winter 2009/2010 Cold! Cold! Cold!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 7:25 pm

Wow poor Edmonton! That windchill is -65 F

We hit -20C -4F at 6 a.m. today.
Palm hut was -2C 28F.

Last December's low was -24C, but we had lots of snow.
Only 1 inch of snow on the ground so far.

Barb

Post by **Jay-Admin** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:44 pm

I'm happy I moved from Edmonton some thirty years ago.

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:38 am

lucky1 wrote:Wow poor Edmonton! That windchill is -65 F

We hit -20C -4F at 6 a.m. today.
Palm hut was -2C 28F.

Last December's low was -24C, but we had lots of snow.
Only 1 inch of snow on the ground so far.

Barb

Barb- The lack of snow is the real threat to the half-hardy plants... We have NONE here in downtown T.O. at the moment, but plenty in Syd. I'd perfer more in Syd. (the bamboo NEEDS it with lows predicted to hit, perhaps, as low of -20C this week), but 1/2 foot is better than none!

New lows to date:
Toronto (City): -8.8C (USDA 6a)
Toronto (Centre): -8.1C (USDA 6a/b border)
Kingston: -9.6C (Taken on Grenidier Island, one of the warmest microclimates in the city, USDA 5b)
Kingston, City: -10.5C (USDA z. 5a)

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:04 am

The lack of snow concerns me too, especially since Nainital and big y.rostrata x are unheated.
Don't even want to look at those!

We got 3 inches of snow overnight, too little too late, I'm sure.

Last winter's heavy snowfall but deep cold at -24C hurt even my y.filamentosa, which I believe is normally be bullet-proof to Zone 3.
Very strange considering there was snow, lots of dieback.
Took all summer to come back to this stage:

Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:44 pm

I saw some that were burned worse than I'd ever seen them last winter.
The combination of some frigid temps and no snow/insulation and strong sun really got to them

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 4:29 pm

I have had more things die here in the snow then cold. My cactus don't like to be froze in ice cubes all winter, a sure way to make them rot.

I know snow protects, but when it turns to ice I hate it.

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 5:27 pm

I wouldn't know. Snow is more of a March-thing down here. December-January-February are cold with dry windy air.
I should check the records, but I suspect we have had more white Easters than white Christmas's.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 11:11 pm

white Easters

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:16 am

Maybe Wednesday for our first snow. That might give us a rare white Christmas.

tropicman · Post by **tropicman** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:05 am

The record for snow on the ground in Wichita on Christmas Day is 4 inches, way back in 1894.

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/news/story/110187 ... z0ZxG3187P

Laaz · Post by **Laaz** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:02 pm

Lowest we have been so far was 34 F last night. Very light frost. Hope we keep this up all winter.

Chris- · Post by **Chris-** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 5:42 am

Coldest thus far was 20 F, last Thursday morning (12/17). Prior to that the lowest had been 23 F.

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:47 pm

Looks Like I'm in for a ride tonight, the wind is whipping steady at 20-30mph and it's already 15f at 4:30pm, there calling for 8f but I'm sure it
will be colder. Luckily everything is locked down good and strong. I wish there was still snow left from the 15+ inches we got for insulation.
I can't believe I just said I wish there was snow on the ground, scratch that I'll take my chances. I just finished covering my Brown Turkey Fig
about a hour ago, pushing my luck as always. We already had one night with a low of 5.5f, I'm not interested in beating my low from last year!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday!

Bill

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 7:26 pm

Bill, I'm always nervous when reading your cold weather/snow posts, because I know there's a good chance that it will be heading my way

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 7:03 am

I can't believe it the weather people were right for a change, 8.8f for a low last night and 20f in the trachy huts with one string of c9s each.
There 42 inches at the base and 38 inches at the top by eight feet tall, no insulation in them just white plastic on the outside.

Bill

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:08 am

Lousy when they're right about cold!
Brrr indeed.

Your 15 inches snow is gone?

Our long range f/cast just changed to "Highs above freezing until mid-January".
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/fourteenday/cabc0312

Maybe spring is ...
Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 10:44 am

lucky1 wrote:Lousy when they're right about cold!
Brrr indeed.

Your 15 inches snow is gone?

Our long range f/cast just changed to "Highs above freezing until mid-January".
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/fourteenday/cabc0312

Maybe spring is ...
Barb

Which means we will be cold as $&!^

Well Bill now you know what you have,about 11(F) of protection,maybe more with snow on top.Where you live -might just be all you need!

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:32 pm

Well, do to unfortunate circumstances it looks like I'll be heading to Florida on Friday since my aunt is
sick. I might end up putting another string of lights in there for piece of mind since I won't be here
for awhile.

By the way the snow is all gone except for the plow piles!

Bill

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 3:25 pm

Sorry about your mother, Bill.

Where I am today, we had a low of 80 oF and a high of 82 oF.
Here are the details:
http://cayecaulkerweather.com/weatherda ... r-data.htm
I'm sitting under a coconut palm as I type this. They seem to germinate just fine here, knnn.
--Erik

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:18 pm

Erik, I bet they do

Enjoy your trip! Be sure to check out some of the native Zamias.

Steve

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 10:27 am

Erik,
Great webcam pic on that link!
Feel warmer just looking at it

Enjoy!
Barb

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 10:38 am

Thanks Erik, It's my aunt that's sick but she like my second mother.

Enjoy the sun and warmth!

Bill

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 10:40 am

Safe trip, Bill.

Wishing a speedy recovery for your aunt, and lots of palms in your car for the ride home!

Barb

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 5:36 pm

In Kingston I've hit -18C so far (-2f) but it will get colder, at least it has every other year is recorded history! In Toronto we've now hit -12C. Again, it will get colder. It always does! I've got some pics from last week, and I'll post them soon!

How about you?

Barrie · Post by **Barrie** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 11:59 pm

Periodic rain and a couple of sun breaks, 9.2ºC (48.5ºF) today. December was quite dry compared to our rainiest month, November. The hyacinths are up so signs of spring are around.

Cheers, Barrie.

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 6:30 am

Paul,
5.5f is the low here so far followed by 8.8f and 10.8f. Not to bad so far, I'm sure January will throw some more single digits my way.

Bill

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 8:17 am

Watch out if you get snow cover going.
Last night was -12(F)here and somewhere in the state(Spencer Iowa)hit -36(F)!
My Trachys stayed around 30(F) the Washy between 35 and 50(F)
The biggest g-house was 12(F)covered with snow and without the heat on!

Chris- · Post by **Chris-** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 12:22 pm

New low for the year (and for the 09-10 winter) of 17 last night. Tonight will likely be colder, from 12-16.

The 10-Day 850 MB Temp-Height Forecast seems to show "more of the same" with arctic cold East of the Rockies from Canada down into the US.

I'm not sure how many people here follow the NAO index, but it is very useful this time of year in understanding the broad outlines of how cold it will be. Generally, a +NAO correlates to a strong west-east jet stream across the US/Canadian border and milder than normal temperatures, particularly along the eastern searboard. A -NAO correlates to stronger-than-normal ridging over Greenland, which tends to act as a 'block' in the atmosphere, forcing the jet stream south and east over the Eastern part of Canada and the US and making it colder than normal East of the Rockies. Conversely, with a strongly -NAO, temperatures tend to be milder in parts of Alaska and Western Coastal Canada. Around this time last year, during a strongly -NAO event, the temperature in Fairbanks, Alaska, rose from around 60 below to +52 in a period of 36 hours. At the same time there was an outbreak of arctic air colder than any in about 25 years along the East Coast.

You can obviously surmise then that I am hoping for this to do a flip -

Yes, I am an amateur meterologist as well. Or like to think I am.

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lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 1:33 pm

Chris,

I learned more in your one explanatory paragraph than I've ever learned from watching meteorologists on TV!

rose from around 60 below to +52 in a period of 36 hours.

112 degree change in 36 hours!

What does NAO mean? North American-OMG?

We Canadians are indeed sorry all this crap comes from here...and we blame Siberia

Barb

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:31 am

I'm finally leaving for Fla tonight, the weather is awful down there right now. Freezes all the way down to Ft Pierce and lower.
It should warm up soon I hope, I'll really be able to seek out the hardy plants now. I hope there are still some seeds left, maybe
I'll look for sprouts instead.

Bill

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:06 am

Have a safe trip Bill.

I bet there are some very cold 5 and 10 gallon specimens you can cram in the car for the return trip...seeds and sprouts might've been exposed to more cold than they can handle.

Barb

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 2:04 pm

Drive safely, Bill. Drivers down south don't know to look for black ice on the roads.

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 2:08 pm

Thanks Guys! I'll take a bunch of pictures while I'm there.

Bill

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 4:25 pm

North Atlantic Oscillation.
My guess is-mid February before any substantial break in the cold.
If we get a warmup this month there will probably be at least another outbreak in February.

stephenprudence · Post by **stephenprudence** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 5:38 am

This is really really tiring right now!

The UK is having perhaps it's 3rd or 4th most severe winter in past 100 years at least, unbelivable that the El Nino along with the -NAO/-AO and the solar minimum has conspired against large areas of the northern hemisphere to give a frigid winter!

I recorded -6.5C (20.3F) this morning, which is the lowest here for 15 years, furthermore it could be lower tonight, perhaps as much as -10C which will be an all time record if it does.

Amazingly a place near Manchester (UK), called Woodford recorded -17.7C which is an all time record for that area.

This is just because of some snow on the ground - if the snow melted we'd only record about 30F and 28F at absolute worst.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:37 am

Stephen,
Saw it on last night's news...trucks and cars abandoned on highways, people receiving text messages from employers to stay at home, schools closed.
The feature started with "in a nation almost completely devoid of winter tires and snow-clearing equipment...."

How are the palms faring?

Barb

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:50 am

lucky1 wrote: How are the palms faring?

Barb

Thats what I want know. Why don't they ever show whats important on the news.

stephenprudence · Post by **stephenprudence** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:09 pm

Well for snow my plant collection is ok, CIDP is fine for now, there are some largeish specimens in our peninsula though so theyve seen off some of the lesser cold weve seen in the past.

Trachy well no point in talking about that - if I lost a Trachy I think I'd pack this in.

Musa basjoo is actually still good, I just threw a fleece over it and its dont the job.

The two more tender plants Yucca elephantipes/guatamalensis and Schefflera arboricola showing some small damage but they will probably get through.

We'll see, but its meant to last for a while yet, I just hope we get the frost-free spring we got last year.

I see Floridas getting a pummelling as well?

Barrie · Post by **Barrie** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 9:44 pm

Sounds like a shoe in stephenprudence for most of what you've mentioned. Frost in the UK causes wide spread panic, but these -5ºC (23ºF) or so temps are little to worry about. You'll be boasting about how well all your plants did this spring.

Cheers, Barrie.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 9:01 am

Agree with Barrie.
You're nowhere near as cold as half of North America.

You'll have great snow-on-plant pics for your album!
Barb

PalmsNorth.com

winter 2009/2010 Cold! Cold! Cold!

Snow?

Next week?

Xmas snow

warmer here

Safe travels