USDA Zone vs. low to date!

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 8:28 am

Hey, what USDA zone are you classified as, and what is your low to date?
I'll start, I'm right on the border between 4b and 5a (Kingston, Ontario) and the low to date was -22.4C (-8f)...
Here in Toronto we're 5b (suburbs or away from the lake) or 6a (downtown or near the lake) and we've hit: -17 (1f) (Pearson, airport, 5b) and -14 (7f) (City Centre, 6a)!
Cheers,
Paul

Alchris · Post by **Alchris** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:29 am

Here in glorious downtown Edmonton, only minutes from the municipal airport, we are Zone 3a. Our winter low has been -24.6*C/-13*F which is Zone 5b.

Out in the burbs at the International airport the low has been -29*C.

Allen

turtile · Post by **turtile** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:56 am

I'm on the border of Zone 7 a/b. 14F has been my lowest temperature however that should change in the next few days.

Barrie · Post by **Barrie** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:31 am

Zone 8b here in Lantzville, British Columbia. To this point (Jan 18 ~ 2008) I've had one night where the mercury has dropped to -2.5c (27.5f) which has us at a zone 9b (key words ~ "so far"). Forecasters are calling for a cooling trend here this coming week and we are expected to drop into the zone 9a temperature range.

Cheers, Barrie.

PALMETTOMAN · Post by **PALMETTOMAN** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:02 pm

Hey Paul...

Get ready for the flash freeze up...-10C looks like the daytime high for this wkend...yikes...just when we were heading toward a Z7 or better winter..

There are some nice looking old tulip tree's in the older part of town (village)..

I would say I'm at or near the Z6 area--I'm right near Lake Ontario-

Palmettoman Z6-Ajax, On

Cali-wanna-b · Post by **Cali-wanna-b** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:59 pm

6a here, so far 9F is our low. Subject to change this weekend.

Wes North Van · Post by **Wes North Van** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 7:33 pm

I would be a zone 8b,

The last 8 years have been 1/2 9a and half 8b.
So far this year we are a zone 9b

Post by **Jay-Admin** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:27 am

Zone 6. So far 9.8*f -12.3*c has been my low.

Regards,
Jay

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 9:36 am

Well, the city of Toronto has issued a cold weather advisory for the weekend... We're supposed to get down to -13C tonight (not quite as cold as the last cold snap) and hey are calling for -15C by the end of the week... Hopefully (fingers crossed) we'll only have one more cold snap this winter!
I imagine that my place near Kingston will be closer to -20C overnight (and probably below)...
Cheers,
Paul

Barrie · Post by **Barrie** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:43 am

I did see where cold weather was dumping snow in Georgia and northern sections of the Gulf states today. Our coldest is coming according to forecasters this week with temps in the mid 20's at night and mid 30's daytime. The only upside is sunny days and clear nights.

Cheers, Barrie.

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:01 am

Pretty crappy out right now. Neither of my locations were colder last night then earlier in the month. It's a bad time in Toronto, with no snow and cold, clear nights. Last night we hit -13C (Pearson) and -12c (City Centre). Meanwhile my location near kingston hit 0f (-17.3C) for the third time this winter (but there is a snow cover)!
How did you fare?

Cali-wanna-b · Post by **Cali-wanna-b** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:26 am

We are at 9*F right now, with the wind chill we are at -7*F. The are calling for 0-3*F tonight. brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!

Alchris · Post by **Alchris** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:37 am

It has warmed up to -31*C and I have been out trying to plug my vehicle in. The frigging wind cut right through my clothes. I couldn't get the plug cover off of the block heater cord. It started but then self flooded. After I am warmed up, I am going to go out with my wife's hair dryer and try to warm the cover enough to get it off.

Allen

PS That worked and the vehicle is plugged in.

yuccaman · Post by **yuccaman** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:05 am

I am in Trenton just west of Kingston and so far its been a zone 6b winter and not bad since we are in a 5b. Somehow the
zone maps placed our place in Trenton 5a and the rest of Trenton is 5b. We are in a small vallely and north of my house is
the rolling murray hills and get as cold as -30C 5 miles north of here and we could be sitting at -25C. The bad thing about
this winter was the amount of low pressure systems pounding us.

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:22 am

Yuccaman,
Are you talking Canadian zone map or the real map?
Th entire north shore of lake Ontario is zone 5a according to the USDA... But, I felt they did not include enough data so I made a USDA style map for Ontario based on 30-year low temps... This is a longer time period then the USDA zones, and therfore, more accurate (bigger sample size)!
Most of the north shore of lake Ontario is in zone 5a, there is some 5b along the shore... Kingston downtown might be borderline 5b (the ialsnds around Kingston are 5b), but the rest of the area is 5a... There is a thin strip of zone 7a hugging the south shore of Lake Ontario around St. Catherines... For Prince Edward county, the shoreline is 5b with the majorty of the county being 5a. Ottawa downtown is 5a (not nearly as large an area as I have shown), same with Montreal, the 5a is limited to good micro climates downtown... For the GTA the zone 6a might extend as far out as Oshawa, but only along the shorline. Away from the shore it quickly becomes 5b (Pearson has only recently become 5b due to a spree of warmer winters)... Zone 6b is found in parts of Hamilton (borderline), Toronto Island, and Niagara; along PARTS of the Eire shore to Windsor. Pelee island is close to zone 7a as well!
Here is the map:

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/pho ... and-garden

Feel free to comment. I'd say it is by far the most accurate zone map available for Ontario (not that I am at all biased). As I said it's based on long term recorded lows so some locations are listed in zones colder then you might think... As time passes the lows from the 70's will be excluded and the zone ratings will increase, though, not as much as you might think! I'm still hopeful that the 6a will spread outward from Toronto along the shore, and the 5b will migrate north...

Okay, Cheers,
Paul

Barrie · Post by **Barrie** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:42 am

Eight straight nights of freezing here on Vancouver Island and two more predicted before we return to normal temps. Daytime temps have been in the 40f to 45f range (5c to 7c) with mainly sunny skies.
Here's the breakdown of overnight lows during this period, all of which occur near sunrise each morning.

OVERNIGHT LOWS (Lantzville)
Jan. 21 ~ 26.6f (-3.0c)
Jan. 22 ~ 25.3f (-3.7c) coldest night this winter
Jan. 23 ~ 26.1f (-3.3c)
Jan. 24 ~ 26.4f (-3.1c)
Jan. 25 ~ 26.1f (-3.3c)
Jan. 26 ~ 31.5f (0.27c)
Jan. 27 ~ 26.2f (-3.2c)
Jan. 28 ~ 25.9f (-3.4c)

Really looking forward to spring!

Cheers, Barrie.

yuccaman · Post by **yuccaman** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:03 pm

The map I looked at was from Natural Resources Canada and I have seen that map you just linked. That map looks more
accurate and that is the one I would use it because of the hills and exposed out. I remember around mid-late january places
like Bancroft had -30C and we were only -14C but head as far north to Madoc it was -26C and a place like Wooler that is
1 mile north of us was -20C. I do like the USDA map but I like the one you linked.

Our area is widely exposed on the north shore of lake ontario and just head a little north like 2 miles and you are in the real
bad cold.

The thing that keeps us more safer that we have hills to calm the cold but if we did not, We will be 2C or 3C colder. On those hills would be a zone 4 for sure and there is one 3 kilometers away from us and it was -24C in my yard and it went
up the hill and the thermometer was reading -31C. My yard would be a good zone 5a. Downtown Trenton might be 5b.
The zone 4 line on that map would be hitting Codrington, A small town I know of.

PALMETTOMAN · Post by **PALMETTOMAN** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:18 pm

Yuccaman..

What a difference a few km's can make eh!

Hopefully we escape the rath of the extreme cold which is parked over the west..

Palmettoman Z6-Ajax, On

Okanagan desert-palms · Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:44 pm

So far the coldest it has been -12.7c 9f in Dec and -12.9 9f last night. Considering Jan is our coldest month we could be in line for a zone 7a to 7b winter. Only one more month to find out.

John

yuccaman · Post by **yuccaman** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:42 am

That's right Palmettoman! if I need to plant some palms, I will just head a few kilometers south my house at the shore of Lake Ontario and overwinter!!!

But the storms will pound it and right now we are seeing winds up to 107 km/h gusts and sustained at 72 km/h.

PALMETTOMAN · Post by **PALMETTOMAN** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:26 am

Yes yuccaman..the northeast shore of Lk Ontario is supposed to see the worst of the winds as the front passes...keep plenty of candles on hand!

Our winds here clocked around 90/100 gusts last night and this am..looks like we are in for a ride!

So far were looking at a Z7 and temps are supposed to be moderate through till mid Feb..

My outdoor covered palms are all looking okay.

The Lk Ontario shoreline is a good area to try hardy palms as long as you can block out those winds...

Palmettoman Z6-Ajax, On

PALMETTOMAN · Post by **PALMETTOMAN** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:26 am

Yes yuccaman..the northeast shore of Lk Ontario is supposed to see the worst of the winds as the front passes...keep plenty of candles on hand!

Our winds here clocked around 90/100 gusts last night and this am..looks like we are in for a ride!

So far were looking at a Z7 and temps are supposed to be moderate through till mid Feb..

My outdoor covered palms are all looking okay.

The Lk Ontario shoreline is a good area to try hardy palms as long as you can block out those winds...

Palmettoman Z6-Ajax, On

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:42 am

It's terrible here right now... I ust got back from a run and the temperature is -9C with hard wind gusts...
Here's hoping that we maintain our 'mild' winter! Personally I'd be happy if I maintained my zone 6a!
I wonder how the plams are doing under the snow??? Perhaps I'll get a chance to check after the next mild spell!

Alchris · Post by **Alchris** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:55 am

The worst seems over. It got down to -36*C/-32*F with windchills of about -51 in the downtown area and probably 2 degrees cooler here at home. Zone 3a it is.

I would like to thank those in the lower mainland that sacrificed themselves to the snow god so that we could have enough wind to blow the arctic weather out to the east a couple of days early.

Allen

PalmsNorth.com

USDA Zone vs. low to date!

USDA Zone vs. low to date!

temp zones

Zone 8b

I am near Kingston

Paul

cdn zone map

7a to 7b?

palms on the shoreline