How bad was the freeze in Florida?

[rprimbs]

I am in North County San Diego, inland, and we have not really had a winter at all.  My mulberry, and half of my plumeria, never lost their leaves.   I am shocked by the pictures I am seeing from Disney World -- all of the dead cycads, and palms.  How bad was the freeze in Florida for you? 

[kinzyjr]

These threads track it pretty well:

• https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/92659-2026-florida-palmageddon-observations-and-damage-photo-thread/
• https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/92723-2026_02-documenting-freeze-damage-in-south-brevard/
• https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/92792-february-2026-cold-snap-in-cape-coral-florida/
• https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/91751-2025-2026-florida-winter/

[donalt]

One of the worst ever. Incredibly cold and the winds exacerbated the damage. I just drove home to Orlando from Fort Lauderdale and there is damage from Palm Beach county northward. Even large trees took a hit. 
that said, I checked palms and trees in my yard upon returning. There is new growth in coconut, royal ,foxtail and lutescens as well as Petrea vines. Mango tree still needs to drop its leaves but it is alive. 

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[PalmatierMeg]

It didn't get down to freezing in Cape Coral but we had several nights in the mid-30s (34-35F) and I am gradually seeing cold damage as time goes by. Coldest nights since the record freeze of 2010. Looks like a repeat performance early this coming week. That and months of extreme drought make for a brown and crispy garden. Can't get a break.

[John2468]

Got down to 35F here in Hollywood. No damage to be seen, but it was the first time I had to bring my plants in just in case. 

[flplantguy]

I moved here after the 2010 event, and this winter is unique amongst the years between (and not in a good way). This pattern is not good for the state for drought either, and apparently has thrown off your plants out west too.  The cost to agriculture, ornamental horticulture, and our landscapes is also record setting (edible agriculture damage cost alone is $300 billion+). Good news is forecasts knew it was coming, even if we were all watching them in disbelief and scrambling to add extra protection to our plants.  The wind this winter has also been a bit much; I prefer El Nino winter even with the clouds.

[Harry’s Palms]

Even out west here things are off , weather wise. It has been the windiest year in memory , very warm January and into February until this last set of storms . So far , the coldest here was 40f so no frost or deep cold snap. Our normal rainfall has been doubled and storms have been arriving with high winds. 
   You folks out east have had it rough with the cold . I can’t imagine the damage cold like that could do to a tropical garden. Harry

[PalmatierMeg]

4 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Even out west here things are off , weather wise. It has been the windiest year in memory , very warm January and into February until this last set of storms . So far , the coldest here was 40f so no frost or deep cold snap. Our normal rainfall has been doubled and storms have been arriving with high winds. 
   You folks out east have had it rough with the cold . I can’t imagine the damage cold like that could do to a tropical garden. Harry

Tonight predicted to be 35F - again. So far we've had 7 nights in the 30s. Unheard of in my experience.

[PalmatierMeg]

Another bad night on the Isabelle Canal - didn't reach 35F, closer to 40F - still bad news.

[Foggy Paul]

On 2/23/2026 at 4:39 AM, Harry’s Palms said:

Even out west here things are off , weather wise. It has been the windiest year in memory , very warm January and into February until this last set of storms . So far , the coldest here was 40f so no frost or deep cold snap. Our normal rainfall has been doubled and storms have been arriving with high winds. 
   You folks out east have had it rough with the cold . I can’t imagine the damage cold like that could do to a tropical garden.

Weird winter here too. All of January was sunny and quite warm, mid-60s and up and zero rain. Then we hit 36 degrees with rain and hail last week, and that storm apparently turned into the blizzard that just ruined the Northeast. The palms are fine but the Epidendrum orchids got pockmarked by the hail.

[Kim]

On 2/24/2026 at 9:24 AM, PalmatierMeg said:

Another bad night on the Isabelle Canal - didn't reach 35F, closer to 40F - still bad news.

Does it warm up quite a lot during the day?

[PJP]

My hybrid lipstick got cooked.  Before and after pics

[Hurricanepalms]

It seems like the hybrid lipstick cold tolerance is a bit overstated. I had heard people claim 32 or even 30 with little damage, but I have personally seen large specimens with approximately 50% leaf damage at 35 or 36. Seems like a solid zone 10b or higher palm. 

[PJP]

My large inground hybrid on the east side of my property in between two large Tri Bears has Zero damage.  Had protection from the freezing winds, I guess.  The pic above is unprotected on the West side of my property.  Will have to think about wrapping it in the future for protection.

[Hurricanepalms]

@PJP, I appreciate the additional context. How cold was it in your garden?

[flplantguy]

This February is in the top ten coldest for my area of Florida, but not top 5, with most of the rest of the state being below average, but just out of the top 10 by a few tenths to a degree or so.  NWS preliminary data came out today for the month. Winter was just below average across the state due to December being warm and January only being slightly below average statewide.  Not the worst but bad overall, with ag costs rivaling some 80s events but not the worst few.  Not fun lol

[PJP]

3 hours ago, Hurricanepalms said:

@PJP, I appreciate the additional context. How cold was it in your garden?

Got down to high 20's a few nights.  Wind was blowing and temps remained in the 40's for several days.  I think the hybrids can take the high 20 and low 30 weather but not for several hours and several days.  We usually have temps like that for 1/2 days and not 5.  Let's see how it comes back.  My non hybrds I had wrapped up for 6 days.  no damage to them at all.

[ruskinPalms]

Got to the low 30s here a few nights, and several mid to upper 30s nights as well. More frost this year than I have seen since moving to Parrish in 2015. First time frost has been more than just a few rooftops here and there. Most of the winters here I don’t see frost at all (although I’m sure there is a little I have missed because I’m not up checking every morning). Definitely has been the coolest winter I’ve had here since 2015. I was living in Bradenton in 2010. The coldest I’ve seen at my current house was a night at 27 or 28 when an advective freeze blew in from the north northeast in January 2018. Where I’m at is fairly well protected from advective freezes coming from the northwest or even from due north due to my proximity to the gulf and Tampa bay. Damage this year has been slow to materialize. Everything looked ok after her first week from the major cold event. I think my damage has come from frost. Most of my stuff should live, even my 80% burned coconut and C. macrocarpa.  My yard has zero canopy other than foxtails, royal and Bismarckia. My royal palm took maybe 10 to 20 percent burn. My foxtails and Bismarckia look no different than any other winter so far. I have 1 Adonidia, it looked diseased heading into this winter so I’m sure it will die which is totally ok. Overall, my area made out well compared to a lot of Florida this winter. 

[bubba]

This was the coldest winter in Southeast Florida since 1989. However, it was not as cold. PBIA recorded two nights with low temperatures of 31F for a total of three (3) hours under freezing.

It is heartbreaking to see the losses suffered by edge pushers throughout the central part of the state. I would urge them to replant and not be surprised about how many things come back.

to that end, I took pictures today of the non-hybrid red sealing wax palms planted in a building just off Phipps Plaza in PB. They were planted three (3) years ago without special care and are still surviving (not thriving).

 

 

 

 

I should note that a weather underground station located near the ocean in Palm Beach recorded lows of 38.3 F and 39.3 F respectively on those cold nights.

[Johnny Palmseed]

Anecdotally, I would say that this event was the worst I have seen since 1989 mainly due to the wind. The temperatures were bad enough to cause some damage but the wind took it to a whole other level. It was blowing 20-30mph while only at 25-30 degrees. A bad combination for sure. Also, the “protection” of living by the water did nothing as did being in Central Florida. Our lows were not much different than North Florida - 25ish vs 23ish. Pretty much everything with exposure is brown except for Queens, most Phoenix and of course Sabals.

[edbrown_III]

just a typical zone 9A winter ---- havent had one in over 10 years ------ these winters occurred regularly in the 1990's

[flplantguy]

Once all the data comes out for the month, and the numbers are official, it can be compared to past year's and determined how close to normal the event was (for any one location, not the state as a whole). Just a cursory glance at local numbers shows it's a once in 10 years event on average here, so not a normal winter by any means (NWS data, soon to be official but viewable now, backs that up). The chill hours and number of freezes will also need calculated and compared to historical numbers. I think the further north and west you are in the state the numbers are more typical for the area, but it depends on the specific location too. Someone in town south of me would shrug it off as just chilly, but ask anyone in Port St. Lucie and the answer will be very different.

[paquicuba]

@PJP I'm in Broward as well. I'm actually in Weston (As far west as it gets.) I have the hybrid and the normal or non-hybrid lipstick palms. I didn't protect them at all and they suffered no damage whatsoever.