A last look at the palms in Houston

[Xenon]

Massive Arenga engleri and more at Moody Gardens. The collection will be decimated if the 19F NWS call proves to be true. Moody is directly south of water (Offats Bay) and has traditionally been slightly more protected.

 

[Xenon]

Adonidia

Raveneala

 

[NorCalKing]

55 minutes ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

S.Florida is looking better every day

California would disagree . Oh, and what's a hurricane?

[Xenon]

Dypsis decaryi suprises me with its hardiness 

Caryota mitis

 

[amh]

Just now, NorCalKing said:

California would disagree . Oh, and what's a hurricane?

What's a wildfire?

I think the Hawaiians are laughing at us all; when they're not running from lava and cyclones.

[Xenon]

Hope the royals pull through

 

Bottle palm in the neighborhood across the street from Moody

 

[NorCalKing]

Just now, amh said:

What's a wildfire?

I think the Hawaiians are laughing at us all; when they're not running from lava and cyclones.

Touche'!

[amh]

Just now, NorCalKing said:

Touche'!

Nowhere is perfect.

[Xenon]

A few more pics from Houston, around Memorial Pkwy:

[GottmitAlex]

When is it slated to hit Houston?

[Xenon]

Just now, GottmitAlex said:

When is it slated to hit Houston?

Monday night-Tues morning

[EastCanadaTropicals]

3 minutes ago, Xenon said:

Monday night-Tues morning

Houston is milder than I thought. Look at those palms! I bet a dypsis decipens would have a decent chance in Waco.

[GottmitAlex]

Adonidias and bottle palms.  Incredible. Never thought Houston's weather was friendly to those palms.  Very nice!!

[Xenon]

Just now, GottmitAlex said:

Adonidias and bottle palms.  Incredible. Never thought Houston's weather was friendly to those palms.  Very nice!!

Those are in Galveston (Houston's beach). Galveston can go for years and years without a freeze. Once went 13 consecutive winters without dipping below 30F in the late 90s and 2000s. Parts of the island haven't seen below 25F since 1989 which makes a forecast in the teens all the more devastating. 

[RedRabbit]

Isn’t this forecast worse than 1989? 

You all have had a week of freezing temps and there’s about to be a major freeze. This seems like a combination of 2010 and 1989.

Edited February 14, 2021 by RedRabbit

[PalmTreeDude]

I hope at least something marginal survives... Who knows, protect what you can now!  

[ahosey01]

39 minutes ago, GottmitAlex said:

Adonidias and bottle palms.  Incredible. Never thought Houston's weather was friendly to those palms.  Very nice!!

Key here... 

[JohnAndSancho]

1 minute ago, ahosey01 said:

Key here... 

We'll feed them all brisket and mulch them with Dallas Cowboys jerseys in the spring. They'll bounce back. 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

2 hours ago, NorCalKing said:

California would disagree . Oh, and what's a hurricane?

Considering I left SoCal for many reasons,  weather literally being the only reason someone would still live there haha 

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

3 hours ago, Xerarch said:

Right, it's just I remember them being severely damaged a few years ago when parts of the Houston area got down into the upper teens so wasn't positive they were still there.  Right now the forecast for Galveston, at least on weather.com has a low of 25, so if that holds I'm not sure that will kill mature royals in a protected location.  I'm not writing them off quite yet.

Some of those royals died in that freeze, but I believe 4 or 5 pulled through, wonder if any coconuts in Brownsville will pull through, im sure some on padre island will, with that warming water effect

[Xenon]

1 minute ago, Mr.SamuraiSword said:

Some of those royals died in that freeze, but I believe 4 or 5 pulled through, wonder if any coconuts in Brownsville will pull through, im sure some on padre island will, with that warming water effect

Scroll up, Galveston royal pics are up 

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

2 minutes ago, Xenon said:

Scroll up, Galveston royal pics are up 

I saw! looking nice at least for the next 48ish hours, how many were there? I remember there being 5 survivors total after 2011 and 2018 on a different forum

Edited February 14, 2021 by Mr.SamuraiSword

[Xenon]

Just now, Mr.SamuraiSword said:

I saw! looking nice at least for the next 48ish hours, how many were there? 

At least 9 at Moody. There is another one at a residence a few blocks away 

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

12 minutes ago, Xenon said:

At least 9 at Moody. There is another one at a residence a few blocks away 

Dang, all the more pain in the upcoming days.

[James B]

That’s ashame. Come Monday night it’s game over for anything but Butia, Chamerops, Trachycarpus and possible Syagrus or Bismarkia that have enough height on them to keep the bud at a safe level. 
Looks like a lot of old marginal palms that have made this long only to get wiped out in a brutal storm. 

[Matthew92]

I'm amazed to see that most of you all in Texas have hardly had that much freezing up until now- as in one of the pictures I saw Colocasia still green among many other tropicals/annuals. Unfortunately that would make this freeze that much worse since the plants will be shocked after being in active growth mode.

[Xenon]

1 minute ago, Matthew92 said:

I'm amazed to see that most of you all in Texas have hardly had that much freezing up until now- as in one of the pictures I saw Colocasia still green among many other tropicals/annuals. Unfortunately that would make this freeze that much worse since the plants will be shocked after being in active growth mode.

Inner city parts of Houston and the bay/coast haven't seen a freeze since Jan 2018. Real kick in the face 

[NorCalKing]

2 hours ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

Considering I left SoCal for many reasons,  weather literally being the only reason someone would still live there haha 

Oh, I hear you. If it weren't for my wife's work, we'd probably look for greener pastures. But, I would miss the weather, that's for sure. Mid 60's right now even in NorCal.

[AnTonY]

I noticed that the TWC forecast for Houston has now warmed up to 16°F for Monday night - Tuesday morning, in contrast to the 12°F it was showing earlier. If that means anything.

[JohnAndSancho]

23 minutes ago, AnTonY said:

I noticed that the TWC forecast for Houston has now warmed up to 16°F for Monday night - Tuesday morning, in contrast to the 12°F it was showing earlier. If that means anything.

Ours "warmed up" to 12, where it started. Then it went down to 7, then 4, then 3. I celebrated by turning the AC on in my hotel room. 

[palmsOrl]

10 hours ago, Xenon said:

Adonidia

Raveneala

 

That is going to be awful and sad.  Even those large Washingtonia and Phoenix dactylifera are likely going to be destroyed if it gets to 12F per the NWS forecast.

The NWS site forecast is still showing 12F.

[Xenon]

22 minutes ago, palmsOrl said:

That is going to be awful and sad.  Even those large Washingtonia and Phoenix dactylifera are likely going to be destroyed if it gets to 12F per the NWS forecast.

The NWS site forecast is still showing 12F.

Those pics are from Galveston on the coast (within the Houston metro). NWS is calling for 19F there. Still bad considering it hasn't been below 25F there since '89.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Xenon

[Xenon]

Last set of pics are from near Katy, a suburb just under 30 miles due west of downtown Houston. This was the western limit for "pre-2010" queen palms in the Houston Area. This area has seen upper teens a handful of times in the last 30 years and runs significantly colder than Houston proper. Forecast tomorrow night is a low of 7F. 

Bismarckia about 13-14 years in the ground

8-9 years in the ground

These were installed 3 years ago

Another Bismarckia 7-8 years in the ground

Queens around 20 years in the ground that have survived all the benchmark freezes

This one I'll miss the most. Almost 15 years in the ground growing completely exposed with zero care at a gas station. It has been reduced to a stub several times but always comes back. Maybe it's clouded in fairy dust and will survive the next freeze too haha. Such a shame as it was just starting to look its peak. 

An Araucaria bidwilli 10 years in the ground, so it has seen the cold. But can it handle single digits? We'll see. It's a 10 minute walk from me and I just noticed it recently, was flabbergasted at just how prehistoric and striking it looks. Like a dinosaur completely failing to blend in with the southern landscape. 

 

 

[AnTonY]

@Xenon

Sleet is the most ideal scenario you want for Houston, with regards to temps staying milder for lows, along with minimized damage to the environment, infrastructure, etc

Snow will cause the least damage to infrastructure, but a heavy pack could increase chances of the historic records being matched/broken. Freezing rain implies a strong enough warm nose that could keep temps milder, but it also leads to greatest destruction of infrastructure (car crashes, powerlines, treelimb damage, etc).

The EURO and NAM provide the best case scenarios at this point.

Edited February 14, 2021 by AnTonY

[Palmaceae]

I cannot believe this is the forecast for Houston, we are warmer here in the Smokies in Tennessee than most of Southern Texas.  Just about all those tropicals and sub tropicals in the above pictures will be devastated.  The Royals will be killed outright. 

 

 

[Tropicdoc]

15 hours ago, NorCalKing said:

Oh, I hear you. If it weren't for my wife's work, we'd probably look for greener pastures. But, I would miss the weather, that's for sure. Mid 60's right now even in NorCal.

South Louisiana gets both butt ends of the deal.... hurricanes and sweltering heat in summer, Arctic intrusions in winter. Don’t know why I stay. Must be the crawfish.

[sonoranfans]

Very unfortunate to see this impending event, so many beautiful landscapes, very sad.

[NorCalKing]

43 minutes ago, Tropicdoc said:

South Louisiana gets both butt ends of the deal.... hurricanes and sweltering heat in summer, Arctic intrusions in winter. Don’t know why I stay. Must be the crawfish.

Crawfish would probably keep me there too! Yum.

[Meangreen94z]

I took these of an enthusiast’s garden down in Galveston. I don’t believe he’s a member on here.

I haven’t talked to him, but I’m pretty sure he’s upset right now. But it only shows a low of 28.*F tonight, and 25*F tomorrow, and his house is positioned well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NBTX11]

Palm trees are going down, sad to say.  This thing is getting cold.  All but the hardiest of palms are getting slaughtered tonight after a 32 year run of mild weather.