Maybe I can get Tad to give me another "freebie"  LOL.

::

[Tad]

one per, especially if you left it unwatered on a porch till it died!!!

[philinsydney]

On Saturday evening it was 71f in Houston and 39f in Austin at the same time (according to Yahoo Weather). Seems an amazing difference; perhaps the cold front is very slow-moving.

[KatyTX]

Allright...so 32F with freezing rain for 3 days (nothing in the 20's).  I guess I'll wrap my a.cunninghamiana, p.elegans and d.decaryi - just to keep the ice off.

I also have 3 foxtails a r.rivularis, a c.mitis and several dioon spinulosum and p.roebelenii  which will be exposed.  Should I be worried about these?

All of my pots will be in a makeshift greenhouse lean-to on the SE side of my garage.  They should be OK.

This won't be as cold as the 20's seen in CA - but much wetter (and icier).

I hate winter...

Matt

[palmsrgreat]

Well I'm off to the store to get a few other items to protect my King. I think I need some pvc framing to hold up my tarp, I'll then have a bunch of lights on it as well. Tonite is gonna be real cold!

[steve 9atx]

Matt

If you're in Katy, Weatherunderground has you at 29 tonight and 28 tomorrow night.  This means that maybe that frozen precip will stick.

Steve

[KatyTX]

Yeah, I broke down and wrapped most of my questionable palms in sheets & blankets yesterday.  I knew all those bungee cords I bought last year would come in handy for something.  I built a lean-to greenhouse on the side of my garage last month - most of my pots are in there.

I'll check my temp guage when I get home tonight.  We'll see what happens...  I've done all I can within reason.

Matt

[steve 9atx]

Matt

If we're just going to make or just get barely below freezing I'm only making three moves: the spindle on the front porch is coming in the house, a lime tree in a pot is going in the garage, and, I'm going to try to cover a 10' king; the king just opened a new frond on Sunday.  I have a Belle banana that loaded with fruit and blooms, but it's simply too big to cover.  Everything else should be hardy to the upper 20's overnight if it actually gets that cold here.  The worst thing about this front is that we won't get our typical next day rebound in temperatures - it's gonna be cold for 5+ days!  My heat island doesn't work nearly as well without a day of sunshine after a freeze.  Channel 2 calls for 30 the next two nights followed by two nights of 36 and one of 40, Weatherunderground calls for 31, 29, 34, 41, and 39 for lows through the beginning of the weekend.  Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

Steve

[happ]

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  

[KatyTX]

Yea Steve, the actual low temp will not be a record or anything.  Maybe 29F for me.  Like you said, it's the fact that it won't warm up past the 30's for a few days + the rain/sleet.  Definitely not palm weather.  

I'm worried more about my plants that hate being cold/wet (d.decaryi, c.mitis, encephalartos ferox, dioon spinulosum, + cold sensitive aloes & agaves).  My spindle, bottles and potted cycads are in the garage (probably still too cold...my kids keep opening the garage door).

5:45pm - 35.1F in the back yard.  Raining + 15mph gusts of wind.

Matt