New Low temp!

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 5:20 am

New low temperature for the year! Not here in Toronto (last night it hit -8C, low to date is -12.3C); but in Kingston where the temperature, unexpectedly, dropped to -19C (I recorded -20C at my place). Coldest to date, but still warmer than normal!

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 5:27 am

so far no extreme cold here either. Low temp so far is 8F (-13.3C).

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 1:05 pm

Paul, Tim:
I concur. I complain about the cold but it is all warm by historical standards, and way above our record lows.
I think I was 9 oF / -13 oC yesterday morning. No, I didn't like it, but really no big deal.
My soil at 4" / 10 cm got down to freezing, but not any below that.
With the warm-up today, we even have water flowing again to the barns.
I turned off heat to the palm hut for the day.

--Erik

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 1:10 pm

We've been having decent weather so far this winter, with the lowest temp at my house being around -9 C. However, we're approaching the coldest part of the year here (the last 2 weeks of Jan. and the first 2 weeks of Feb.), so that might change soon!

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 1:52 pm

Cameron- You guys have had an AWESOME winter so far... It was that wacky jet stream! The south has been cold (by their standards) but those on the east coast (and especially those in the eastern arctic) have enjoyed some seriously warm temps.

I recall one winter that I was in Hali the Cordyline in planters on the waterfront made it until mid-January. That was pretty remarkable since these are killed right around -9C~!

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 2:16 pm

We had a cordyline on our deck this winter and just left it out. I was going to move it, but the pot it's in weighs something like 100 lbs

I only began to notice yellowing on it earlier this month, so I have a feeling it made it into something like late December. It's supposed to be around 7 C sometime next week, so hopefully that can melt a good portion of the snow!

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 3:41 pm

Wait, you don't want snow? I was panicking when we had no snow at the end of December... It really helps with the marginals!

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:50 pm

If we don't see any temps below -9 C then I can do without the snow

Even if we do, I could do without this 3 foot pile beside my driveway!

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:11 pm

we may actually slip in a new low tonight. I just picked up my daughter from ski club (11pm) and the car was reading 12F already. We'll see how low it gets.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 5:24 am

low of 4F (-15.5C) last night..........still zone 7a!

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 7:33 am

Nice! They're calling for -14C on Monday night here. Hope it stays away!

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 5:14 pm

Well, now we have a forecast low of -19C for the city (-13C forecast downtown). If this temp does happen (the -19C) it will be the coldest it's been in the city since Feb. 2009.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 5:35 pm

keep us posted Paul.....back to zone 6 weather!

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:43 am

Hey guys...........

Record low here is -26C this year ( in my yard, at the airport it was -32C). That was on a north facing wall though.... We ponly have had 2 nights below -25C this year and mabey a weeks worth of below -20. Sure compared to you guys this is death, but this is warm compared to what we usualy get.

This week is apperantly the last of the major cold for the year ( thanks alberta for your coldness

), theoreticly that means for you paul as well......

Whos hoping for an early spring?? I am!!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:43 am

The North Okanagan, BC low was -19.3C -2.7F on November 23, 2010.

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:10 am

Well, here is an interesting dichotomy: The airport here hit a low of -19C (not sure exactly the decimals); while the downtown hit a low of -14C before starting to warm up. That's a 10 degree difference over a distance of 15km or so. Amazing! -19C = -2.2f; -14C = 6.8f.

Kingston (my garden) is currently registering a low of -27C (exact recording at my place has been, generally, a degree lower as it is away from the lake). This equates to -16.6f, a USDA 5a rating. Hope that is the extreme low for the year!

"Current Weather Updated: Mon, Jan. 17, 2011, 6:00 EST - Kingston Airport -27°C". Brrrr.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 5:37 am

Paul, so far im officialy 1C warmer then your house in kingston LOL ( well the low was -25.8C)

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:21 am

canadianplant wrote:Paul, so far im officialy 1C warmer then your house in kingston LOL ( well the low was -25.8C)

Unofficially, yes. But officially, no. Thunder Bay Airport: Low to date -27.1C; Kingston Airport: Low to date -27.7C... The Kingston temp. may change as it is verified. Thunder Bay wins by 0.6C!!!

FYI I don't trust my home measurement to be any closer than +/- 2.5C, even though it claims to be 'professional quality'!

This event marks the coldest temperature recorded in Kingston since 2004! December 20, 2004 it hit -28.1C; January 14th 2004 was the last time we were below -30C (recorded a temp of -30.7C at the airport).

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:37 am

Sending you some warm weather.
Doubt you'll appreciate the freezing rain forecast.

Barb

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:30 am

We just got hammered by 15cm of snow, and its still falling.... LOL 2 outta the 3 bamboo that are tarped are buried under the snow now!

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:29 pm

those are some cold temps!! I hope spring is around the corner!!

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:31 pm

I hear ya dude. I jsut realized the other day, i have a yucca filamentosa unprotected ............

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:39 pm

Nice test for the filamentosa.....we'll see how tuff they are!

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:40 pm

cold rain, snow, freezing rain, then a flash freeze, then rain, then snow and snow and snow.............. A good test indeed... im e xpecting the roots to survive at least

JordanNL · Post by **JordanNL** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:39 am

-8.2C or 17.24F last night. New low for the season.

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:30 am

OK- So now the Toronto stations have corrected their data. Pearson recorded -14.6C (it said -19C yesterday am...) not sure what happened there. And the downtown station recorded -14C... Still hanging in there for a zone 7 winter...

I did some digging in the records available and this deep freeze was pretty localized:

Ottawa, which has some zone 5a microclimate downtown, but not the airport itself hit -25.1C. Kemptville recorded -28.2C, Grenidier I. hit -23.5C (in the St. lawrence river about 300m from downtown Kingston), Point Petre (S. Prince Edward Co., a wine making region) hit -23.1C, Trenton hit -31C, and Bancroft (which might be a zone 3b location) hit -33C. We used to have a poster from Trenton, it is about 1/2 way between Toronto and Kingston along the lakeshore (inland a little)... That's COLD!

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:26 am

It was a bit of a shock to wake up and find most of southern ontario colder then my city ( either of us will never hold a candle to "the peg").

IT is interesting to know how much it varies there. Here, we were s ay -25c ( so says my north facing thermometer), while nipigon, an hour up the lake shore, was -31C or colder. Even JUST outside the city here was below -30 ( the airport is less then a few miles from the city limits, which is why their temps and mine were so different. I find it usless to try to figure temps in my yard from a weather station thats miles and miles away.

Paul do you just go to the weathernetwork and look up the historical data for the days in question??

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:17 am

Jesse, when the apricot trees start blooming in your place? I mean the coldest part of my town got minus 27 this winter but I'm pretty sure the apricots will start blooming there on the end of March. In my place there was minus 23 cold but the apricots will start blooming around the April 10th as well as magnolia stellata. In some areas the super minimum temperature doesn't mean something bad...Toronto winter climate is slightly milder than my town's is but a vegetation here starts 2-3 weeks earlier comparing with the Torontanian one. We are at the same latitude by the way

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:23 am

To be honest, ive never seen them here (that doesnt mean they arent here, i knwo some grow in calgary, which gets colder then we do generaly (calgarys climate is really compicated). All iris and lilys come up around april, depending on the spring. By may the lilacs are flowering. My fargesia rufa started to shoot around may- mid may.

Its interesting you mentioned apricot, as im actively looking for fruit, so I can germinate the pits, or some trees ( if i start from seed, ill need 2, seeing as i have no idea what the offspring will be like). Unfortunalty apricots were in season in december, and i missed them by a weeek.

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:46 am

Jesse, it is no problem sowing apricot pits. It grows pretty fast. I have an apricot tree grown from the pit that is the same size as a Circassian walnut tree of the same age.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:47 am

Thats good to know!!!! Im only having problems finding fruit.... LOL

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:58 am

Oh, boy! Mountains around my town is a center of apricots and apples natural origin. When they bloom the hills surrounded my house are looking like they are covered with pinkish clouds.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 10:29 am

Big apple orchards here too, Igor, all along the valley bottom around Kalamalka Lake and Okanagan Lake.
End-April/early May is so lovely with the apple blossoms.

Some time around the late 1960's people say a very severe cold split the trunks vertically of many apricot and peach trees in large orchards.
Those large orchards have mostly replanted to grapes for the wine industry which is now very successful here, bringing in lots of tourists.

Barb

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:42 pm

Paul,

the other night had crazy temps down here too. Some areas were 'warm' other areas were 'real cold' not sure why so much change over a short distance. Here's some of the local stations:

Jan 15th

Willimantic, CT -9F
Hartford, CT -6F
Norwood, MA -3F
Taunton, MA -1F
Westerly, RI -1F
Providence, RI +5F
Worcester, MA +7F
Boston, MA +15F
Nantucket, MA +19F

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:11 pm

I spoke too soon the other day about our mild winter

Last night the temp at my house was -15.3 C, and the night before was -12.7 C, for a total of somewhere around 60 hours below freezing.
Now, the temp is supposed to go up to 7 C at night, and fall during the day?!

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:13 pm

Welcome to canada cameran

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 10:58 pm

lucky1 wrote:Big apple orchards here too, Igor, all along the valley bottom around Kalamalka Lake and Okanagan Lake.
End-April/early May is so lovely with the apple blossoms. Barb

Barb, I mean wild growing apple-apricot forests in the Northern TienShan but not the orchards themselves that by the way are quite famous here as well. The Kazakh (i.e. Turkish) name "Almaty" means "the apple place"

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 4:29 am

Jesse- Your weather sticker is now showing -19f... Yikes! I looked up the historical weather for T-Bay, and I think that temps of -40C for you are a little less common than -30C temps for me. I think we both need to move south.

Tim- What was your low to date?

Nantucket is warm... Does it ever drop below 0f there?

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:12 am

That weather sticker sucks.... "greengate circle", is another 4 miles more inland then the airport ( which read -27C this morning) But my thromometer said -24.4C. Id rather trust my own readings then from somewhere that is known to be colder then my area ( even if u give or take a few degrees, -26 and -23 is a far cry from -31C ( which is what -19F is???)

On a side note.... i know my area is a gurenteed zone 4 ( mabey 5). I finally Id a yellow flowering shrub down the street, as forsythia, which is hardy to zone 4 or 5 depending on source....

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:05 am

canadianplant wrote: I finally Id a yellow flowering shrub down the street, as forsythia, which is hardy to zone 4 or 5 depending on source....

Depending on variety... I know the one selected in Alberta. Forsythia 'Northern Sun is cold hardy to zone 4.