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View Full Version : Warmer-than-average winter in US acc to TWC


Natureboy
11-30-2011, 06:47 PM
The Weather Channel is predicting a relatively mild winter this year due to "La Nina" and I hope they're right (but, you know how that goes)! I just had two Mysores and a D. Brazilian flower within the past few weeks, so maybe they'll have a chance to actually mature fruit... we could really use a mild winter after the past two killers.

Experts say Prepare for a More Mild Winter - weather.com (http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/winter-outlook-for-december-to-february_2011-11-21)

caliboy1994
11-30-2011, 06:51 PM
*cough* global warming *cough cough*

nannerfunboi
11-30-2011, 07:27 PM
sure would love a warmer winter here!!!!
from TWC to mother natures ears!!!!! :)
were getting a big storm in here tonite tomorrow..
less snow..but high winds.. sigh.. :(
im all battened down though..so i should be ok..

caliboy1994
11-30-2011, 07:32 PM
Things have been farily mild too here, lately. The only thing that hasn't been mild are the winds...

eric27
11-30-2011, 08:05 PM
Nate I've never been a fan of the weather channel, but yeah for you La Nina's generally (in a normal La Nina episode) give the south and southeast a warmer than average winter. But up here in WI, upper Midwest etc we tend to have a below average winter temp wise, especially in the second half of Jan and into Feb. We tend to have mild falls, like this year and last, until La Nina really kicks in. December's here are average or so. Recent storms have already begun to have the La Nina pattern, coming through the Ohio Valley near here.

I'm a weather freak along with gardening. If it wasn't for the math I would have gone into it as a career! But aside from that I always plan my winterizing for my basjoo etc that I keep outside all winter based on the weather research I do for the upcoming season, using past data, patterns etc. This year and last I planned accordingly for La Nina here. You should do well I think.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/ENSO/composites/lanina.djf.temp.gif


Eric

Jack Daw
11-30-2011, 08:10 PM
It's unusually warm here too. BUT for a change, I would prefer it to be a little colder, so that the bacteria die out. :/
It's never perfect. :D

Richard
11-30-2011, 08:10 PM
For my mix of plants, I would prefer to have a normal zone 10 winter with about 300 hours of "chill". Last year was outstanding.

eric27
11-30-2011, 08:13 PM
Richard I wouldn't mind having your zone 10 winter here too. What is the coldest you got last year roughly?

Natureboy
11-30-2011, 08:20 PM
I should have labeled the thread, "Warmer-than-average winter for SOME of the U.S." :)

I'm just so excited about even the possibility of a warmer winter! I've gone with more cold-hardy subtropical and temperate plants in recent years. It's just not worth fretting over everything.

Natureboy
11-30-2011, 08:23 PM
I would prefer to have a normal zone 10 winter with about 300 hours of "chill"...

I don't mind a little "chill", but when it gets into the low 20's - ouch.

caliboy1994
11-30-2011, 08:33 PM
I'll be happy as long as the leaves on my plants don't get frost-killed. Thankfully things have been staying relatively warm.

eric27
11-30-2011, 08:40 PM
Low 20s!!!! It was in the low 40s today-for the high. That felt balmy. haha!

caliboy1994
11-30-2011, 08:43 PM
Low 20s!!!! It was in the low 40s today-for the high. That felt balmy. haha!

Wow! I feel lucky! Lowest it's gotten here since '00 is 31 degrees! I can actually leave my new Mysore outside all winter...

Richard
11-30-2011, 08:48 PM
Richard I wouldn't mind having your zone 10 winter here too. What is the coldest you got last year roughly?

My low was probably above some of your daily highs!

We had maybe 40 nights where at 11pm it was in the high 30's (F). Out of those, maybe 10 would drop to low 30's right before sunrise, and then warm up again to around 50 F within an hour. This behavior occurs in Dec., Jan., and the beginning of Feb.

For fruiting plants that require "chill hours", the critical time is between Nov. 1 and Jan. 1: the number of hours below 45 minus the number of hours above 65.

eric27
11-30-2011, 10:20 PM
Wow! I feel lucky! Lowest it's gotten here since '00 is 31 degrees! I can actually leave my new Mysore outside all winter...

I'm so jealous. Next week Monday we won't even hit 31! Enjoy those warm temps!


My low was probably above some of your daily highs!

We had maybe 40 nights where at 11pm it was in the high 30's (F). Out of those, maybe 10 would drop to low 30's right before sunrise, and then warm up again to around 50 F within an hour. This behavior occurs in Dec., Jan., and the beginning of Feb.

For fruiting plants that require "chill hours", the critical time is between Nov. 1 and Jan. 1: the number of hours below 45 minus the number of hours above 65.


It sure sounds like it! That is very interesting. Thanks for the info. There are times where we can a whole week without hitting 32 for a high. There is a huge difference between the 5 zones that seperate us.

Richard
11-30-2011, 10:48 PM
I'm so jealous. Next week Monday we won't even hit 31! Enjoy those warm temps!

Not to rub it in too much ... but while visiting Alaska this summer I learned that Anchorage has a warmer winter than you do, albeit in the dark.

palmtree
12-01-2011, 03:15 AM
Probably will be an average winter here. November was mild here. We got to 73F on Monday and were in the 60s for about 4 days this week. Now its more December like with days in the 50s and 40s (luckily, still a good amount of 50s and sun). No hard freezes in the 10 day forecast which is good since my lantanas decided to start re-blooming! Not bad for December.
Florida defintiely deserves a mild winter! The past 2 winters have been way too cold down there!

Nicolas Naranja
12-01-2011, 10:00 AM
For those of us on the East coast we have to be concerned about the north atlantic oscillation. I believe last year was a La niņa as well and we got hammered. It doesn't look like we'll have early freezes like we did last year.

eric27
12-01-2011, 10:33 AM
Richard I'll take the cold and some sun over the dark any day!

Nick I remember that. Yeah last year was a La Nina, and the year before was an El Nino. It's been a rough few years now. NAO does have a big impact on the East Coast and can easily override La Nina/El Nino influences for the East Coast. It was a very nasty North Atlantic blocking pattern that gave Florida snow, ah last year or the year before. I'm sure you know when that was!

Bananaman88
12-01-2011, 12:44 PM
I'm not holding my breath. I'm in Houston and we've already had a little frost which has burned the leaves on some of my banana plants. That's about 3-4 weeks before our average first frost here. Hopefully it's an anomoly but I've always lost all of my banana leaves and some pstem growth to the cold here. A milder winter would be OK with me.

JasmineT
12-01-2011, 06:42 PM
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=47060[/img] (][img)

I just use my Rasputia meter (shown above) Last winter it was extra cold, and her fur was so thick she looked like a Q-tip with legs. This winter, she only has a medium coat, so here on the West Coast, I don't expect to see much freezing weather, but am trying out an umbrella based prototype for a banana cloche for my Orinoco mat. Basically, I'm covering a beach umbrella frame with clear vinyl, the seams will be glued, and it will be able to fold and be stowed. The vinyl "skirting" will Velcro and tie onto the edge of the umbrella. All of the smaller bananas are in pots, and can be pulled into the gazebo/greenhouse for the coldest weather. It's Dec. 1st and we're seeing Santa Ana winds in both Southern and Northern California. I grew up here, and have never seen this kind of weather.

Blake09
12-01-2011, 07:13 PM
Its warmer than normal here too. We had a light frost really early in the fall and we are now getting normal frosts here. The bananas keep on growing and putting out new leaves, then the frost kills them and so on. It will be warm for 1 week and then cold another, I either want it to be cold or warm from now on... Crazy weather!

Richard
12-01-2011, 09:27 PM
It's Dec. 1st and we're seeing Santa Ana winds in both Southern and Northern California. I grew up here, and have never seen this kind of weather.

I've seen it every year for the last decade here in San Diego county.