Washingtonia and Phoenix that survived the 2018 Freeze Event: Ocean Isle Beach, NC

[NCFM]

While exploring Ocean Isle Beach on google street view I found these Washingtonia and date palms that seemingly recovered from that once-in-a-century cold event back in 2018: 

256 State Rd 1144 - Google Maps

9 Raeford St - Google Maps

43 Richmond St - Google Maps

217 State Rd 1144 - Google Maps

Interesting that the left one made it but right one croaked E 2nd St - Google Maps

54 Richmond St - Google Maps

This one is in Kure Beach 1337 US-421 - Google Maps

Appears to be one across the canal 55 Richmond St - Google Maps

Looking rough, but still made it 134 State Rd 1144 - Google Maps

This one is in Wrightsville Beach.  Barely made it 201 N Lumina Ave - Google Maps

Same palm 6 years earlier

These specimens don't have an updated street view since the freeze, but looking at aerial view they appear to still be alive:

64 Laurinburg St - Google Maps

232 W 2nd St - Google Maps

1 Goldsboro St - Google Maps

2 Asheville St - Google Maps

43 Craven St - Google Maps

North Carolina - Google Maps

3 Lagoon Dr - Google Maps

 

I'm not very good at differentiating between the phoenix species.  Are all of the dates I posted p. canariensis? 

 

[DAVEinMB]

10 hours ago, NC_Palm_Enthusiast said:

I'm not very good at differentiating between the phoenix species.  Are all of the dates I posted p. canariensis?

This one looks to have some sylvestris in it

[NCFM]

Here’s some more big washys that somehow all survived. I’m sure they look a lot better than this now

5726 W Beach Dr - Google Maps

Edited May 27, 2021 by NC_Palm_Enthusiast

[teddytn]

I think it’s that thing in me where I always root for the underdog. Makes me so happy to see palms survive when by the book they shouldn’t have!! What were the low temps there during 2018 winter?

[NCFM]

23 minutes ago, teddytn said:

I think it’s that thing in me where I always root for the underdog. Makes me so happy to see palms survive when by the book they shouldn’t have!! What were the low temps there during 2018 winter?

There's no weather station on the island, but I know that area saw low teens.  What really did a lot of palms in wasn't the temps per se,  but rather the length of the freezes that January.  Some areas a little further inland saw several consecutive days below freezing which is almost unheard of in that part of the state. 

[teddytn]

13 minutes ago, NC_Palm_Enthusiast said:

There's no weather station on the island, but I know that area saw low teens.  What really did a lot of palms in wasn't the temps per se,  but rather the length of the freezes that January.  Some areas a little further inland saw several consecutive days below freezing which is almost unheard of in that part of the state. 

Gotcha. I have this hypothesis working it’s way around in my head, maybe I’m completely wrong, but I feel there’s some truth to the thought of palms gaining cold tolerance over time after repeated winters of cold weather. Seems to me that palms that see a freak colder than normal winter have a harder time with it than let’s say a palm of the same species in the next state to the north that regularly sees those “freak” temps every other winter.

[NCFM]

1 hour ago, teddytn said:

Gotcha. I have this hypothesis working it’s way around in my head, maybe I’m completely wrong, but I feel there’s some truth to the thought of palms gaining cold tolerance over time after repeated winters of cold weather. Seems to me that palms that see a freak colder than normal winter have a harder time with it than let’s say a palm of the same species in the next state to the north that regularly sees those “freak” temps every other winter.

Maybe so.  Either that or there is just some natural variation in cold hardiness among specimens of the same species, and those that can survive long-term in regions that regularly experience freak temps are just abnormally hardy.  That would explain this;

Could be a bit of both, though.  Definitely worth researching