Texas Cold

[Ed in Houston]

Much of south Texas had its first freeze this morning. Deep south Texas remained above freezing and maybe about 20 mile from the coast on up to Houston. Houston stayed above freezing while the western and northern suburbs were near freezing. I had 36 in SE Houston this morning with frost on the roof. Also there seems to have been a a cold spot in deep south central Louisiana around Morgan city with the lows in the upper 20s.

Ed in Houston

[Xenon]

Out here in Katy it dropped to around 28F. Brownsville and coastal deep south Texas remained above 45F.

Jonathan

Edited November 27, 2010 by Xenon

[_Keith]

Weird. We are North-West of Morgan City by 40 miles and escaped both freeze and frost.

[Ed in Houston]

I am thinkng that the upper 20s that I saw reported yesterday for the area around Morgan City( actually it was Patterson La.) was erroneous as shown at this interactive weather site by intellicast.

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/WxMap.aspx

Ed in Houston

[war_eagle]

It got down to 33.2F in my yard (Pearland, TX) on 11/27 with a decent frost on the grass and exposed plants below about 2 feet.

It got down to 31.8F (<32 for 45 min) this morning, 12/1, with a much heavier frost on the grass and on plants up to about 3-5 feet.

It seems a bit early to have already had 2 frosts, but nothing way out of the norm I guess. Nothing like the 3.5 inches of snow that fell last Dec 4, or that terrible Jan 2010. I sure hope we start trending towards the NWS prediction of a warm, dry winter soon.

[Ed in Houston]

It was 35 at my place in SE Houston this morning for the coldest of the season so far. Frost on the roofs and some scattered frost on exposed areas of some lawns. Generally it was at freezing or just below outside the city and also away from the coast and Galveston Bay. Quick warm up with 60's today and 70s for the rest of the week.

Ed in Houston

[Erik]

Note to self: must look for job in Texas. Was 22 oF (-6 oC) this morning. Worse to come way up here in Oklahoma. --Erik

[war_eagle]

The next blast of cold air is pouring into southeast Texas this morning. NWS has the next few days at 59/36, 56/32, 60/43, 60/37 for my zipcode. Obviously nothing catastrophic, but the suburbs, particularly north and west of Houston, will probably get some frost and a light freeze for a few hours out of this. It should be mostly sunny and dry with only Tuesday night having a 30% chance of rain.

[Ed in Houston]

Warmer than predicted at my place in SE Houston this morning. Low was about 36, one degree warmer than the season low thus far of 35, with no frost due to very dry air. Looks to be about 3 degrees warmer in the area than what was predicted. Outlying areas near Houston were near freezing and within the city temps were generally a few degrees above freezing. Temps were well influenced by the city heat island and proximity to Galveston bay and Gulf due to nearly calm winds. I wonder if the warmer than predicted temps will hold for this cold spell in Florida. This was the coldest night for Texas during this cold spell as temps are supposed to warm to the 70s by Wednesday.

Ed in Houston

[war_eagle]

Similar story here in the southern suburbs. I bottomed out at 30.2F in Pearland, below 32F for about 2.5 hours. No frost due to dry air with the dew point hovering about 22F. It was a bit warmer than forecasted here as well; TWC and Wunderground predicted 27 and NWS had 29. The lack of frost is nice. I'll take this type event over our typical 35 degree morning with thick, heavy frost any day.

[Ed in Houston]

Coldest night of the season thus far in SE Houston with 33 at my place. Temps were just below freezing in outer parts of the city and warming to about 34 over parts of the inner city. Very light frost on exposed elevated surfaces. My local forecast by the NWS is a degree or two colder for tonight, 31-32. Winds are expected to be 5-10MPH so maybe the frost will be minimal tonight.

Ed in Houston

[war_eagle]

Coldest night so far here in the southern suburbs as well. My neighbors weather station reported a low of 29.7F with about 4 hours below 32F. Tonight is supposed to be about 30F again. I'm visiting the in-laws up in northeast Texas so I cannot say whether or not there was frost. It wasn't much different here in Marshall, TX (about 250 miles north-northeast of Houston). It got down to about 25F last night I think and forecast to be the same tonight.

[Xenon]

A station about a mile away from me recorded a low of 27.3 yesterday night, out here in arctic western Houston...bananas under canopy are completely fried..

Jonathan

Edited December 26, 2010 by Xenon

[jasons]

I had a low of 29F this morning - pretty chilly but not terrible. I am preparing for a low in the mid 20's tonight and everything is wrapped.

[_Keith]

I had a low of 29F this morning - pretty chilly but not terrible. I am preparing for a low in the mid 20's tonight and everything is wrapped.

It already 32 degrees at 10pm, so I think we are gonna hit that low of 25 pretty handily.

[war_eagle]

It's 36F here at 10pm. The sky is clear and the winds are dead calm. It may seem like we'll drop below the forecast of 29F, but the dew point has been holding very steady at 31F. If that trend with the dew point holds true then that temperature forecast could hold up, but we will likely wake up to some heavy frost. I've had a handful of frosts already this winter, so as long as the temperature doesn't plummet then tonight shouldn't be too bad. It's nothing out of the norm for this time of year here. The warm up is pretty quick, the next 4 days are 57/45, 63/48, 68/56, 74/61.

[Xenon]

Currently 34F...low of 25F to be expected... even Brownsville and the coast are in the mid 40s, though probably won't drop below 40F.

Jonathan

Edited December 27, 2010 by Xenon

[jasons]

I'm now down to freezing. I am glad I wrapped everything after all!

[Ed in Houston]

By 9pm it was 38 and dropping at a good pace. Overnight high pressure moved just enough to the NE to give a light NE wind at my place in SE Houston, allowing some warming benefit from Galveston bay, a few miles to the east. The dew point began to rise and the temp stabilized at 33 between 2 and 3 am and then began rising; 37 at 5am. By 6am clouds have moved in from the south. Temps closer to the east side of the bay are in the low 40s at 6 am.

Ed in SE Houston

[war_eagle]

Similar story here in the southern suburbs, just subtract about 3F degrees. I went below freezing about 11:45P and bottomed out at 30.2F at about 2:00A. The temp starting rising about 2:30A and was back above 32F by 4:00A. But, I have the heaviest frost that I've had this winter. It's thick on rooftops and exposed grass areas. There is spotty frost on horizontal plant surfaces in the 2-3 foot tall range. That steady dew point saved me the really low temperatures, but caused the heavy frost.

On a positive note, this was a very good opportunity to walk around the yard and find little micro-climates that remained frost free. One surprising thing, and I remember reading about it on here once, was the influence of cold air falling down and off of a roof slope. The roof of one side of my house forms a single slope toward the southeast. I always figured that the brick side of my house on that south/southeast side would be my best micro-climate. However, it sure appears that the cold air just rides that roof slope straight down and the area adjacent to that brick wall out about 2 feet gets frosted quite a bit. An area on the north side of my house that I always figured would be the coldest has the roof broken up with some gables and such, and has thus far remained frost free this year. In fact, I left a plumeria in that north facing spot and it still has green leaves.

[Xenon]

I bottomed out at 30.7F. South Texas is currently warmer then almost all of South Florida by 10 degrees...

Jonathan

[happ]

I bottomed out at 30.7F. South Texas is currently warmer then almost all of South Florida by 10 degrees...

Jonathan

Yesterday the entire nation was either seasonably cold or unseasonably cold with few exceptions. Amazingly Florida did not record maximums above 60F and only a few places in Texas and California were in the low 70's. It is fairly rare when the entire country is cold at the same time; this winter is becoming a real pain in the butt!

Later this week temperatures in California are forecast to drop to the coldest levels this winter.

[Xenon]

Very warm today, high of 76F. Almost reached 90 in Brownsville, but Dalhart had a low of 12F! Texas is a really big state..

Jonathan

[spockvr6]

Very warm today, high of 76F. Almost reached 90 in Brownsville, but Dalhart had a low of 12F! Texas is a really big state..

Jonathan

Yeah...Id say a 76F split bewteen the warmest to coldest reading qualifies as dramatic

[jasons]

It looks like Texas may not be as lucky with the next cold outbreak next week. Keep a very close watch on this one! This pattern could potentially bring a 1050mb high straight into Montana and then down the plains into Texas. In other words, we may be in store for an old fashioned "blue norther" if the models are correct.

[Xenon]

Supposed to be 27F tonight....even Brownsville and South Padre have lows in the high 30s...

Jonathan

[Ed in Houston]

The NWS has lowered the forecast at my place in SE Houston to 28. This low is near the dew point so heavy frost might be a problem. Late night east winds might keep the temp up a bit, I hope.

Ed in SE Houston

[Ed in Houston]

Low of 32 in SE Houston with a light frost, 2 degrees warmer than the season low thus far. Mid 30s to about 40 along the upper Texas coast. The central city had temps in the low to mid 30s, near freezing and below toward the suburbs.

Ed in SE Houston

[Xenon]

26F with heavy frost here in west Houston....nice 62F at the moment though.

Jonathan

[war_eagle]

30.1F with moderate frost here in Pearland. The sun is finally out today! It seems like I haven't seen the sun in a month.

[jasons]

I had a low of 28 with heavy frost. I went ahead and covered everything-up and wrapped my Majesty Palms just in case. They have been down to 26 before, unprotected, but not with a heavy frost.

[jasons]

Here are some freeze protection shots from last year. I took more extreme measures since it got down to 19F - well below the known tolerance for Majesty Palms.

This is the largest. First, I trimmed the fronds and then cinched them tightly, so that they were vertical.

Next, I wrapped it from above the crown all the way to the ground with freeze cloth. I normally just wrap it and leave it at that. For this one event, however, I employed even more drastic measures. This included:

- I taped off the top

- Used a 35,000 Btu outdoor propane heater

- I needed something to protect the trunk/cloth form getting too burned, but would trap heat efficiently --> the blue tarp. Important note: As I'm sure most of you know, using any kind of tarp or plastic is not recommended to cover your plants or bedding. When the sun comes out, it will suffocate and kill your plants. In this case, I have the back open allow some air exchange and I removed it during the day. I just have it clamped on there for some added protection from that heater.

Another shot:

Edited January 22, 2011 by jasons

[jasons]

But they lived:

You can see where I had the Pygmy date wrapped:

[Xenon]

Cool cold protection! Seems like Pygmy Dates are marginal now ...My majesty under the patio looks fine after several nights in the mid 20s...

Jonathan

Edited January 22, 2011 by Xenon

[WestCoastGal]

Sad photos there Jasons. I saw on the weather report that Dallas is looking all white and icy right now.

[Xenon]

Anyone know how the coconut palms are down in Brownsville/South Padre?

Jonathan

[Takil-Explorer]

They predict -4 C for Brownsville next Thurstday! Thats not good for tropicals!

Alexander

[Xenon]

They predict -4 C for Brownsville next Thurstday! Thats not good for tropicals!

Alexander

NWS is predicting a low of 42 next Thursday....

Jonathan

[epicure3]

They predict -4 C for Brownsville next Thurstday! Thats not good for tropicals!

Alexander

NWS is predicting a low of 42 next Thursday....

Jonathan

Seems like that might be a little late.

[txsizzler]

Here in Portland, TX. (about 5 miles across the bay from downtown Corpus Christi), we had our final light freeze last night, with a low of 31. We have had an exceptionally cold January 10th through February 10th timeframe, with 6 freezes being recorded, all here in February, and the only times this entire winter we have seen freezes. Mind you, we only AVERAGE 1 to 3 freezes a year here, due to our proximity to the coast, if we get a freeze at all. Its been a tough go here, and I know alot of people have lost tender tropical vegetation around here due to the extreme amount of freezes.

Other cities of interest so far this winter:

--------------------------------------------

Brownsville, TX. 5 freezes (all in Feb) NWS Yearly Average: 2.3

Harlingen, TX. 6 freezes (all in Feb) NWS Yearly Average: 3.7

McAllen, TX. 5 freezes (all in Feb) NWS Yearly Average: 2.2

Bayview/Port Isabel 5 freezes (all in Feb) NWS Yearly Average: 1.1

Corpus Christi Intl. 12 freezes; 9 this year (1 Nov, 2 in Dec, 9 in Feb) NWS Yearly Average: 5.8

Houston Intercontinental 22 freezes; 16 this year (1 Nov, 5 Dec, 5 Jan, 11 Feb) NWS Yearly Average: 18.0

San Antonio 21 freezes; 14 this year (1 Nov, 6 Dec, 3 Jan, 11 Feb) NWS Yearly Average: 22.0

Austin Bergstrom 41 freezes; 27 this year (1 Nov, 13 Dec, 15 Jan, 12 Feb) NWS Yearly Average: 18.7

Ian