2026 2026_02 - February 2026 cold snap in Cape Coral, Florida

[Cape Garrett]

So we all went through a cold snap throughout the entire state.  I just thought I would share my observations of palm damage here in SWFL.  Cape Coral zone 10b.  I will only include my own palms and only the ones that are considered zone 10 palms.

Two different temperature readings for the 3 days.  One was found on line for Cape Coral recorded:

Feb. 1st- low 36 high 52

Feb. 2nd- low 36 high 59

Feb. 3rd- low 36 high 70

 

This is Fort Myers recorded at Page Field, about 4 miles inland from me:

Feb. 1st- low 34 high 51

Feb. 2nd- low 35 high 60

Feb. 3rd- low 35 high 70

First time I've seen frost since 2010.  Feb. 1st frost spotty on roofs.  Feb. 2nd spotty on roofs and on neighbor's car.  Feb. 3rd saw it on the grass as well.  Quickly melted all 3 days.  On the 3rd, I saw the most frost.  The only day I saw it on the lawn.  I checked all 3 mornings.

 

Both recordings are cold and we all had crazy windchills.  So first a list of palms with no damage as of today, almost 2 weeks later.  I did zero protection.  No particular order:

 

Chambeyronia houailou, Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. hookeri, Archontophoenix alexandrae, Dypsis lanceolata, Dypsis pembana, Ptychosperma schefferi, Ptychosperma elegans var. paddle leaf, Satakentia liukiuensis, Kentiopsis oliviformis, Pseudophoenix sargentii, Tri-bear, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis,  Hyophorbe verschaffeltii. Chamaedorea cataractum, Leucothrinax morrisii, Thrinax radiata, Copernicia baileyana, Pritchardia hillebrandii,  and a potted but rooted in the ground Licuala ramsayi.   All of these palms as of today show no damage.

 

These show some form of damage:

Adonidia merrillii- premature leaf drop.  Crownshaft color turns bronze, leaf still green but falls off.  Seems to be just the oldest leaf or two.  Other than that, they look great.

Ptychosperma macarthurii- same type of premature leaf drop but also looks great.  Premature fruit falling.

Veitchia joannis- has some leaf tip browning from cold, dry winds and not a vibrant green.  More yellowish green color.  Looks good.  Holding all leaves.

Cocos nucifera maypan x dwarf green- lower and some mid level leaves show some brown tipping.  More browning on the lower and oldest fronds.  Looks good.  No fruit drop as of yet.

Cocos nucifera red spicata- just some lower leaf tip browning on oldest fronds.  Looks great.  Looks better than the other coconut.  No fruit drop so far.

And lastly which was expected.  My Pritchardia pacifica aka fiji fan.  All leaves burned but the youngest 4 or 5.  Was expected.  Will be fine.  No spear damage.  This should be listed as a zone 12a palm as it really doesn't like to go under 50*.  Every year gets some lower leaf burn.  

All palms but the Chambeyronia houailou are mature.  Even the fiji fan is sending up it's first inflourescen.  Nothing was protected.  Even palms on the south side of the house were hit with those winds.  

So just thought I'd share my observations in my own yard.  I've also noticed the foxtails and carpentarias throughout town look fine, as well as the royals.  One other thing.  I DID NOT water for over 1 week before the cold spell.  I turn my sprinklers off if the temperatures may fall near 40 in case of a frost.  Can't keep them on all the time during the cold, so I play it safe.  Always did this.  My grass looks amazing too.  😄

Sorry for the long read if you made it this far.

G

 

 

 

[aabell]

Very similar temperatures and observations here in Fort Myers (in town, with a combined urban heat island and some protection from the river.) Overall this event was comparable to Christmas 2022, the only two times I've seen evidence of frost, both times in a small dip in the lawn where the weeds turned black. 

Only thing I'll add is I have a small Areca catechu, regular form, which has grown quickly and beautifully up until now but every day since the cold looks progressively worse, leaves are now all completely covered in spots and it will probably end up mostly defoliated. Not surprised at all but I'd say this species is worse with cool weather than even Pritchardia pacifica.  

Overall I feel like I dodged a bullet, not much permanent damage to speak of, just lots of slightly yellow leaves and several long months of hand watering ahead of me.