2018 Florida Freeze

[Alan_Tampa]

3 hours ago, RedRabbit said:

45f and windy currently. Seeing the first signs of damage on my d leptochellos (very minor though.)

Really? My leptocheillos has yet to be bothered in any winter except for 2010

[RedRabbit]

7 minutes ago, Alan_Tampa said:

Really? My leptocheillos has yet to be bothered in any winter except for 2010

Yeah, I saw a few leaflets were browning where they shouldn't be. I'm talking maybe 2% damage total so you'd really have to look close to notice. This is the third winter I've had it and it is the first time it has shown any damage at all. The wind must be responsible because the temperature by itself isn't cold enough to cause any harm.

[Alan_Tampa]

The wind is no bueno for sure!!

[Tracy S]

6 hours ago, Palmaceae said:

Snow is officially falling in Florida!

 

 

That's messed up. I am over this winter season already and it looks like it just getting started.

Good luck every one

 

[enigma99]

Guys, this just came in for the 10th. If this model comes true, going to be the coldest weather by far and a repeat of 2010. (December)

Compare with 2010’s gfs

Edited January 2, 2018 by enigma99

[Alan_Tampa]

5 hours ago, enigma99 said:

Guys, this just came in for the 10th. If this model comes true, going to be the coldest weather by far and a repeat of 2010. (December)

Compare with 2010’s gfs

Awesome. 

 

Funny the european model does not agree. 

Edited January 2, 2018 by Alan_Tampa

[Missi]

On 12/30/2017, 10:57:07, RedRabbit said:

Looks like Wunderground is calling for 34f on January 5th. Any colder than this and it might be time to start a thread on methods to protect palms. If it looks like it will freeze I'll probably just do sheets/blankets to keep the frost off. If the forecast dips below 30f I'm leaning towards using infrared light for added heat, but I'm open minded about other methods. 

I like to use cardboard boxes! 

[IHB1979]

I'm trending down, forecast now 35F Wednesday night and 36F Thursday. We had an onshore breeze from the Atlantic last night that kept us around 54F.

[IHB1979]

From the NWS Melbourne forecast discussion...

Clearing skies for Wed night
will spell excellent radiational cooling as the coldest air this
season spreads southward down the peninsula. Expect overnight mins
to fall into the 30s, virtually areawide. Much of rural ECFL may
very well realize 3-6 hours of freezing temperatures between 28-32
degrees. As our winds are forecast to remain elevated near 10 mph,
also prepare for lowest wind chill readings (apparent temperatures)
after midnight/into early Thu morning in the middle 20s, perhaps
lower 20s briefly. Freeze warnings/wind chill advisories/warnings
may be very likely if models remain consistent.

[Palmaceae]

Winter Storm watches out for parts of North Florida,

 

Edited January 2, 2018 by Palmaceae

[Palmaceae]

Our forecast for Cape Coral is not too terribly bad as long as it does not trend downward.

 

[IHB1979]

Ours is looking similar, hoping it doesn't trend down either.

[kinzyjr]

If everything holds up, we'll bottom off at 30F here.  Provided nothing lower is on the way, another 10a winter

[Turtlesteve]

This thread should be a SE USA freeze... there's a bunch of us in GA and SC as well.  Last night was brutal here - below 20F at 7 PM with an ultimate low of 14F.  We'll be back in the teens for several days in a row.

Trying to see the positive, I'll have a lot of data to post on cold hardiness of small palms and potted seedlings.  I brought a bunch of plants in at 11PM last night after 2-3 hours at 18F, but left quite a few out (with varying levels of cover) as test specimens.

 

[Missi]

I'm confused. The prediction says low of 37 for today but it's now almost 6 a.m. and the actual temp is 53 degrees...

 

[Alan_Tampa]

21 minutes ago, Missi said:

I'm confused. The prediction says low of 37 for today but it's now almost 6 a.m. and the actual temp is 53 degrees...

 

Depends on site but usually that's the overnight low. So tonight is your 37, probably. Which means like 0600 or something will be just awful. 

[Bill H2DB]

1 hour ago, Missi said:

I'm confused. The prediction says low of 37 for today but it's now almost 6 a.m. and the actual temp is 53 degrees...

 

Here is the NWS 10 day for Naples .https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?site=MFL&textField1=26.1447&textField2=-81.7947#.WkzNva3MxTI

 

[Alan_Tampa]

Stick with weather.gov. 

No named winter storms there. Actual forecasts!

[Palmaceae]

Snowing in Florida, they had to close 10 miles of I-10 near Tallahassee due to ice.

 

Edited January 3, 2018 by Palmaceae

[Missi]

2 hours ago, Alan_Tampa said:

Depends on site but usually that's the overnight low. So tonight is your 37, probably. Which means like 0600 or something will be just awful. 

Oh. Damn. 

I shall report back in 22 hours then! 

[Palmaceae]

Looks like the lowest forecasted temp here will be 35. Wind chill advisory tonight and tomorrow. Palms won't like it!

 

 

[IHB1979]

Latest NWS discussion from Melbourne. Confidence is high for a multi-night freeze event for inland areas west of I95. Barrier islands should stay at or above 32. Gonna be ugly. I'm forecast at 36 tonight, 35 Thursday night and 39 Friday.

As cold air filters in, ECFL should make preparations for the
coldest air this season. Confidence is high for phase one of a mult-
morning freeze event. Consequently, the Freeze Watch has been
upgraded to a Freeze Warning beginning at 3AM. Min temps will drop
into the upper 20s and lower 30s over much of area. The current
Wind Chill Advisory still looks in good order, along with
advisories at the beaches.

Thus, focus for this package will be on afternoon PoP adjustments
and durational freeze concerns overnight. The immediate Space and
Treasure coasts (E of I-95) should stay AOA 32 degrees, along
with much of Martin County. However, some locations over the
interior may see freeze durations of 4-6 hours within rural
locations north and west of the I-4 corridor.

Edited January 3, 2018 by IHB1979

[IHB1979]

2pm and the temp has dropped to 45F in Melbourne, Florida.

[Palmaceae]

27 minutes ago, IHB1979 said:

2pm and the temp has dropped to 45F in Melbourne, Florida.

That's a quick drop, I am at 58 right now with a west wind.

[IHB1979]

2 minutes ago, Palmaceae said:

That's a quick drop, I am at 58 right now with a west wind.

We had rain and very gusty winds all morning and I think it just pushed out over the Atlantic. Full sun now and temps rebounding to around 48-50F. Hopefully we can dry out some  before the big temperature drop tonight.

[Palmaceae]

7 minutes ago, IHB1979 said:

We had rain and very gusty winds all morning and I think it just pushed out over the Atlantic. Full sun now and temps rebounding to around 48-50F. Hopefully we can dry out some  before the big temperature drop tonight.

We missed most of the rain, I received just .002". Winds are getting gusty out of the west so once it changes from the north the temps will drop fast I am sure.

[Palmaceae]

The trend is going up for us! Even one degree is good!

 

[kinzyjr]

Today was definitely warmer than they expected, but we got a lot of rain.  I took the covers off the coconuts this morning to keep them from trapping dampness on the fronds.  Since the covers were soaked, I threw them in the drier so they can go back on tonight.  Last night was a very pleasant surprise; a lot warmer than it was supposed to be.  Hopefully that means the rest of the lows will trend a few degrees higher as well.  Either way, 30F isn't too bad for here.

[Sandy Loam]

I am freaking out.  We have just been through crazy weather in northern Florida (rain, almost freezing last night).  Next, my forecast for tonight is a low of 26, then 24 on Thursday night, then 26 on Friday night, then the cold snap ends. Supposedly, it dropped below freezing in Gainesville as early as 8 pm tonight.  That's crazy.   When we have a freeze, I don't usually expect to see temperatures drop below 32 until very late at night.  Sometimes it is 2 am and the freeze is over by 8:00 am.  Tonight's freeze won't end until 9 am tomorrow.  That's thirteen hours of freezing weather!  I don't know if my landscaping can take this. 

Maybe this is just what I need for my zone denial problem, but this is a freak weather system, and by far the worst winter since 2010.  It will certainly test my yard's hardiness, although I may not know the full extent of the damage until March.

Is it just my imagination, or do these freak, far-south artic plunges only happen in the east and centre of this continent?  I rarely ever hear about this happening on the west coast, and especially not in Southern California or Southwestern Arizona.  They had 2007 and a few rare other cold events, but they just don't seem to see the artic air shooting so incredibly far south, as we do for a week every few years. 

[RedRabbit]

Down to 37.2f... That's colder than I expected so I took some last minute precautions to keep the frost off some exposed palms in my garden. The next two days will be cutting it close to freezing. 

[Yunder Wækraus]

Doing nothing to protect anything and hoping for the best. We're not supposed to drop below freezing, but who knows?

[Sandy Loam]

Me neither.  I am not in town to protect it anyway --- and some of my tender stuff is too tall and wide to protect regardless.

The sad part will be the palms/plants with no canopy trees overhead.  That's what's going to make all the difference at 24 degrees (if I actually get that cold at my place)

Yunder, send us some updated garden photos after this whole Polar Vortex/"Bomb Cyclone" is over.  I recall that you had some challenges due to your extremely sandy soil, severely limiting what you could actually plant.

[IHB1979]

I'm down to 41F at midnight. Still blowing pretty good. I'm forecast to go down to 35, fingers crossed. I did the same, brought in a select few potted plants and the rest are too large to protect. These events used to stress me out but now my garden is almost full and my list of palms I want to plant keeps growing, nights like these present new opportunities.  Good luck everyone. 

[Alan_Tampa]

Like 33 at 5am, not too bad.

[Yunder Wækraus]

6 hours ago, IHB1979 said:

I'm down to 41F at midnight. Still blowing pretty good. I'm forecast to go down to 35, fingers crossed. I did the same, brought in a select few potted plants and the rest are too large to protect. These events used to stress me out but now my garden is almost full and my list of palms I want to plant keeps growing, nights like these present new opportunities.  Good luck everyone. 

Just stepped outside at 6:15. It's COLD, but we definitely didn't go below freezing. The neighbors sprinklers had been running a little before I came out, and even right at ground level I saw no signs of ice. No signs of frost anywhere either. The internet says the temp in Indialantic is 36 degrees right now, and I could believe that. I certainly feels that cold. It looks like it might get down another degree or two before the sun starts warming things up a bit. I would love to see accurate data for inland locations at 8am this morning. I wonder whether Pahokee dropped to below 36.

[IHB1979]

36f at 7am

[RedRabbit]

Looks like we were right around freezing for a little under 3 hours.

That's as measured from the lanai too. Open yard I'm guessing it was 2.5f colder... Pretty cold considering it was only forecast to be 37.

[Palmaceae]

My low was 35, a bit colder than forecasted.

[Eric in Orlando]

34F here at Leu Gardens

33F at my house in Altamonte Springs

[Yunder Wækraus]

No frost on yard, but my tonneau cover had some till 8am!