Northern CA freeze

[Steve the palmreader]

So is the polar jet

We're done in Norcal.........

At least in Socal it will be off the ocean for a few hours. I hate the polar jet.. i'm moving south

[enigma99]

td is currently @ 30.3F here at 7PM. Crystal clear skies and the temp is already 43. wow....... Truly something historic happening tonight... records to be shattered.. and that's not a good thing for tropical growers

Edited February 26, 2011 by enigma99

[Jim in Los Altos]

I was out running errands and when I came out of the store I could feel the difference in air temp. The sun hadn't set yet but it was getting lower in the sky. Felt very cold so I'm not surprised by your temp drop enigma99. Heard we should it expect sudden drops when the cold air mass moved in after the rain. We were about 50F during the day when I was out and our local high school is reporting 44.5F with a windchill of 41F. And it does feel that cold! We moved from Chicago and were glad to get out the cold winter weather so I'm not loving this right now. We're predicted to be 32F with an 80% chance of rain tonight, which won't be good. Next two days even predicted colder.

While out I also couldn't help but notice the number of palms already fried (mostly younger Queens that were brown) or looking cold effected (mature fans and others with lower fronds looking brownish and upper ones looking kind of yellowish) and we haven't even have the really cold temps yet. It's rained off and on over the past two days and this morning my palm rings were filled. We're in the middle of a yard remodel and other parts of the yard were flooded and looking like a swimming pool. Might be a skating rink at some point! Before coming in the house this afternoon I looked at our taller mule and I think some of the leaflets were looking a little yellow. This is my first winter with palms so I'm a bit nervous of what they will look like in a few days. Not much to do about it but hope for the best. Good luck everyone with your gardens.

Debbie, you're worrying way too much. Your palms will laugh at 32 degrees. They'd laugh at 22 degrees. It's been no where near cold enough to affect queens either. They usually start showing cold damage in the mid 20s or lower. The queens in your area I've noticed that don't look great are nutrient deficient. Queens need lots of food and/or very organically fertile soil. I lived in your area in 1990 when we had an all-time record cold week where the temperatures dropped to the upper teens and most palms recovered by mid to late summer...even the queens! ;-)

[ghar41]

I was out running errands and when I came out of the store I could feel the difference in air temp. The sun hadn't set yet but it was getting lower in the sky. Felt very cold so I'm not surprised by your temp drop enigma99. Heard we should it expect sudden drops when the cold air mass moved in after the rain. We were about 50F during the day when I was out and our local high school is reporting 44.5F with a windchill of 41F. And it does feel that cold! We moved from Chicago and were glad to get out the cold winter weather so I'm not loving this right now. We're predicted to be 32F with an 80% chance of rain tonight, which won't be good. Next two days even predicted colder.

While out I also couldn't help but notice the number of palms already fried (mostly younger Queens that were brown) or looking cold effected (mature fans and others with lower fronds looking brownish and upper ones looking kind of yellowish) and we haven't even have the really cold temps yet. It's rained off and on over the past two days and this morning my palm rings were filled. We're in the middle of a yard remodel and other parts of the yard were flooded and looking like a swimming pool. Might be a skating rink at some point! Before coming in the house this afternoon I looked at our taller mule and I think some of the leaflets were looking a little yellow. This is my first winter with palms so I'm a bit nervous of what they will look like in a few days. Not much to do about it but hope for the best. Good luck everyone with your gardens.

Debbie, you're worrying way too much. Your palms will laugh at 32 degrees. They'd laugh at 22 degrees. It's been no where near cold enough to affect queens either. They usually start showing cold damage in the mid 20s or lower. The queens in your area I've noticed that don't look great are nutrient deficient. Queens need lots of food and/or very organically fertile soil. I lived in your area in 1990 when we had an all-time record cold week where the temperatures dropped to the upper teens and most palms recovered by mid to late summer...even the queens! ;-)

Youre right Jim. The forcast here is for 35F tonight and 32F tommorrow. This is turning into a wimpy freeze.

[Sutter Bob]

I hope this cold snap doesn't live up to its hype. I was too lazy to cover more than just a few sensitive palms today.

Looks like it might not be too bad.

[PalmGuyWC]

After all the hype from the media about snow in San Francisco, it never happened. OK, there were a few whimpey wet flakes on top of Twin Peaks, but not much more. It takes clouds to make snow and there were only a few widely scattered buildups. The low passed just far enough off shore to miss most of the Bay Area. It is clear and cold this morning with a white frost and a low at my place of 30F, but it's supposed to be colder tonight.

Dick

[Palmy]

Lol, in a meteorologist eyes, too bad

It would have been awesome to see SF in a blanket of snow uhhh without all the accidents and dead palms .

Oh well... Once again, forecasts for snow in SF was a farce. Looked like it was a real possibility if there was just enough moisture.

[enigma99]

Had a low down to around my dew point, which is what you would expect (30F). And it didn't drop below 32 until 6AM so damage was minimal...

Right now NNW wind is kicking up, which will surely drop the dew points, but it is sunny so we'll see

[WestCoastGal]

I was out running errands and when I came out of the store I could feel the difference in air temp. The sun hadn't set yet but it was getting lower in the sky. Felt very cold so I'm not surprised by your temp drop enigma99. Heard we should it expect sudden drops when the cold air mass moved in after the rain. We were about 50F during the day when I was out and our local high school is reporting 44.5F with a windchill of 41F. And it does feel that cold! We moved from Chicago and were glad to get out the cold winter weather so I'm not loving this right now. We're predicted to be 32F with an 80% chance of rain tonight, which won't be good. Next two days even predicted colder.

While out I also couldn't help but notice the number of palms already fried (mostly younger Queens that were brown) or looking cold effected (mature fans and others with lower fronds looking brownish and upper ones looking kind of yellowish) and we haven't even have the really cold temps yet. It's rained off and on over the past two days and this morning my palm rings were filled. We're in the middle of a yard remodel and other parts of the yard were flooded and looking like a swimming pool. Might be a skating rink at some point! Before coming in the house this afternoon I looked at our taller mule and I think some of the leaflets were looking a little yellow. This is my first winter with palms so I'm a bit nervous of what they will look like in a few days. Not much to do about it but hope for the best. Good luck everyone with your gardens.

Debbie, you're worrying way too much. Your palms will laugh at 32 degrees. They'd laugh at 22 degrees. It's been no where near cold enough to affect queens either. They usually start showing cold damage in the mid 20s or lower. The queens in your area I've noticed that don't look great are nutrient deficient. Queens need lots of food and/or very organically fertile soil. I lived in your area in 1990 when we had an all-time record cold week where the temperatures dropped to the upper teens and most palms recovered by mid to late summer...even the queens! ;-)

LOL, thanks Jim. I actually mistakenly thought that the mules were cold hardy to something like high 20s. It was some time ago that I had done my original research on them on the Northern California Palm Society site (which indicated that they are much more hardier than that), and obviously forgot what made them the perfect shade palm for us in our area. Chalk it up to being a nervous first time palm mom! I feel much better now.

Edited February 26, 2011 by WestCoastGal

[enigma99]

dew point (td) = 29.5 so I think 28 for tonight.

[PalmGuyWC]

My low was 29 this morning, but I expected much lower. It was not quite as cold or for as long as the event we had back around Thanksgiving. It is supposed to be somewhat warmer tonight with some clouds and a high today of around 55 under clear skies. I am now officially tired of winter and ready for some warmth.

Dick

[PalmGuyWC]

It warmed up considerably more than predicted today. At 2 PM it's 67F, sunny and nice.

Dick

[enigma99]

Over here in Rocklin, it was 28F last night. But now has rebounded quite nicely (little hot in the sun!), but humidity is down to 40%. Thank goodness that the solar angle is much higher otherwise, this would have been ugly in December!

[WestCoastGal]

According to a nearby weather station our temps went down to 27.5F at 6:30am Sunday and stayed there until 7am when they slowly started to climb. Didn't get past 32F until a bit after 8am. Basically 32F or lower from around 11pm last night until 8am this morning.

The previous night saw 32F or lower from around midnight til 8am Saturday. Didn't reach 20s, but it's been pretty cold here.

I assume this is considered a hard freeze??

Dick, I'm with you in being ready for this winter to be over. I'm anxious for our backyard landscaping to be done. Heard we still might get rain midweek and don't know when our workers will be back to work on the BBQ island. Still hoping to make it your way once the weather gets nicer.

Edited February 27, 2011 by WestCoastGal

[Jim in Los Altos]

According to a nearby weather station our temps went down to 27.5F at 6:30am Sunday and stayed there until 7am when they slowly started to climb. Didn't get past 32F until a bit after 8am. Basically 32F or lower from around 11pm last night until 8am this morning.

The previous night saw 32F or lower from around midnight til 8am Saturday. Didn't reach 20s, but it's been pretty cold here.

I assume this is considered a hard freeze??

Dick, I'm with you in being ready for this winter to be over. I'm anxious for our backyard landscaping to be done. Heard we still might get rain midweek and don't know when our workers will be back to work on the BBQ island. Still hoping to make it your way once the weather gets nicer.

Debbie, your workmen should do what mine do. They erect an enclosed tent (portable garage) over their work (outdoor kitchen etc.) and work right through the ugliest of weather.

My low was 33F this morning and we had 60F this afternoon. 33F ties with the lowest temp. in November as my lowest this year. Like Dick and Debbie, I'm totally ready for warm weather.