florida Florida Winter 2024-2025

[Hombre de Palmas]

1 hour ago, JD in the OC said:

Still expecting 40deg at my house. Bought a comforter and wrapped my Lipstick and placed two space heaters at the base. Not taking any chances. Luckily it's trunking so fairly mature.  I've been told they hate drought more than they hate a bit of weather in the 40's

Quite the accomplishment keeping that one going.

[Jimbean]

Notice how south Florida isn't really warmer.  This is roughly the high temperatures that can be expected today.

[Hombre de Palmas]

Wind shift here to the NE about two hours ago. Hopefully it will remain that way tonight. NWS mentioned that might be a possibility.

[pj_orlando_z9b]

5 hours ago, JD in the OC said:

Still expecting 40deg at my house. Bought a comforter and wrapped my Lipstick and placed two space heaters at the base. Not taking any chances. Luckily it's trunking so fairly mature.  I've been told they hate drought more than they hate a bit of weather in the 40's

Looks like a nice atrium like effect. Probably get heat from the house. 

[JD in the OC]

38 minutes ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Looks like a nice atrium like effect. Probably get heat from the house. 

Yes that's why i planted it there...gets protection from the house on 3 sides. Atrium effect is a good way to describe it 🤙🏼

[HudsonBill]

23 a few miles away 30 in my yard 3 hours to go. Smfh

[Jimbean]

I'm sitting at 40F here.  Another hour and a half to go.  Probably will be the coldest of the season.  

[Hombre de Palmas]

40°F with a slight N-NE wind.

[flplantguy]

Going to be 27 here looks like on both sensors. Damn.  Not a normal event but not that bad either. Inland cold pocket as low as 22 in multiple spots. Hopefully this BS is done now. Cant sleep cuz i cant breathe anyway but i did cover all but the foxtails and majesty in front. They might make it at their size but will look bad of they do.  32 in downtown NPR too and thats not as typical.

[HudsonBill]

2 minutes ago, flplantguy said:

Going to be 27 here looks like on both sensors. Damn.  Not a normal event but not that bad either. Inland cold pocket as low as 22 in multiple spots. Hopefully this BS is done now. Cant sleep cuz i cant breathe anyway but i did cover all but the foxtails and majesty in front. They might make it at their size but will look bad of they do.  32 in downtown NPR too and thats not as typical.

I didn't protect anything at all. 28 right now....

[flplantguy]

I ran out last minute at 9pm when the temp started crashing and did some. Others will be fried or dead at 26.8 now.  Greenhouse is low 40s.  The main greenhouse i guess will be made for most of the plants to live permanantly if they top out at less than 12 feet or are slow.  I was hoping for more years before a freeze, but i guess im close enough to the cold pocket to expect it frequently. The freeze to the coast isnt typical though, so im waiting to see how it all plays put before i decude how dissapointed i am.

27 minutes ago, HudsonBill said:

I didn't protect anything at all. 28 right now....

 

[HudsonBill]

15 minutes ago, flplantguy said:

I ran out last minute at 9pm when the temp started crashing and did some. Others will be fried or dead at 26.8 now.  Greenhouse is low 40s.  The main greenhouse i guess will be made for most of the plants to live permanantly if they top out at less than 12 feet or are slow.  I was hoping for more years before a freeze, but i guess im close enough to the cold pocket to expect it frequently. The freeze to the coast isnt typical though, so im waiting to see how it all plays put before i decude how dissapointed i am.

 

Interesting taht uoi are colder than me. My thermometer outback is at 28 29ish and my truck says 30.  No noticeable damage to anything yet except for my big elephant ears and bananas I can tell are fried. How long does it take for damage to show on foxtail and royals? 

[flplantguy]

Just now, HudsonBill said:

Interesting taht uoi are colder than me. My thermometer outback is at 28 29ish and my truck says 30.  No noticeable damage to anything yet except for my big elephant ears and bananas I can tell are fried. How long does it take for damage to show on foxtail and royals? 

Once it warms up enough, probably sunday afternoon if not this afternoon.  I also think my location is slightly colder than everywhere close by, but i still have freeze sensitive plants in the yard, native and introduced, so its not typical to hit this temp yearly here. Its been 8 nights of low 30s and one in the upper 20s now (amongst many 40s) so thats a lot of cold to reach freezing.  Im also hoping that chill has the plants more hardened off than November was.  Looking like a total of nearly 6 hours below freezing this time.

[HudsonBill]

7 minutes ago, flplantguy said:

Once it warms up enough, probably sunday afternoon if not this afternoon.  I also think my location is slightly colder than everywhere close by, but i still have freeze sensitive plants in the yard, native and introduced, so its not typical to hit this temp yearly here. Its been 8 nights of low 30s and one in the upper 20s now (amongst many 40s) so thats a lot of cold to reach freezing.  Im also hoping that chill has the plants more hardened off than November was.  Looking like a total of nearly 6 hours below freezing this time.

It went below freezing here im guessing 4 am so 3 to 4 hours here witch isn't horrible I guess. 

[flplantguy]

Quick glance in the yard and there is no frost on plants above ground level, and what is there is minimal. Teddy bear looks fine so far but others are showing damage. Cold spotting already there on Ch. Lutescens, Adonidia (no new damage?) and im sure the foxtails too. Chembeyronias and Ch. Lanceolatus are FRIED.  Dark green on 90+% of the fronds that will switch over to brown when it warms up. Spears and petioles look ok so far. Have not checked the baronii yet but expect it to be ok under its nurse palmetto.  Winter can go away now.

[Brian M]

Brrr... Thought we escaped with no freezing temps this go round. 28F no wind or clouds in sight. Grass and chairs are frosty but plants/palms seems to be frost free. Only thing I'm semi worried about is my Leucothrinax morrisii. Didn't get exposed to frost last year so we'll see what, if any damage it shows. 

[Hombre de Palmas]

Held at 40°F for an absolute low this season...so far.

Thought it would go down after 5AM but I was pleasantly surprised. A bit of a NE wind probably assisted.

Looking good well into February, but always subject to change.

[Brian M]

2 hours ago, Brian M said:

Brrr... Thought we escaped with no freezing temps this go round. 28F no wind or clouds in sight. Grass and chairs are frosty but plants/palms seems to be frost free. Only thing I'm semi worried about is my Leucothrinax morrisii. Didn't get exposed to frost last year so we'll see what, if any damage it shows. 

Quick heat up. Already above 50.

[flplantguy]

Already opened the greenhouse and did a basic damage assessment. Most stark damage so far is the chrysalidocarpus lanceolatus but it should recover. The sun feels hot at 50 degrees lol.

[D. Morrowii]

10 minutes ago, flplantguy said:

Already opened the greenhouse and did a basic damage assessment. Most stark damage so far is the chrysalidocarpus lanceolatus but it should recover. The sun feels hot at 50 degrees lol.

Looks like just the newest leaves were burned? Look pretty good if you exclude those two fronds. 

[flplantguy]

5 minutes ago, D. Morrowii said:

Looks like just the newest leaves were burned? Look pretty good if you exclude those two fronds. 

That was my thought, they shielded the rest and the ones underneath look good. It has a smaller cane thats mostly fine except an opening frond too.  I'll let the canopy fill in as thick as i can now, between that and maturity they should be even better.  It will all look crappy for a bit but thats ok.

[pj_orlando_z9b]

4 hours ago, HudsonBill said:

Interesting taht uoi are colder than me. My thermometer outback is at 28 29ish and my truck says 30.  No noticeable damage to anything yet except for my big elephant ears and bananas I can tell are fried. How long does it take for damage to show on foxtail and royals? 

My foxtail in the 2018 freeze (28F) showed brown on fronds within 24 hours. It was one of my sensitive 10a plants that handled a hard freeze best. My coconut I posted yesterday was 100% defoliated but recovered. 

4 hours ago, flplantguy said:

Once it warms up enough, probably sunday afternoon if not this afternoon.  I also think my location is slightly colder than everywhere close by, but i still have freeze sensitive plants in the yard, native and introduced, so its not typical to hit this temp yearly here. Its been 8 nights of low 30s and one in the upper 20s now (amongst many 40s) so thats a lot of cold to reach freezing.  Im also hoping that chill has the plants more hardened off than November was.  Looking like a total of nearly 6 hours below freezing this time.

I had wondered if any of the sensitive palms can harden off some. 

 

Here in SE Orlando near MCO, got to 39F last night. Been a crazy week but I believe could have been worse without the cloud cover and, odd to say, snowpack to our immediate north. Pretty much 40F to 55F for 5 days.  Long range says enjoy the warmth but could be a sneak arctic outbreak mid to late Feb. I'll enjoy the nice weather and let models do their thing for a couple weeks. Lol

 

[flplantguy]

Plants have a mechanism to "remember" temps they have experienced too. I cant remember the term for it but we do it for light all the time. The first 39 of fall and this 26.6 did equal damage, but to different plants, so its unique to species how they respond.

[Looking Glass]

Sorry you guys are dealing with all of this.  I’m always amazed at the efforts people are willing to put forth to protect your palms up north.   The good news, is that every day the sun gets higher and the days get longer from here on out.   

Here’s a comparison of the weather down this way, for anyone who is interested.  It’s definitely been a colder month than usual overall.  The last two days lows were 49 and 46 respectively, at the house here.  Looks like low temps here will be in the mid 60s next week and in the low 70s the week after.  Which will be a nice change. 
 

So far in 2025…

Last year…..

 

 

 

[kinzyjr]

The minimum in the garden was 35F.  The lowest hourly reading at KLAL was 33.8F.  Currently, that would be the lowest of the winter and of 2025.  There was probably frost in the few parts of the yard that are still open to the sky, but it was gone before I had a chance to observe it.  The airport hourly readings for 01/22/2025 to 01/25/2025 are attached in ZIP format.

20250125_NWS.zip

[pj_orlando_z9b]

36 minutes ago, Looking Glass said:

Sorry you guys are dealing with all of this.  I’m always amazed at the efforts people are willing to put forth to protect your palms up north.   The good news, is that every day the sun gets higher and the days get longer from here on out.   

Here’s a comparison of the weather down this way, for anyone who is interested.  It’s definitely been a colder month than usual overall.  The last two days lows were 49 and 46 respectively, at the house here.  Looks like low temps here will be in the mid 60s next week and in the low 70s the week after.  Which will be a nice change. 
 

So far in 2025…

Last year…..

 

 

 

That looks very nice.  Happy to hear somebody escaped the cold! MCO departures are negative most days this month. About 6 degrees below normal so far. 

[Merlyn]

The low tonight was 31.7F with moderate frost...the nearby airport shows 39F as a low.  I think most of my palms will be okay, and hopefully it killed off the weeds that thought December = summer! 

@Brian M I have one Leucothrinax Morrisii in the front yard.  It took about 25% burn at ~27-28F with frost, and hasn't had any significant damage at higher temps.  The same temperatures and location (within 10-20 feet or so) torched and killed some similarly sized Coccothrinax Barbadensis and Thrinax Radiata.  So far it seems like a fairly tough species!

[flplantguy]

I have a bit of a conundrum. Both my seedling mangoes are untouched and i thought that mid 20s would damage them some. It was below freezing for over 6 hours with 1.5 being below 28, hitting 26.6, so im wondering if the stations are accurate. Foxtails are 50%+ burned, but other plants look fine that would be melted at 27 even under cover. It could be microclimate too; the stations nearby had readings of 31 and 29, and the tempest stations nearby were over 27 at least.  Ill be watching indicator plants nearby too for signs of how cold it got.  I thought the back yard would be warmer but the sensor in back was the same as the tempest, so now im not sure.

[Jimbean]

According to the closest three stations around my house, 39.6F, 39.6F, and 39.4F.  It actually warmed up pretty nice, got up to about 67F today.  So far, still 39.2F for the season.  

Just keep in mind for future reference, with this type of winter pattern, that the west side of Florida gets hit harder than the east side does, and south Florida is relatively chilly compared to central Florida.  Granted, it's 10F-15F below average but the east coast from West Palm Beach up to St. Augustine gets relatively spared.  

[Jimbean]

Tampa for the month of January 2025

Tampa, FL Weather Calendar | Weather Underground

 

Melbourne

 

Melbourne, FL Weather Calendar | Weather Underground

[kinzyjr]

4 minutes ago, Jimbean said:

According to the closest three stations around my house, 39.6F, 39.6F, and 39.4F.  It actually warmed up pretty nice, got up to about 67F today.  So far, still 39.2F for the season.  

Just keep in mind for future reference, with this type of winter pattern, that the west side of Florida gets hit harder than the east side does, and south Florida is relatively chilly compared to central Florida.  Granted, it's 10F-15F below average but the east coast from West Palm Beach up to St. Augustine gets relatively spared.  

A similar thing happened in January 2008.  The east coast of Florida was at or above 30F the whole way up to Fernandina Beach, but we got a radiational freeze down into the 20s on this side of US-27.

[flplantguy]

I pray for fronts with a decent west wind vector for that reason. Sorry everyone over there lol

[SubTropicRay]

Winter is OVA!!!  My lowest low was 38F last night.  Not warm but I’ll take it.  Normally graphics like the one below make me laugh but the Greenland Block is gone and the AO is mountainous positive.  By the time the pattern resets for cold weather, it’ll be last week of February or early March.  Bye bye winter.  Glad we can go back to taking about drought 🤣

 

[Yunder Wækraus]

Does anyone know how Pahokee fared? What was its absolute low?

[Hombre de Palmas]

11 hours ago, SubTropicRay said:

Winter is OVA!!!  My lowest low was 38F last night.  Not warm but I’ll take it.  Normally graphics like the one below make me laugh but the Greenland Block is gone and the AO is mountainous positive.  By the time the pattern resets for cold weather, it’ll be last week of February or early March.  Bye bye winter.  Glad we can go back to taking about drought 🤣

 

I am pretty optimistic about February. The trend is the trend until it isn't, and the isn't part might not come for 30-60 days.

[Brian M]

18 hours ago, Merlyn said:

@Brian M I have one Leucothrinax Morrisii in the front yard.  It took about 25% burn at ~27-28F with frost, and hasn't had any significant damage at higher temps.  The same temperatures and location (within 10-20 feet or so) torched and killed some similarly sized Coccothrinax Barbadensis and Thrinax Radiata.  So far it seems like a fairly tough species!

All of the the tropicals have obvious burns from the frost. The keys thatch has very minimal burn on the lowest fronds. Might have to source a few more for around the yard to add some more small splashes of silver! 

[HudsonBill]

[kinzyjr]

21 hours ago, Yunder Wækraus said:

Does anyone know how Pahokee fared? What was its absolute low?

This link should help:  https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/fl/pahokee/KPHK

If anyone is looking for some off-the-beaten-path stations, the attached sheet is the station master that I've been building over the years.  Having all of the NOAA stations is nice, but filling in some of the data gaps for areas that are under-represented as we go forward will help us more accurately design maps and set expectations for year-to-year and extreme events.  This is the station table I use to build my "zone" maps on Google Maps.  By default, I sorted it by region, station name, and station ID.

20250126_Stations.xlsx

[SubTropicRay]

On 1/25/2025 at 5:20 PM, Jimbean said:

Tampa for the month of January 2025

Tampa, FL Weather Calendar | Weather Underground

 

Melbourne

 

Melbourne, FL Weather Calendar | Weather Underground

Yep classic trough on the west coast.  There are examples of it going the other way.  Roll the dice. 

[flplantguy]

All that cold this month has chilled the shelf waters here considerably. The sea breeze kicked in today and dropped it from 71 to 60 in less than half an hour and stayed low 60s the rest of the day. On the coast is stuck at 58 or so. It will warm up soon enough to the opposite and onshore wind will be brutal the other way come august with a steamy wet towel effect.  Hopefully it moderates soon and stays comfy for spring.