Potential for Florida Freeze in March (and Northern Gulf Coast)

[_Keith]

Well, you know I just could not help but do this.   And yes, it does happen, just last year to be precise.

[Palmaceae]

Oh brother

[RedRabbit]

Maybe in an 8b climate in far northern Florida, but I don't really see a freeze happening elsewhere.  This was a warm year and I think most of Central Florida didn't freeze in January even, the odds of it happening now have got to be <5%.

[Matthew92]

2 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

Maybe in an 8b climate in far northern Florida, but I don't really see a freeze happening elsewhere.  This was a warm year and I think most of Central Florida didn't freeze in January even, the odds of it happening now have got to be <5%.

You're right, it happens in 8b. I remember a low of around 27-26 in March 2012. Usually though IT IS only a light freeze if anything. I'm not really expecting on this year, though still not letting my guard down.

[Alicehunter2000]

We have had a 10a winter along the North Florida Panhandle Coast..........I expect tremendous growth in the garden this year. Hoping for a warm March.

[nitsua0895]

I highly doubt there will be a freeze in Flrorida this March. The forecast that goes all the way to March 16th for Montgomery has a low of 36F on Thursday morning but then we stay warm after that. I'm even seeing some 80F highs about a week from now. So my Phoenix Roebelinii is out of the greenhouse finally.

I still can't believe how close we came to a zone 10a winter here.

 

 

[Bill H2DB]

   Here's the Data for East Central Florida . :

 

Orlando March by Bill H, on Flickr

 

Daytona Beach March by Bill H, on Flickr

 

Melbourne  March by Bill H, on Flickr

[Silas_Sancona]

.. Frost or freeze, here, this month?  ..extremely doubtful. Alligator in a dress, Very possible.

[gsytch]

Those were surprising numbers for sure, but many were set a long time ago. There is no real cold air headed south.Nothing in any long range has Tampa Bay even below 50F so spring has arrived. We could use some rain here as we missed all the last time around, and we know how dry spring can become. This winter was another 10A winter in New Port Richey (low 34F twice) making it at least 5 straight years now. 

[Matthew92]

Ughh... 36 degrees this morning, I hate this! I hope and pray the blossoms on my citrus (some were on track to have their best bloom in a while) that were just starting to open and all the new tender leaves still flushing out didn't get fried, as well as the emerging leaves on some very small deciduous trees I had planted in our street median.

A couple years ago though we had a couple nights around freezing when my citrus were blooming/flushing out. And surprisingly, the blossoms were just unscathed enough to continue on.

[RedRabbit]

2 hours ago, Opal92 said:

Ughh... 36 degrees this morning, I hate this! I hope and pray the blossoms on my citrus (some were on track to have their best bloom in a while) that were just starting to open and all the new tender leaves still flushing out didn't get fried, as well as the emerging leaves on some very small deciduous trees I had planted in our street median.

A couple years ago though we had a couple nights around freezing when my citrus were blooming/flushing out. And surprisingly, the blossoms were just unscathed enough to continue on.

It was pretty cold here too. I recorded 44.7 on my porch which I'd guess would have put the open yard at 42-43... I'm sure some places in Florida saw a freeze this morning.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

36 yesterday with very light frost here, but many areas west and north were below freezing yesterday morning. We did a job in Allen, tx over the weekend that had an almost tree full of fruit. I'm sure that the tree may have defoliated as that area was in the high 20's per the news.

[_Keith]

I really started this for the humor, but as I said "it does happen."

[Palmaceae]

I had 46 for a low here in Cape Coral, pretty chilly for this time of the year.

[Zeeth]

Low of 40˚ at my apartment, with a low of 42˚ at my garden. Not all that bad, but it was definitely a surprise. We did warm up pretty quickly, and it felt like a regular spring day by the afternoon.

 

Anna Maria Island only got down to 57˚, showing how good it's microclimate is. 

[RedRabbit]

3 hours ago, Zeeth said:

Low of 40˚ at my apartment, with a low of 42˚ at my garden. Not all that bad, but it was definitely a surprise. We did warm up pretty quickly, and it felt like a regular spring day by the afternoon.

 

Anna Maria Island only got down to 57˚, showing how good it's microclimate is. 

You and I are in big trouble if it ever freezes at AMI! I'm kind of surprised your garden didn't stay a little warmer, that's the second time this year it has been the same or almost the same as New Tampa.

Do you have anything planted at your apartment?

[Zeeth]

29 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

You and I are in big trouble if it ever freezes at AMI! I'm kind of surprised your garden didn't stay a little warmer, that's the second time this year it has been the same or almost the same as New Tampa.

Do you have anything planted at your apartment?

Yeah, it's too bad there isn't much data from AMI that goes back very far. It stayed above freezing in 2010, and there are coconuts there as tall as the Jamaican talls I saw in the Keys, so I don't know when the last freeze there was. It must have gotten into the 20's during 1962, but there are coconuts that look like they predate that freeze, so there obviously were survivors. 

The temperature difference between my garden and my apartment has been pretty wacky this year. It didn't get too cold at the garden, but the difference was way less than I expected. I honestly think that Tampa just had a good winter, because I still recorded the same lows as the Sarasota Airport, which seems to always be within half a degree of me for the coldest cold snaps. It definitely seems weird that New Tampa had the same ultimate low this winter as SRQ, which is 50 miles further south and right on the Sarasota Bay. 

I've got a few plants in pots on my balcony. I've got 2 Jamaican tall coconuts (1 from a tall one on Anna Maria Island and 1 from Big Pine Key), 1 unknown coconut (that I think is a Fiji Dwarf), 1 Lemon Zest mango, a chocolate plant, a small C. renda, some <1 year seedlings (coffee, limonia acidissima, Sabal lisa, Pritchardia beccariana), and orchids in pots and mounted on Sabal palmetto bark from a tree I found in the woods that had been killed by palmetto weevil (I've got Brassavola nodosa, Encyclia boothiana, Encyclia pyriformis x tampensis, a red Cattleya, a Blc Waianae Leopard 'Ching Hua', Miltassia shelob tolkien, and a Phalaenopsis). 

[RedRabbit]

1 hour ago, Zeeth said:

Yeah, it's too bad there isn't much data from AMI that goes back very far. It stayed above freezing in 2010, and there are coconuts there as tall as the Jamaican talls I saw in the Keys, so I don't know when the last freeze there was. It must have gotten into the 20's during 1962, but there are coconuts that look like they predate that freeze, so there obviously were survivors. 

The temperature difference between my garden and my apartment has been pretty wacky this year. It didn't get too cold at the garden, but the difference was way less than I expected. I honestly think that Tampa just had a good winter, because I still recorded the same lows as the Sarasota Airport, which seems to always be within half a degree of me for the coldest cold snaps. It definitely seems weird that New Tampa had the same ultimate low this winter as SRQ, which is 50 miles further south and right on the Sarasota Bay. 

I've got a few plants in pots on my balcony. I've got 2 Jamaican tall coconuts (1 from a tall one on Anna Maria Island and 1 from Big Pine Key), 1 unknown coconut (that I think is a Fiji Dwarf), 1 Lemon Zest mango, a chocolate plant, a small C. renda, some <1 year seedlings (coffee, limonia acidissima, Sabal lisa, Pritchardia beccariana), and orchids in pots and mounted on Sabal palmetto bark from a tree I found in the woods that had been killed by palmetto weevil (I've got Brassavola nodosa, Encyclia boothiana, Encyclia pyriformis x tampensis, a red Cattleya, a Blc Waianae Leopard 'Ching Hua', Miltassia shelob tolkien, and a Phalaenopsis). 

I agree on Tampa having a good winter, but it seems like areas south would have a good winter too?

One thing I've learned since using Wunderground is there's a lot more randomness in temperature than I would have expected. I know people have different thermometers and some are under canopy or near a house or whatever the case may be so you can really only expect accuracy to within about 5f... Here's the thing though, if I find a station that is 3f warmer then with all else being equal I'd expect there to be some consistency in the readings being about 3f warmer but that really isn't the case. Apparently there is just a fair bit of natural variance in temperatures through different cold events.

[Bill H2DB]

Maybe we should have classifications like :   Climate / Mini Climate / Micro Climate / Nano Climate / .............

 

 

[Steve the palmreader]

14 hours ago, Zeeth said:

Low of 40˚ at my apartment, with a low of 42˚ at my garden. Not all that bad, but it was definitely a surprise. We did warm up pretty quickly, and it felt like a regular spring day by the afternoon.

 

Anna Maria Island only got down to 57˚, showing how good it's microclimate is. 

There was frost in the Alva area of eastern Lee Co.

[RedRabbit]

13 hours ago, Steve the palmreader said:

There was frost in the Alva area of eastern Lee Co.

I'm pretty sure it froze in Hernando County.

 

I was driving to work on a different route today (took Armenia instead of Dale Mabry as usual) and noticed all the adonidias had damage. I'm guessing it was actually from February, but I was kind of surprised because until now I hadn't seen anything get damaged in Tampa at all. Apparently it must have gotten a little colder when you go east of Himes.