Florida Freeze Event Round 2: Feb 4-Feb 6th

[gatorcane]

Okay, if the first freeze didn't get you, this one probably will....

one-two punch for Florida about ready to take place tonight. Unless you live along the extreme coastal sections or have a unique microclimate to save you, most of Florida is going to freeze tonight.

I would expect widespread damage to plants where residents have "pushed" their growing zone to the limit. For example, Royal Palms, Foxtail Palms, and coconut palms --- this freeze should provide second and final blow to severly damage these plants outside of their prescribed growing zones.

Please feel free to post your pics of damaged vegetation in this thread. I'm curious what kind of damage we will see this time.

[jasons2k]

Gatorcane,

You are exactly right. I have been looking at a gardening forum some today and people are downright scared. This freeze has the potential to change the landscape for several years, especially in the 'marginal' zones where people have planted true tropical plants. It will probably be similar to the freeze of 1996 in many locations.

[Dionne]

Definitely pushed the growing limit zone here. We have large outdoor potted plants filling the sunroom and throughout the house.

We're anticipating the coldest year of the night.....21F.

I'm afraid the MSU garden program I've been working may fail......in the first seed planting which was Jan 29, we were within range. On Jan 1st we had a white Iris bloom in the back garden with a SW exposure. Soil temp is now well below 45F, a threshold for early spring seed germination.

Blueberries have buds.....tricked by the warm weather episodes. Dunno? We have never lost blueberries to a freeze.

Keep your water lines trickling tonight........

[JonathanBelles]

I almost want to say that there will be no frost because of the wind, but with the feeling it is out there right now, I wont be suprised it I wake up to ice. Most of the TBW is under a Hard Freeze Warning, and 33 may be a big generous for Central Pinellas, who is under a Freeze Warning (my current thinking).

[gatorcane]

I don't think I have seen dewpoints this low along the East Coast of Florida in quite sometime, not even for the last freeze event.

In fact right now we are seeing WNW to NW winds across the peninsula which means slightly higher dewpoints along the west side than the east:

[jinftl]

Winds not dropping off as much as expected helped to keep temps up some across the state and reduced the number of hours that any below freezing temps took place in the growing regions

Prelim lows from NWS offices:

Orlando 30F (forecast was 25F)
Vero Beach 32F (forecast was 29F)
Melbourne 31F (forecast was 27F)
Tampa 32F (forecast was 28F)
Fort Myers 34F (forecast was 31F)

[jdray]

Add to that: 21F Jacksonville, was forecast 19F

Cecil Field (another NWS "site") hit 18F. Forecast was 19F.

[jasons2k]

There were definitely some strange readings across the state last night. 34F in East Naples and 31F out on Marco Island. I don't remember ever seeing that before.

Overall, it looks like it was comparable to the freeze last week - damaging in places but not totally devastating as many had feared.

Maybe this winter will be considered a new zone 'benchmark' for quite some time. If that's the case, I can live with that. It could have been much worse.

[gatorcane]

There were definitely some strange readings across the state last night. 34F in East Naples and 31F out on Marco Island. I don't remember ever seeing that before.

Overall, it looks like it was comparable to the freeze last week - damaging in places but not totally devastating as many had feared.

Maybe this winter will be considered a new zone 'benchmark' for quite some time. If that's the case, I can live with that. It could have been much worse.

Not sure its over yet though. Look at the temps across much of the Western part of the state. It's 39F in Tampa already and its only 9pm EST! Its also approaching 32F already across much of Southern Pasco and that line is creeping into the Northern Part of Pinellas county now. With no NNW wind vector to protect the west coast tonight it, its likely that tonight is the big freeze event for the West coast of Florida including Tampa...its likely there will be widespread plant damage as well because frost is a good possibility with near calm winds.


Note how the North to NNE wind vector is keeping temps up along the East Coast of Florida, especially SE Florida:



Note dewpoints also, creeping up along SE Coast of Florida, but dangerously low across the entire rest of the state

[mf_dolphin]

Where's my summer? If we have much more of this I'm moving to Aruba!

[JonathanBelles]

Where's my summer? If we have much more of this I'm moving to Aruba!

Get the heck out then, i'm loving this! j/k

[psyclone]

well, it's over. this latest blast of cold delivered a frosty morning to my neighborhood friday morning but it didn't get cold enough to do much damage around here. there was more damage in my area on 1-3-08 than all of the cold nights of last couple of weeks combined. people are definitely gambling when they plant sensitive tropicals around here but over the last couple of decades they've been winning that gamble and for the most part it appears they've won again. temps near 70 today feel downright warm and serve as testament to just how cold it has been lately and how acclimated we've become to the cold. Bring on the warm!

[jinftl]

Update from Florida Citrus Mutual on this past week's cold...

“We feel like we dodged the proverbial bullet,” said Michael W. Sparks, executive VP/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual. “There will probably be spot damage here and there but in terms of large scale problems, we came through okay.”

http://flcitrusmutual.com/news/pr_weather_020509.aspx