I was reading the Nat'l Weather Service forecast for the next week and it says that we could have temps at/below freezing next Sunday-Tuesday as a Canadian front heads our way!! The front will head our way on Wednesday with strong winds ahead of it, then leave us with cold temps after it blows through. I so don't need this as I was planning on using this coming week to plant my goodies from the RU. Ugh!!
Possible Cold Snap Heading to North Texas
Thanks for the heads up. (Sorry to say I am from Canada)
LOL Anna! I'm just ready for the really cold/almost freezing weather to go away until December!
Forecast for 30 Monday night! Bummer.
Low 30's possibly into the upper 20's Tuesday...we'll be blanketing some of the roses and tender plants that have started coming up and budding...Guess I'll need to find a way to cover my rose of sharons from melvatoo I brought home last year....better get my thinking cap on soon....
"eyes"
Low of 43ºF forecast for tonight and 33ºF for Monday night, but it will probably be 2 or 3 degrees lower as usual here. New growth is so tender right now and the plants in the ground will be so vulnerable.
Dang, predicting 34 here Monday night. Gotta cover my stuff again. . . .
35 tonight, 29 Monday. I knew I shouldn't have filled up more planters Friday.
I want to scream. The weather report said freeze in the Hill Country tonight and tomorrow night. This is why I always wait longer then other areas in Central Texas to plant my garden but I thought I had waited long enough. Covering everything or bring it inside isn't brain surgery but it is a lot of work.
Lisa
Just checked ours for Houston and it says 44 tonight and 36 tomorrow night; 46 Tuesday night.
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Just found this thread and I have been stomping my foot all day. Should have known. Forget the calendar and the teasing warm weather. (I have already emptied the greenhouse and planted out so it will be make it or break it.) I have lived a good number of Easters and that is truly the heralding of Spring. Always, always, always an Easter spell.
I wanted it to be spring so ignored it and now will pay for that.
Christi
I was halfway through all my outside chores when I came in for a break and found this thread. I figured I only have weekends to get it all done. Finished all I could do outside and will just have to hope for the best.
I know when I lived in FW we had a frost as late as April 15th and that's what I should have gone by.
Oh well.
The rule of thumb here is to wait until the pecan trees start leafing out, and that has happened. Guess it doesn't overrule the "thunder in February, freeze in April" rule.
There are multiple pecan trees in my neighborhood...all leafed out. Don't know if it counts this time.
Christi
What about the mesquite trees? They, too, are supposed to herald no frost.
Well, just goes to show you! You should have come to the N Tx RU! Ya'll missed a good time!
I have 15 plumerias & 40' of GH & I didn't get anything out b4 I left to come up here!
Between the cold, hurricanes, & the deer, I'm not ever going to have really nice plants growing when they should!
:~(
We have 200+ tax returns to finish before April 15. If I'd gone, Paul would have filed for divorce.
Irwells, too funny! I got 2 cell calls while @ the RU about income taxes.
I have 3 to finish b4 I leave for FL Wed nite! lol
I finished my 2005 yesterday morning b4 coming up to N Tx!
Don't you just love crunching ##s?
:~)
Too bad you couldn't have snuck away for just a few hours! We missed you, but look forward to seeing you in the fall!
Ditto, Irwells!
Freeze expected here tonight. I would have thought with all of my dragging plants in and out and scurrying to cover them up so many times that I would have lost some weight by now! No such luck.
LOL Htop!
You know, the pecans haven't budded here yet. But this cold is projected to set records in the state. from Wunderground
Quoting:
Minimum temperatures overnight
could break record lows for the date of April 7th and all time
record lows for the month of April could be approached as well.
It didn't get as cold last night as projected. Could they be wrong twice?
Let's hope so!
It was 32 here this morning.
It's currently 40º here and WINDY (again!!!). Overnight low was 35º. Ugh!!
Brad Barton (KRLD) expects that we will get a freeze tonight. I don't put much store in our local "weatherpeople" but I do trust Brad. Looks like I'm going to have to haul my big old DragonWing Begonia back into the house one more time.
I'm ready for some Springtime! :-)
Carla
Carla, I use the weather.gov site. http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Fort+Worth&state=TX&site=FWD&textField1=32.7539&textField2=-97.3362 You can put in your zip code at the top and it'll take you to the weather forecast for you specific area. Although, your forecast is most likely the same as mine since you're in Rowlett and I'm in SW FW!
If you scroll down to the bottom on the page I posted, you'll see a link for "forecast discussion". Click on that and you'll see the absolute latest report from the weather brains at the NWS.
Carla, Brad Barton is the only one I trust too. I was just singing his graces to my friend last week. I don't have a radio easily accessible in the house, so I get most of my reports from him in the car.
Stephanie, I click on that NOAA site quite frequently. It is *much* more accurate at forecasting rain than our media weatherpeople. Sweezel, Brad is the best, isn't he? He used to have a daily bet that if he was off his forecast by more than 5 degrees, he would have to pay a listener $100. Imagine if Pete Delkus did that -- he's be broke!! :-)
Carla
I remember that. I always listened to KRLD on my way to work in Dallas and he did not have to dole out the $100 very often.
I like Pete Delkus for times when I need emergency reporting late at night from a TV on tornadoes and such. My friend thinks I am nuts because she said Delkus drives her batty. All that "personality", perfect hair, and white teeth. I can't stand Dale Hansen, so you think I'd feel the same about Delkus. :)
We don't get KRLD obviously but Brad Barton weather is on a Texas State News feed on our local radio station and I agree with y'all. Hard not to have confidence in him! 8 )
The Hanson-Delkus "thing" disturbs me!! LOL I really like Steve what's his name and Kristine Kahanek (or however you spell it!).
That Hanson-Delkus "thing" disturbs Gloria and John, too. Some nights I cringe at how embarrassed they all seem.
I like Steve MacCauley, especially because he explains things. I like Pete okay, but he is just too into the sensationalism sometimes. I think he's there for his looks and personality, not for his weather forecasting ability.
Carla
NWS said 36° for last night, instead instead it was 46°....they can't seem to keep up with weather changes in Texas! For tonight they say 32°...we'll see, but better to look at several different sources and go with the lowest temp. Just to be safe. Am going outside now and cover plants. April freezes...those are usually the worst ones, huh? One month ago it would have been no big deal. At least I don't have any beans in the ground. Any seedlings I already planted will be on their own, ones in pots can be protected.
Looks like the NWS and it looks like I'd better plan for the worst. It shows 32 tonight in my zip. I was thinking that anyway because we're usually about 2 degrees cooler than Houston.
So nothing's changed. Will cover and pray.
I rec'd this e-gardens weather alert and apparently Neil Sperry trusts Brad Barton. Good info on protecting plants here if anyone is interested.
Quoting:
Monday, April 6, 2009
2 PM
e-gardens Weather Alert!
There appears to be significant chance of a freeze or frost tonight and tomorrow morning, Monday and Tuesday, April 6-7.
I spoke a few minutes ago with KRLD/TSN chief meteorologist Brad Barton, and his general concern, based on the forecasts he checked, was for anyone north of I-10. As of late morning, Austin was forecast to drop to 35, San Antonio to 38, Kerrville to 30, College Station to 34 and Lufkin to 31. The high pressure dome that is bringing the cold on us will be over the eastern half of the state, so far West Texas will probably not feel the impact quite as badly.
It is critical that you check your own local forecast sometime this afternoon. One option is www.weather.com. Enter your zip code, and it will give you the short- and long-term forecasts. 37-38F is the point at which you should take protection from frost. 32F is obviously the temperature at which a freeze will occur.
If you have tender, warm-season vegetables such as tomatoes, beans, corn, peppers, cucumbers, squash and melons, and if your area is forecast to drop near or below freezing tonight, you should take immediate action to protect your plants.
warm-season seedlings (most beans)
have just sprouted. Frost cloth should offer
4-6 degrees of protection.
Tomato transplants are covered with frost
cloth, then with large pots until temperatures
climb back above 40F.
Frost cloth can be laid across garden plots as shown in the photos taken just an hour ago in our grandson Alex's garden here at our house. By covering the plants with this lightweight fabric available in nurseries, feed stores, hardware stores and home centers, you can hold solar radiation beneath the covering. The warmth is released slowly overnight, keeping the plants several degrees warmer than they would have been if they were left unprotected. Weight the cloth down to prevent its blowing away, damaging the plants in the process.
You can also use old sheets, burlap or other lightweight fabric if you do not have, or cannot find, the frost cloth today.
DO NOT use plastic. Without going into details here, plastic almost invariably does damage to the plants it is supposed to be protecting.
If you have tomatoes already enclosed in cages, you can either remove the cages and cover the plants, or, if temperatures are only going to drop into the mid-30s in your part of the state, you can wrap each entire cage with the frost cloth. That will keep wind from beating the plants, and it will also keep frost from forming on the plants' leaves should the wind die down.
You can also pile compost or straw loosely around small seedlings and transplants in rows in your garden, but you will have to remove the protection with your fingers tomorrow. Raking it away would risk serious damage to the tender plants.
Tender annual flowers can be protecting in the same way. If you have plants growing in containers, set them in the garage overnight, and leave them there until temperatures are above 40F once again. All tropical plants must be brought indoors during these cold temperatures. That especially applies to types that can be hurt by temperatures in the 40s (not even approaching freezing). That list includes caladiums, bougainvilleas, dieffenbachias and aglaonemas.
If the wind dies down, and if conditions are clear, there is the chance of significant frost damage even if temperatures do not drop below 35 or 36F. Once again, covering your plants with fabric is a good idea.
As for trees and shrubs, you may expect some "burning" due to the cold, also due to recent strong winds. That type of damage is usually minimal, and the plants will generally produce new shoots and leaves within 2-3 weeks.
Bermuda lawns may develop a wavy, herringbone pattern of brown and green grass if the new growth is exposed to a heavy frost. That unusual look is quite concerning until you find out that it's a normal occurrence, and that the grass will quickly grow out of it.
This kind of cold does threaten fruit trees and vines that have already set this year's crop. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of easy, practical solutions that home gardeners can employ. Do not try to set sprinklers to spray onto the trees. You don't have the correct nozzles to apply the fine mist, and you risk serious and permanent damage to the limbs. Professionals suggest that you just take your chances with the cold. Duration of the sub-freezing weather also will be a factor in determining the extent of damage. If it's only momentary, the damage will be less than if it's for 8 or 10 hours.
Finally, please remember our admonitions not to fertilize your lawn too early, and not to rush the season in planting new turfgrass. This cold spell gives legs to those warnings. Please mark this all down in your memory for future years.
Good luck!
Neil Sperry
Good, sound advice...thank you. Just came in from covering my rose buses, butterfly bushes, and tenders. Thank you, I did not plant my maters yet, or wave petunias and portulaca in baskets...now hold our breaths until after nine tomorrow morning.....bright side, fairly nice and warm for Easter Sunday.
"eyes"
Stupid Question from a newbie ... Do Strawberries need to be covered?
Thanks
I covered them with a sheet just in case .. My yard really looks like a white sale ...lol
This message was edited Apr 6, 2009 8:13 PM
Don't know the answer, but there are NO STUPID QUESTIONS, sweetheart.
Well, I brought my plants in one time hoping this is the last, but who knows? Patience my dear people it will eventually stop.
Josephine.
I'm with you Josephine. I brought my new stuff home yesterday, watered a bit, then hauled them inside. Gathered my other little things and got them inside. My sunroom is beginning to look like a nursery!