Big Freeze of 2014 - I just as soon start the thread now

[gsytch]

I CONCUR! It came out for like 15 mins. My eyes hurt. Temps up to 77F. 'bout time.

[_Keith]

Sun here too, for first time in days. So hard not to just go hit spring full blast. But,,,,,,,,,,,,I see 31 sitting out in the forecast for next Sunday.

[Walt]

Well, after a couple of days of very raw weather (picked up 3" of rain), yesterday managed to get up to 73 degrees. Today at 2:30 P.M. it's 85 degrees!

My Tabebuia crysotricha trees are starting to bloom (started seeing first blooms a week ago), but they shouldn't be in full bloom until late this month. The below tabebuia is a small one that was a volunteer from one of my bigger trees that produce profuse seedlings all over the place which I must mow over to kill them.

[Zeeth]

Even though it was very chilly for a long time, my garden still saw a 10b winter, so nothing was damaged besides some spotting. Even my Theobroma cacao was untouched.

[_Keith]

Well, after a couple of days of very raw weather (picked up 3" of rain), yesterday managed to get up to 73 degrees. Today at 2:30 P.M. it's 85 degrees!

My Tabebuia crysotricha trees are starting to bloom (started seeing first blooms a week ago), but they shouldn't be in full bloom until late this month. The below tabebuia is a small one that was a volunteer from one of my bigger trees that produce profuse seedlings all over the place which I must mow over to kill them.

Keep an eye on it. Plants in stress often bloom early and profusely trying to set seed. It is a survival instinct.

[_Keith]

You know with this freeze, Conifers might be looking real good right now, lol. Only thing is my new Cryptomeria is so bad with fungal die back right now I might lose it too

Moral of the story is nothing likes abnormal weather, plants or people.

[Trópico]

Even though it was very chilly for a long time, my garden still saw a 10b winter, so nothing was damaged besides some spotting. Even my Theobroma cacao was untouched.

I refuse to call it a winter yet and keep having this thought that if I say that it's been the warmest minimum (32°F) in my 17 years here and first freezeless winter, a voice up above will reply "Oh Yeah???"

[Silas_Sancona]

79 and mostly sunny,(finally) today.

Walt, nice Tabs.. have two specimens of this tree myself. Buds on the larger specimen are swelling atm. The wind keeps knocking new growth off the other specimen, grr . Always the first thing in my collection to bloom every year, closely followed by Sophora secundiflora, (Texas Mtn. Laurel). Got a batch of seed collected off of it last year in the cooker atm.

-Nathan-

[Walt]

Well, after a couple of days of very raw weather (picked up 3" of rain), yesterday managed to get up to 73 degrees. Today at 2:30 P.M. it's 85 degrees!

My Tabebuia crysotricha trees are starting to bloom (started seeing first blooms a week ago), but they shouldn't be in full bloom until late this month. The below tabebuia is a small one that was a volunteer from one of my bigger trees that produce profuse seedlings all over the place which I must mow over to kill them.

Keep an eye on it. Plants in stress often bloom early and profusely trying to set seed. It is a survival instinct.

I've read as much about plants, but my Tabebuias aren't stressed (at least not by cold, but they could be slightly lack of rain stressed). They saw 20 degrees back in December of 2010, but only 30 degrees this winter. Actually, this species of tabebuia typically start opening some blooms by the end of January. This particular tabebuia opened more than usual for this time, but in no way are the blooms as profuse as they normally are. When my three big tabebuia go into full bloom they are blazing yellow and a really beautiful sight. Unfortunately, the full bloom doesn't last long, then the long seed pods start to develop and make a big mess.

[Walt]

79 and mostly sunny,(finally) today.

Walt, nice Tabs.. have two specimens of this tree myself. Buds on the larger specimen are swelling atm. The wind keeps knocking new growth off the other specimen, grr . Always the first thing in my collection to bloom every year, closely followed by Sophora secundiflora, (Texas Mtn. Laurel). Got a batch of seed collected off of it last year in the cooker atm.

-Nathan-

This particular tabby came up by itself many years ago, as many other volunteers I have. In fact, they've become invasive over my property. 15 years ago my wife and I planted three saplings we grew from seed a neighbor gave us. All three are fairly large trees now (relative to the species). But one of them, I believe, is the one that is producing fertile seed that blows over my property, and sprouts come up by the 1,000s, literally. Beneath this mother tree there's a jungle of 4-6 feet saplings. I really need to cut them all out. But these tabbys are poping up everywhere. I mow over them to help control them.

Further, the seeds get into my potted palms and plants and start sending up seedlings.

The warm weather I'm now having (87 degrees here today) will probably step up the rate of blooming. When my big tabbys are in full bloom I will post a photo in this thread.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Even though it was very chilly for a long time, my garden still saw a 10b winter, so nothing was damaged besides some spotting. Even my Theobroma cacao was untouched.

I refuse to call it a winter yet and keep having this thought that if I say that it's been the warmest minimum (32°F) in my 17 years here and first freezeless winter, a voice up above will reply "Oh Yeah???"

Oh man oh man can I relate! It's bad luck to call it before the end of Winter. Best to gloat to your heart's desire when Winter finally is gone for good.

[Walt]

Even though it officially hit 87 degrees here today, I know from past (and painful) experience that I could have a hard frost, at least for another 15 days or so. After 16 winters here, my latest frost was February 16th. I think my latest wide-spread foliage damaging frost (radiational freeze) was February 14, 2006. I had a low of 27 degrees, while my buddy over by Lake June (3 miles from me) only had 41 degrees.

[_Keith]

Even though it officially hit 87 degrees here today, I know from past (and painful) experience that I could have a hard frost, at least for another 15 days or so. After 16 winters here, my latest frost was February 16th. I think my latest wide-spread foliage damaging frost (radiational freeze) was February 14, 2006. I had a low of 27 degrees, while my buddy over by Lake June (3 miles from me) only had 41 degrees.

Yep, 10 day forecast is showing a low of 29 on Sun Feb 9th. There is another round out there, and it could make it your way with a frost for sure. Hopefully not, but almost surely it will here.

[Tropicdoc]

Walt how's the cocos ? I'm thinking of using your methods on a b Alfredii one day

[Walt]

Walt how's the cocos ? I'm thinking of using your methods on a b Alfredii one day

My coconut has a combination of frost burn and potassium deficiency. While I had the trunk and meristem protected with a heating cable and heavy mover's quilt (plus lots of rags, terry cloth towels, etc., pushed in all around the meristem), there was nothing practical I could have protected the large crown of fronds from frost. I could have used a forced air propane heater to possibly mitigate frost formation, but elected not to bother.

Every winter my coconut goes into a state of potassium deficiency, and 4-5 of the oldest fronds become necrotic. But when spring comes the new fronds will be normal.

I have two B. alfredii in the ground (planted last spring) and they did fine with no protection, but I wasn't expecting any damage since my open yard low was only 30 degrees. I have both these palms planted in more protected areas where it was probably a degree or two warme with little or no frost.

[gsytch]

well into the 80'sf here, with partly sunny skies and a dewpoint of 70F. Just this past Thur the heat was on in the GH and house all day, and never budged above 50F.....not freezes in my yard, no frost, lowest was 34.5 just after the New Year but it was cloudy, so not frost. The next 7 days are looking warm! The next cold front is due in 8-10 days, and it is not really that cold (yet). Feb is looking rather warm - we hope!

[Dakotafl]

Its pretty warm here, 87 in West Melbourne, a 10a Winter again, so i'm happy.

[_Keith]

Well, it looks like we are still not out of the woods. Models are showing a low of 27 here a week from today. And it may go lower. It started a 31 and every day they drop it another degree.

[Alicehunter2000]

Friend of mine that lives there - that is what she reported on her thermometer. I do not know her exact location. She did say there was about 1/2" of snowy sleet on the ground, which could result in radiational cooling. She could live north of town well inland. I do not know. It was VERY cold for two days.

Geez.......Glad I don't live in her yard....If it was that cold. I was just going by the news media on temps around the area....All I know was it was dam cold and glad it is over.

Keith, Weather Underground is "only" showing a low of 33 Sunday 9th. here and 35 on Monday. Hope you are wrong.

[Silas_Sancona]

Made it to 82F this afternoon. Still warm and humid with a light sea breeze.. not bad for the 2nd of Feb. Germination chambers along the south wall of the house are cookin. Veitchia seed is starting to sprout. 6 weeks left of winter?.. maybe.

-Nathan-

[Tropicdoc]

Walt I sprayed my potted cocos in the greenhouse with liquid seaweed based on a tip from palmtalk to prevent k deficiency

[Walt]

Walt I sprayed my potted cocos in the greenhouse with liquid seaweed based on a tip from palmtalk to prevent k deficiency

I fertilize my coconut about six times a year with 8-2-12-2.5 (magnesium). My last fertilization was in November. When I first noticed the K deficiency starting I mixed up lots of 20-20-20 in buckets and drenced all around the root zone. Still, the deficiency continued. But it does this almost every winter (K deficiency), probably from cooler soil temperatures where K isn't taken up as readily. Once soil temperatures get warmer the K deficiency will stop. I've read one can foliar feed to help compensate for cold soil, but I don't find it worth it, not for a large canopy palm, anyway.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Even though it officially hit 87 degrees here today, I know from past (and painful) experience that I could have a hard frost, at least for another 15 days or so. After 16 winters here, my latest frost was February 16th. I think my latest wide-spread foliage damaging frost (radiational freeze) was February 14, 2006. I had a low of 27 degrees, while my buddy over by Lake June (3 miles from me) only had 41 degrees.

Yep, 10 day forecast is showing a low of 29 on Sun Feb 9th. There is another round out there, and it could make it your way with a frost for sure. Hopefully not, but almost surely it will here.

Keep checking the forecast, it's highly doubtful you will see 29F. Looks like the pattern that has caused all the record breaking weather is finally easing off. Flow goes pretty much zonal, I have a hard time seeing how you would get more cold coming your way. The National Weather Service featured this tidbit in this afternoon's forecast discussion:

IT DOES APPEAR THAT AT THE VERY LEAST WERE SEEING A

DISTINCT PATTERN SHIFT WITH THE PNA GOING NEGATIVE AND ARCTIC AIR

NO LONGER ANCHORED OVER THE CENTRAL/EASTERN US WHICH WILL ALLOW A

MORE ZONAL AND ACTIVE PATTERN TO CONTINUE FOR NORTHERN AND CENTRAL

CALIFORNIA THROUGH MID MONTH AND HOPEFULLY BEYOND.

[palmsOrl]

As well as FAWN , I like this NWS graphic.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mlb/?n=adas_realtime

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/rtimages/mlb/adas/temp_sfc.gif

I used to consult NWS out of Melbourne, Fl. If I recall correctly (if in fact that is the website I'm thinking of) they used to have a state of Florida graphic that showed the entire state with temperatures shown in 2 degrees F isotherms. I liked that graphic because it really defined the temperature and locations with the isotherm lines. You could put the graphic in a time lapse mode and see (like over an hour or two time) how the isotherm lines would move farther and farther down the peninsula as it got colder.

Walt,

I remember in 2003-2005 frequently using that graphic as well. It was great, I don't know why they did away with it. All the plants are unscathed here.

[_Keith]

Even though it officially hit 87 degrees here today, I know from past (and painful) experience that I could have a hard frost, at least for another 15 days or so. After 16 winters here, my latest frost was February 16th. I think my latest wide-spread foliage damaging frost (radiational freeze) was February 14, 2006. I had a low of 27 degrees, while my buddy over by Lake June (3 miles from me) only had 41 degrees.

Yep, 10 day forecast is showing a low of 29 on Sun Feb 9th. There is another round out there, and it could make it your way with a frost for sure. Hopefully not, but almost surely it will here.

Keep checking the forecast, it's highly doubtful you will see 29F. Looks like the pattern that has caused all the record breaking weather is finally easing off. Flow goes pretty much zonal, I have a hard time seeing how you would get more cold coming your way. The National Weather Service featured this tidbit in this afternoon's forecast discussion:

IT DOES APPEAR THAT AT THE VERY LEAST WERE SEEING A

DISTINCT PATTERN SHIFT WITH THE PNA GOING NEGATIVE AND ARCTIC AIR

NO LONGER ANCHORED OVER THE CENTRAL/EASTERN US WHICH WILL ALLOW A

MORE ZONAL AND ACTIVE PATTERN TO CONTINUE FOR NORTHERN AND CENTRAL

CALIFORNIA THROUGH MID MONTH AND HOPEFULLY BEYOND.

Seems like the weather folks are disagreeing with. Forecast low is down another degree yet, to 26 degrees on Monday moring.

[_Keith]

Major Late-Week Winter Storm On Tap for Midwest, South and East? Rumors vs. What We Know

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-forecast/winter-storm-weekend-forecast-midwest-south-northeast-west-20140203

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Even though it officially hit 87 degrees here today, I know from past (and painful) experience that I could have a hard frost, at least for another 15 days or so. After 16 winters here, my latest frost was February 16th. I think my latest wide-spread foliage damaging frost (radiational freeze) was February 14, 2006. I had a low of 27 degrees, while my buddy over by Lake June (3 miles from me) only had 41 degrees.

Yep, 10 day forecast is showing a low of 29 on Sun Feb 9th. There is another round out there, and it could make it your way with a frost for sure. Hopefully not, but almost surely it will here.

Keep checking the forecast, it's highly doubtful you will see 29F. Looks like the pattern that has caused all the record breaking weather is finally easing off. Flow goes pretty much zonal, I have a hard time seeing how you would get more cold coming your way. The National Weather Service featured this tidbit in this afternoon's forecast discussion:

IT DOES APPEAR THAT AT THE VERY LEAST WERE SEEING A

DISTINCT PATTERN SHIFT WITH THE PNA GOING NEGATIVE AND ARCTIC AIR

NO LONGER ANCHORED OVER THE CENTRAL/EASTERN US WHICH WILL ALLOW A

MORE ZONAL AND ACTIVE PATTERN TO CONTINUE FOR NORTHERN AND CENTRAL

CALIFORNIA THROUGH MID MONTH AND HOPEFULLY BEYOND.

Seems like the weather folks are disagreeing with. Forecast low is down another degree yet, to 26 degrees on Monday moring.

The pattern is shifting from the arctic vortex to zonal, and the models are having a hard time with the pattern shift, so they're not good at predicting how the arctic vortex will behave on its last breath. Not sure what will transpire in California this week either. Forecasts are all over the map at this point.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

This winter has been horrible in Corpus Christi. Even though the lowest it has been at the airport is only 29F and 33F at my place, it is the number of nights that we have had in the 30's and low 40's and the number of daytime highs like today that only reached 45F or below, when our normal high is 69F now! I am 44 years old, and have studied weather and climate as a hobby since I was 12 years old. I have NEVER seen a winter like this one. Even in the '83 and '89 freezes, which brought temps into the teens all the way to Brownsville, the freeze only lasted for about 4-5 days in extreme south Texas and for about 5-7 days in south central Texas. The rest of those winters were relatively normal. I honestly think this winter, at least in Texas will go down as one of, if not the coldest overall winters in the last 100 years due to the frequency of Arctic fronts and the overall duration of the cold.

We were supposed to just have a "Pacific" front come through yesterday, yet the temps at my place dropped from 75F to 48F in just an hour and a half!!! Temps DON'T drop 27F in an hour and a half with a Pacific front, PERIOD! There is something that the weather people and the media are deliberately NOT TELLING us about this extremely abnormal weather we are experiencing. Needless to say, it looks like I will lose at least two or maybe three of my four coconut palms, even though I have wrapped them 5 times this winter. A normal winter here would not kill an established coconut palm on the east side of Corpus Christi, but this winter has been anything but normal.

John

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

This winter has been horrible in Corpus Christi. Even though the lowest it has been at the airport is only 29F and 33F at my place, it is the number of nights that we have had in the 30's and low 40's and the number of daytime highs like today that only reached 45F or below, when our normal high is 69F now! I am 44 years old, and have studied weather and climate as a hobby since I was 12 years old. I have NEVER seen a winter like this one. Even in the '83 and '89 freezes, which brought temps into the teens all the way to Brownsville, the freeze only lasted for about 4-5 days in extreme south Texas and for about 5-7 days in south central Texas. The rest of those winters were relatively normal. I honestly think this winter, at least in Texas will go down as one of, if not the coldest overall winters in the last 100 years due to the frequency of Arctic fronts and the overall duration of the cold.

We were supposed to just have a "Pacific" front come through yesterday, yet the temps at my place dropped from 75F to 48F in just an hour and a half!!! Temps DON'T drop 27F in an hour and a half with a Pacific front, PERIOD! There is something that the weather people and the media are deliberately NOT TELLING us about this extremely abnormal weather we are experiencing. Needless to say, it looks like I will lose at least two or maybe three of my four coconut palms, even though I have wrapped them 5 times this winter. A normal winter here would not kill an established coconut palm on the east side of Corpus Christi, but this winter has been anything but normal.

John

Are those your coconuts in this picture below? There was another thread I posted about ice and snow on palms.

If the media isn't informing people on how unusual this is, and they actually know, then they're lying to people. This weather pattern has been associated with the most intense drought in California in the history of recorded weather. And I've read plenty of articles going into the associated statistics. See http://mashable.com/2014/01/04/polar-vortex-expected/ for more details. Apparently the unusual weather has been associated with a mass of unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Alaska, coupled with some strong blocking patterns to begin with. The consensus amongst climatologists and meteorologists is that blocking patterns have become increasingly common. Some claim this increase is associated with the greenhouse effect, others say it's related to sunspot activity. See http://www.decodedscience.com/cold-winter-weather-omega-block-jet-stream/42079 for a good discussion of blocking patterns.

[Xenon]

The coconut pic was taken in Brownsville, about 130 miles south of John's location. Average low in Brownsville was also about 5 degrees below average this past January...

[Walt]

This winter has been horrible in Corpus Christi. Even though the lowest it has been at the airport is only 29F and 33F at my place, it is the number of nights that we have had in the 30's and low 40's and the number of daytime highs like today that only reached 45F or below, when our normal high is 69F now! I am 44 years old, and have studied weather and climate as a hobby since I was 12 years old. I have NEVER seen a winter like this one. Even in the '83 and '89 freezes, which brought temps into the teens all the way to Brownsville, the freeze only lasted for about 4-5 days in extreme south Texas and for about 5-7 days in south central Texas. The rest of those winters were relatively normal. I honestly think this winter, at least in Texas will go down as one of, if not the coldest overall winters in the last 100 years due to the frequency of Arctic fronts and the overall duration of the cold.

We were supposed to just have a "Pacific" front come through yesterday, yet the temps at my place dropped from 75F to 48F in just an hour and a half!!! Temps DON'T drop 27F in an hour and a half with a Pacific front, PERIOD! There is something that the weather people and the media are deliberately NOT TELLING us about this extremely abnormal weather we are experiencing. Needless to say, it looks like I will lose at least two or maybe three of my four coconut palms, even though I have wrapped them 5 times this winter. A normal winter here would not kill an established coconut palm on the east side of Corpus Christi, but this winter has been anything but normal.

John

I have a small coconut palm (shown in below photo taken September 2013) that I've been protecting (on winter nights when the temperature drops below 35 degrees F) since before it started developing a trunk. And by protection, I mean a heating cable and heavy insulative wraps, like a thick quilted mattress cover and/or heavy mover's blankets.

When my coconut was smaller I could bundle up all the fronds, then spirally wrap a heating cable around it and then wrap it. Once it got too big to bundle, I only protected the trunk and meristem, by spirally wrapping a heating cable around the trunk and up and over the meristem area, then insulating the trunk and meristem with mattress cover and mover's blankets. The insulation kept the wrapped trunk and meristem at around 55 degrees, even when the ambient air temperature was well down into the 20s, as I put a remote digital thermometer sensor inside the wraps (but away from the heating cable). The sensor sent the temperature signal to my inside base station read out, so I know for a fact what the temperature was all night long.

While the fronds got fried from cold and heavy frost, the trunk and meristem incurred no cold damage, and the spring fronds weren't stunted. My method of protection has kept my coconut alive for many a winter, even December of 2010, when we had 11 straight days of below 40 degrees at night, and six days below 30 degrees, with three of those nights below 25 degrees. And the lowest of those nights set my all-time low temperature record of 20.8 degrees!

Just wrapping the trunk, but not using some kind of supplemental heat, the trunk will eventually assume near ambient air conditions. The wrap will slow down heat transfer from the trunk, but it will just buy the palm some time, that's all.

If there is bright sunshine the day before the freeze, leaving the palm's trunk uncovered so as to absorb radiant heat (where the trunk will warm up considerably), then wrapping the trunk with a good insulative material (high R value), that may be enough to hold in enough heat to get you through one night without damage. But with a protracted period of cold like you got this past winter, the palm must have some degree of supplemental heat.

In December of 2010, lots of coconut palms, adonidia palms, bottle palms, and other zone 10b palms (that were not growing around lakes and/or on high ground where it was warmer) were killed. The neighbor near me lost his coconut palm because he didn't protect it, and his palm was about the same size as mine.

So far this winter my coconut palm has seen two 32 degree nights and one 30 degree night. I wrapped the trunk and used a heating cable. No doubt in my mind my coconut palm is fine, except that all of the fronds have frost damage to them, mainly on the outer 1/4 of each frond. Now it will take two seasons before my coconut palm will regrow a new crown. But if I have another frosty winter this coming winter my palm will only be able to regrow half its normal crown, which is better than no coconut palm at all, IMO.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Hey Axel,

As Jonathan said, those aren't my coconut palms, but they are about as big as we can expect them to grow here with our normal winter weather. As far as this weather is concerned, there truly is something very freaky going on. The horrific drought in California, the 3 year all time worst drought that Texas had the past 3 years, the all time record flooding in England, the drought and fires in Australia, etc, etc, etc.

I think it is a combination of the decades of air pollution since the start of the Industrial Revolution, chemtrails that we frequently see here in Texas ( NOT contrails- there's a difference), HAARP, and to a lesser degree natural variations in weather patterns. But by far, I honestly think 80+ % of the problem IS manmade.

John

[Silas_Sancona]

Currently 70 with 1/2 mile visibility and rainforest drippy outside atm. Local weather guy was suggesting a drop to about 60 by next Monday but not seeing anything that low showing up in other forecasts. Supposed to reach 84 tomorrow after the fog clears, maybe some storms Wed. morning. Latest model run seems to shift any possible cold further away as well.

Axel,
You had mentioned a possible connection between the huge pool of warm water off Alaska and the weird winter patterns this year, a totally believable theory.. Had my concerns about how it would influence the winter last Fall. Recently read how it appears as though it is starting to shift closer to and down the CA coast as we head into spring. Hearing alot more chatter about the possibility of El Nino developing come summer. ENSO models suggest a lot of warmth pooled off CA and Mexico by July-August.

While still months away, curious about your far-in-advance- thoughts about the coming summer. I ask because a big concern I have, that I haven't seen mentioned, is that should such a pattern evolve, under the horrible drought conditions present, could this be a summer which features a much higher risk of fires started by Lightning, due to a stronger and wider- reaching Monsoon. Thoughts?

-Nathan-

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Currently 70 with 1/2 mile visibility and rainforest drippy outside atm. Local weather guy was suggesting a drop to about 60 by next Monday but not seeing anything that low showing up in other forecasts. Supposed to reach 84 tomorrow after the fog clears, maybe some storms Wed. morning. Latest model run seems to shift any possible cold further away as well.

Axel,

You had mentioned a possible connection between the huge pool of warm water off Alaska and the weird winter patterns this year, a totally believable theory.. Had my concerns about how it would influence the winter last Fall. Recently read how it appears as though it is starting to shift closer to and down the CA coast as we head into spring. Hearing alot more chatter about the possibility of El Nino developing come summer. ENSO models suggest a lot of warmth pooled off CA and Mexico by July-August.

While still months away, curious about your far-in-advance- thoughts about the coming summer. I ask because a big concern I have, that I haven't seen mentioned, is that should such a pattern evolve, under the horrible drought conditions present, could this be a summer which features a much higher risk of fires started by Lightning, due to a stronger and wider- reaching Monsoon. Thoughts?

-Nathan-

Nathan, we're all praying for rain, because if we don't get it, the State will go up in flames with or without any monsoons. You don't need an El Nino to get lighting storms both in the Sierras and in Big Sur. And there are enough ignorants out there that lighting might be less of a concern than our fellow man.

With that being said, that warming mass of water you are mentioning must be what is ushering in a very wet February. The first massive rain storm is building out West and is geared to hit us late this weekend into early next week. The flow wants to go zonal real bad and all the models are suggesting a very active pattern for the rest of the month. I sure hope you're right about that El Nino. That would make for a very wet Spring. My palms would surely love that, Spring is the most active growth phase I have thanks to the abundant light, the higher sun angle, and warmer temps combined ample moisture. My parajubaea all put out about 2-3 feet of growth in single spurts.

Edit: just looked up the latest ENSO report, no signs of any El Nino even for Summer. Check out http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/lanina/enso_evolution-status-fcsts-web.pdf.%C2'>

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

The link didn't get added. See http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/lanina/enso_evolution-status-fcsts-web.pdf for the ENSO weekly update.

[_Keith]

Axel the weatherman may have scored again. Miraculously the predicted lows for Monday morning were just moved from 28 to 34. I may just have to name a plant after you yet. I do that you know, name plants after people.

PaJoe's Bougainvillea

Norb's Bananas

Cel's 40th Oak

Gladys's Firespikes

Olive's Mimosa

Rose's Philodendrun

Hmmm, Axel's ???. Let me think about what was surely going to die if we hit 26 one more time, if it survives now.

[Alicehunter2000]

Axels Angels Trumpets....sounds like a fusion band

Been great Rhopy weather here....dense fog and coolish/warmish temps. Perfect Rhopy weather about 6 months out of the year here...makes me wonder if I can grow a Rhopy........ Doh....forgot about the damn Artic Vortex and the Icicle Freeze of weeks past.

Maybe should start a new topic.....best Cold Hardy Cool Loving Palms

[_Keith]

Axels Angels Trumpets....sounds like a fusion band

Been great Rhopy weather here....dense fog and coolish/warmish temps. Perfect Rhopy weather about 6 months out of the year here...makes me wonder if I can grow a Rhopy........ Doh....forgot about the damn Artic Vortex and the Icicle Freeze of weeks past.

Maybe should start a new topic.....best Cold Hardy Cool Loving Palms

Just build a glass dome over your entire yard. I fantasize abouit that.

[Tropicdoc]

Ditto on the glass dome. You need to check out moody gardens in Galveston. That's basically what they did. Also,l check out "the exotic rainforest" online. This guy built a huge greenhouse and turned it into a rainforest pretty cool.

You know.... now that the freeze of the decade is over.... Time to plant some marginal palms this spring!!!!!!

[_Keith]

Ditto on the glass dome. You need to check out moody gardens in Galveston. That's basically what they did. Also,l check out "the exotic rainforest" online. This guy built a huge greenhouse and turned it into a rainforest pretty cool.

You know.... now that the freeze of the decade is over.... Time to plant some marginal palms this spring!!!!!!

Cel and I visited there years ago. Still have some plants in the garden from that trip, thanks to seeds and cuttings. You should read some the of the the books by Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe. Hmmm, I seem to have those in my library.