Florida Winter 2022-2023

[pj_orlando_z9b]

Looks like Euro and ICON nailed Orlando weather for today, more so ICON. Concerning because both drop to upper 20s tonight, ICON being the coldest. 

 

Layer of clouds have covered the sky. That might be what is saving from record cold tonight in Central Florida. 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

2 minutes ago, bubba said:

To see vivid picture of sea temperatures surrounding the state of Florida, go to Layers and under Tropical Storm heading pick Sea Surface Temperatures. The Gulfstream make’s itself known in South Florida on days like Christmas Eve Day, December 24, 2022

The Gulfstream protects the Bahamas immensely as well.

[Merlyn]

2 hours ago, JLM said:

No matter what you decide to do, hopefully you will find much more accurate forecasts! 

The point and click thingy works too if you select "NWS Forecasts" and then do "Min Temperature" on the pulldown menu.  Then click anywhere and it'll bring up the minimum forecast.  At the moment it's saying 27F.  Wunderground had 29F earlier, now is saying 28F.  So I'm guessing 25-27. 

[JLM]

It was a wee bit chilly this morning
 

 

[NickJames]

28.9. 
 

it would appear my sprinkler experiment failed disastrously lol 

[PalmatierMeg]

8 minutes ago, NickJames said:

28.9. 
 

it would appear my sprinkler experiment failed disastrously lol 

Sorry to see that. I learned the hard way that’s the problem with sprinklers: once you turn them on you have to keep them running continuously until temps rebound and sun shines. That’s how strawberry growers try to save their crops. Other problem is sun is in short supply now. After I fried my front yard palms in the late 90s (29F) I now turn off all sprinklers when temps fall below 50F.

[Zoltan]

On 12/16/2022 at 8:12 PM, South Carolina palms said:

How cold is it expected to be there? 

24-26

[NickJames]

On 12/23/2022 at 2:09 PM, PalmatierMeg said:

Coconuts in inland central FL. I’m impressed with your zone pushing. Hope they all make it.

BTW, have you been able to check out your property on Pine Island? Ian really nailed it (nailed Cape Coral as well). I haven’t even tried to travel out that way - those poor residents don’t need another lookie-lou snooping around cross-crossing the temporary bridge. I worked for 17 years at a mitigation bank on Little Pine Island and traveled through the fishing village of Matlacha 10 times a week. Just the photos of Matlacha now are heartbreaking and I wonder if my office trailer on LPI survives (it survived Charley, Wilma & Irma). Somehow I doubt it.

Yes, went down for a quick visit…absolutely unreal.  Saw your posts that you had survived, which I thanked God for! My brother in law down the street from you couldn’t reach us for many days. 

My property is virtually unscathed. The slash pine survived. When I was there, they appeared to have some browning on the tops from either salt spray or just extreme wind burn? 

My palms were all so small they were not really impacted and were blocked from wind by the Serenoa that quickly regrew into being as tall as me within one year of clear cutting lol.

The most dramatic damage to plants is the meleleuca and Australian pines that were completely blown apart. 

[Merlyn]

38 minutes ago, NickJames said:

28.9. it would appear my sprinkler experiment failed disastrously lol

To be fair, though, that kind of damage is similar to what I saw at 30F with light frost a few years ago.  It was what convinced me to not try cocos again here.    One of my ~3' tall cocos was completely bronzed by late morning, the other took about 2 days to be clearly defoliated.  So it's hard to say if the sprinklers made it better, worse, or indifferent.

[pj_orlando_z9b]

51 minutes ago, NickJames said:

28.9. 
 

it would appear my sprinkler experiment failed disastrously lol 

Sorry to see. I know that size can be easily replaced but I'd treat with peroxide. You never know.  I know you tried sprinklers on purpose but I remembered today mine are to run tonight.  I upgaraded to Rachio and went to turn them off to see this message. Pretty cool...a true smart sprinkler. 

[NickJames]

19 minutes ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Sorry to see. I know that size can be easily replaced but I'd treat with peroxide. You never know.  I know you tried sprinklers on purpose but I remembered today mine are to run tonight.  I upgaraded to Rachio and went to turn them off to see this message. Pretty cool...a true smart sprinkler. 

Hehe

[JLM]

20F is expected tonight, but this should be radiational not advective. We are already a degree or two below where we should be. This is gonna be a long night as well.

Ill wake up real early tomorrow to see how bad the frost will be. It really depends on whether we get any periods of wind tonight. The bits of clouds overhead have been mentioned by the NWS, and they dont expect it to have much, if any affect on the temperatures tonight.

[Jimbean]

It is 42F here now, forecast to go down to 33F

[Fishinsteeg234]

What are y’all’s opinions on frost potential tonight? The wind blew off several frost covers last night that weren’t helping anyway due to the winds. Is tonight a major frost threat with open skies and decreased wind? If so, I may try and improve a few loose covers.

[Brian M]

26 on deck tonight. Foxtail and p. elegans already completely fried along with hibiscus and trinette. Haven't uncovered my crotons and cordylines to see what damage awaits. Luckily most everything but the palms will be back by spring.

[Merlyn]

It just hit 32F here at about 9PM.  That's going to be a long time below freezing...bananas, tropical bamboos (Vulgaris Wamin) and Ficus Auriculata are already defoliated.  I guess I am still betting on 25-27F tonight.  Based on the current temp, it might be in the mid-to-upper 20s for something like 10-12 hours.

[kinzyjr]

1 hour ago, Fishinsteeg234 said:

What are y’all’s opinions on frost potential tonight? The wind blew off several frost covers last night that weren’t helping anyway due to the winds. Is tonight a major frost threat with open skies and decreased wind? If so, I may try and improve a few loose covers.

If the sky is clear tonight, it will all but guarantee frost.

***===============================================***

My location is sitting still at 37F currently.  Predicted low is 28F.

[Sabal_Louisiana]

I'm quite surprised to see daily minimum temperatures today consistently very low (average 19f) right down to the water in Bay County.

Data from Mesowest:

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by Sabal_Louisiana
error

[JLM]

Temperatures across the state as of 9:22 PM CST

[JLM]

As of 10 PM CST, the temperature is 24F and falling here. Still running a little below forecast right now. 

[Estlander]

Now that the winds have died down the coastal microclimates are back to doing what they do best. Sitting at 31 degrees currently. Supposed to drop to 28 degrees for a couple of hours at dawn. 
 

[JJPalmer]

Some pretty persistent cloud cover over Central and South Florida - hope this sticks around for you guys tonight. NWS discussion includes mention of this as well.

[pj_orlando_z9b]

36 minutes ago, JJPalmer said:

Some pretty persistent cloud cover over Central and South Florida - hope this sticks around for you guys tonight. NWS discussion includes mention of this as well.

This shows up well in current temperatures.  Many below freezing where clouds are thin vs 36-38 further South. 

[Jimbean]

That thicker cloud cover is really saving south central and south Florida big time!

[ruskinPalms]

Looks like the low for me is going to come in at 33 to 34 this morning. Overall, it looked like it was a little colder around the area this morning. 

[Brian M]

A little lower than forecasted. 25.5 which was 0.3 warmer than yesterday. Friday night was 9 hours below freezing, left night is going to be 12-13 hours below. 

[Matthew92]

Wow: with lows around 20-22 degrees near Gainesville (even a few upper teens not too far away), and mid to low 20’s in Ocala, I think if it weren’t for that cloud cover, the Orlando area (and other nearby Central FL locations) could have seen its coldest temperatures in years. I’m guessing there would have been widespread mid 20’s otherwise. Many areas hit freezing quite awhile ago overnight and have stayed at or just below for awhile now: attesting that the cold air is definitely there, just wasn’t able to drop as much probably due to the clouds. 
 

Still- for Orlando: this is an impressive event especially considering the recent nearly freeze free period 2011-2017.

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by Matthew92

[Jimbean]

For my area, my lows were the following:

FIT campus: 32.9F and 32.2F

Closest station a few blocks away from me reported 33.8F

Turkey Creek: 32.7F and 32.4F

Closest station to me on the Indian River Lagoon reported a low of 33.3F

 

This morning is on the low side of my 30 year average, combined with the multiple nights below 42F this makes 2022 year somewhat colder than average.

[Jimbean]

7 minutes ago, Matthew92 said:

Wow: with lows around 20-22 degrees near Gainesville (even a few upper teens not too far away), and mid to low 20’s in Ocala, I think if it weren’t for that cloud cover, the Orlando area (and other nearby Central FL locations) could have seen its coldest temperatures in years. I’m guessing there would have been widespread mid 20’s otherwise. Many areas hit freezing quite awhile ago overnight and have stayed at or just below for awhile now: attesting that the cold air is definitely there, just wasn’t able to drop as much probably due to the clouds. 
 

Still- for Orlando: this is an impressive event especially considering the recent nearly freeze free period 2011-2017.

 

The cloud cover really saved the night the further south you went.  The Orlando heat island didn't account for much this time around compared to areas outside of it.

[Matthew92]

Got colder at the beaches here than what might have been expected given there wasn’t much wind. I think it’s just the potency of this arctic air mass and how entrenched it is in comparison to our less deep and more transient cold snaps of the last 4 winters. I will be very interested to see how this event (when it’s all said and done) affects all the zone 9 & 10 palm/plants there at the coast. 

 

[aabell]

Thankfully bottomed out right around 40 each of the last two nights (Ft Myers), but the duration of the cold is brutal and it will be interesting to see how the already storm battered coconuts and other 10B plants around town look in a few weeks. 

[NickJames]

So I got down to 28 in Deltona-Osteen which is actually warmer than last season…some breeze and clouds stopped us from bottoming out at 19, which was our dewpoint!!

Only issue is now that the clouds are preventing us from warming quickly…I’m still at 32. 

[Merlyn]

48 minutes ago, Jimbean said:

The cloud cover really saved the night the further south you went.  The Orlando heat island didn't account for much this time around compared to areas outside of it.

No doubt.  My yard is 30F right now, which is only 1F colder than the majority of Orlando over in Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Ocoee, Doctor Philips, etc.  The only area of Orlando that is warm-ish is the far SE corner around Kissimmee, the Orlando Airport (MCO), Conway, etc.  MCO is at 34F, which is where the "official" temps are taken for the area.  The consistent breeze, clouds, and high of only 47 here yesterday I think negated the normal urban heat island effect.  Usually the sun comes out after cold fronts and it jumps up to near 70F.  The sun and still air gives a big chunk of heat stored into the concrete and buildings.  None of that happened yesterday and it won't happen today.

As a reference, my yard went under 32F at about 9-10PM and bottomed out in the backyard at 26.4F.  Just eyeballing the datalogger it looks like maybe 6 hours in the 20s.  The breeze means the front yard was 1-2F warmer than the backyard, not a dramatic difference.  No frost!

[PalmatierMeg]

Got down to 40.8F this morning. Currently ticked over to 43F. Today is predicted to be a rerun of yesterday: high 51F falling to a Monday morning low of 41F. So far, the clouds that “saved” us last night will plague us today. This is getting tedious. Extended sub-50 temps can be as lethal as a short term blast.

[PalmatierMeg]

16 hours ago, NickJames said:

Yes, went down for a quick visit…absolutely unreal.  Saw your posts that you had survived, which I thanked God for! My brother in law down the street from you couldn’t reach us for many days. 

My property is virtually unscathed. The slash pine survived. When I was there, they appeared to have some browning on the tops from either salt spray or just extreme wind burn? 

My palms were all so small they were not really impacted and were blocked from wind by the Serenoa that quickly regrew into being as tall as me within one year of clear cutting lol.

The most dramatic damage to plants is the meleleuca and Australian pines that were completely blown apart. 

Hurricane Ian time traveled us back to the 19th century for 3 weeks. I’m sure it brought you B-I-L with us.

Thanks for your concern. Our house did great, the gardens were destroyed. Glad to hear your PI property did well. You bought in a great place: the highest part of the island. Melaleuca and Australian pines are major destructive Class I invasive in FL. My 17 years at Little Pine Island were devoted to eliminating these scourges, along with Brazilian pepper from this 4,600 acre wildlife preserve..

The damage you saw on your property was likely both wind damage and salt spray. PI was in the eye for what seemed forever and was one of the first land masses the storm hit, along with Sanibel. Wind gusts on the SW eyewall clocked at 179 mph. We spent 9-10 hours in that eyewall so you understand why I believe Ian was a bonafide cat. 5

Anyway, that was then. Now we have this endless cold front to deal with.

[RedRabbit]

30.0f this morning on the primary thermometer and 29.7f yesterday. At this point, I expect minimal damage when I get back in a couple weeks (assuming I come back?).

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by RedRabbit

[pj_orlando_z9b]

2 hours ago, Jimbean said:

The cloud cover really saved the night the further south you went.  The Orlando heat island didn't account for much this time around compared to areas outside of it.

NWS mentioned this. They even used phrase 'kept temps from crashing' which makes me wonder how low temps could have gone. 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

Recorded 30.6 in Belle Isle and 4 hrs below freezing (compared to 31.3 and 2 hrs the night before).

Anyone in the Space Coast see any sleet or snowflakes? Radar had a few echoes and I saw NWS added 30% chance of sleet in their forecast for that area. 

[Jimbean]

2 minutes ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Recorded 30.6 in Belle Isle and 4 hrs below freezing (compared to 31.3 and 2 hrs the night before).

Anyone in the Space Coast see any sleet or snowflakes? Radar had a few echoes and I saw NWS added 30% chance of sleet in their forecast for that area. 

none

[D. Morrowii]

Just now, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Recorded 30.6 in Belle Isle and 4 hrs below freezing (compared to 31.3 and 2 hrs the night before).

Anyone in the Space Coast see any sleet or snowflakes? Radar had a few echoes and I saw NWS added 30% chance of sleet in their forecast for that area. 

I just went to get more propane for my makeshift greenhouse heater and had sleet and a few flakes. Merritt Island