Spring "Freeze out"

[Geos]

Down to freezing just before 1am. Dewpoints in the mid 20s.

Last freezing temperature last spring: April 21st.

[NW Storm]

Down to freezing just before 1am. Dewpoints in the mid 20s.

Last freezing temperature last spring: April 21st.

Yep same here. Actually, for at least the last four springs in the South Bend area the last freeze has been around April 20th or the 21st.

[michsnowfreak]

Freeze warning tonight, and an outside shot for Detroit at the record low of 28F. Chances of a record low look quite high for Sunday. And if you believe the NAM, a record snowstorm on Saturday.

Station ID: KDTW Lat:   42.23 Long:  -83.33                                                        
NAM Model Run: 18Z 26APR 2012
 HR Valid     2m Tmp 2m Dpt 10m Dir 10m Spd TPrcp CPrcp 1000-500 500mb 850mb 500mb MSLP TCC PRS WX   Tot    Snowfall  Vis
               Deg F  Deg F   deg      kt    in.   in.     Thk    GPH   Tmp   Tmp   mb   %  TEXT    Clouds      in    SM
  0 04/26 18Z   56     46     329      13    0.00  0.00    550    556    3.9 -15.7 1006  92       019BKN074    0.0   15.0
  3 04/26 21Z   53     45     316      13    0.01  0.00    546    555    1.0 -16.9 1010  97 -RA   020BKN075    0.0   12.0
  6 04/27 00Z   49     37     341      15    0.02  0.00    541    553   -2.4 -17.9 1013  81       033BKN068    0.0   15.0
  9 04/27 03Z   41     31     337       9    0.00  0.00    538    552   -3.2 -17.5 1017   9       016FEW070    0.0   15.0
 12 04/27 06Z   35     25     325      10    0.00  0.00    535    551   -4.7 -16.6 1019  18       296FEW312    0.0   15.0
 15 04/27 09Z   30     22     330       7    0.00  0.00    536    552   -5.6 -16.6 1020   4       181FEW248    0.0   15.0
 18 04/27 12Z   34     22     315       7    0.00  0.00    536    554   -5.6 -17.1 1023   3       015FEW063    0.0   15.0
 21 04/27 15Z   46     20     324       8    0.00  0.00    537    556   -5.6 -16.8 1023   0          CLR       0.0   15.0
 24 04/27 18Z   52     20     331      10    0.00  0.00    540    559   -4.3 -16.4 1022   0          CLR       0.0   15.0
 27 04/27 21Z   53     21     335       7    0.00  0.00    543    561   -2.8 -15.9 1021   0          CLR       0.0   15.0
 30 04/28 00Z   50     24     350       3    0.00  0.00    545    563   -2.4 -15.4 1022   2       279FEW340    0.0   15.0
 33 04/28 03Z   40     27      79       8    0.00  0.00    546    564   -2.6 -16.1 1023  38       194SCT354    0.0   15.0
 36 04/28 06Z   38     28     100       7    0.00  0.00    544    564   -2.5 -15.7 1024  99       141OVC331    0.0   15.0
 39 04/28 09Z   39     27     107       7    0.00  0.00    545    563   -1.9 -15.7 1022 100       092OVC272    0.0   15.0
 42 04/28 12Z   40     27     101       9    0.00  0.00    545    563   -3.4 -15.9 1021 100       039OVC336    0.0   14.6
 45 04/28 15Z   39     29     105      11    0.01  0.00    546    563   -0.5 -16.1 1020 100 -RA   018OVC321    0.0   13.4
 48 04/28 18Z   32     31      66       7    0.33  0.00    545    561   -0.1 -14.6 1019 100 SN    002OVC352    3.3    0.0
 51 04/28 21Z   31     31      65      10    0.37  0.00    545    558   -0.4 -15.5 1017 100 SN    002OVC259    3.9    0.2
 54 04/29 00Z   31     31      52      10    0.22  0.00    543    557   -1.0 -15.6 1017 100 SN    002OVC282    2.2    0.4
 57 04/29 03Z   32     31      30       6    0.18  0.00    540    555   -1.5 -16.5 1018 100 -SN   062OVC268    1.2    7.2
 60 04/29 06Z   29     27     327       6    0.00  0.00    538    554   -2.9 -19.0 1019  46       005SCT029    0.0    4.6
 63 04/29 09Z   24     23     340       5    0.00  0.00    538    554   -2.7 -18.5 1021  55       037BKN080    0.0    5.1
 66 04/29 12Z   24     23     303       3    0.00  0.00    537    555   -3.9 -19.2 1023  29       005SCT009    0.0    8.1
 69 04/29 15Z   33     30     279       5    0.00  0.00    535    555   -4.7 -20.2 1025   0          CLR       0.0   15.0
 72 04/29 18Z   39     33     288       7    0.00  0.00    534    555   -4.2 -20.9 1025   1          CLR       0.0   15.1
 75 04/29 21Z   48     35     328       8    0.00  0.00    536    555   -3.6 -21.3 1023   5       085FEW121    0.0   15.0
 78 04/30 00Z   46     37     351       2    0.00  0.00    537    557   -3.0 -21.2 1024   6       172FEW207    0.0   15.0
 81 04/30 03Z   37     33      98       6    0.00  0.00    537    559   -2.8 -20.7 1027  14       353FEW353    0.0   14.8
 84 04/30 06Z   33     28      95       3    0.00  0.00    539    562   -3.5 -15.9 1028  26       100SCT289    0.0   13.1

[Geos]

Freeze warning tonight, and an outside shot for Detroit at the record low of 28F. Chances of a record low look quite high for Sunday. And if you believe the NAM, a record snowstorm on Saturday.

~~~

Low of about 30° is what I'm expecting tonight.

Been watching the NAM closely. The precipitation doesn't come in with the best timing. Looks like a 12pm-12am event right now. If precipitation delays ~6 hours and the 0z & 6z runs still show snow, then I definitely think we have something to worry about. 0z runs should have a better handle on things.

Edit: Check out the SREF plume data http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/sref/eplumes/index.php?PRM=Total-SNO&INC=ALL&NNC=&RT=03&max=&min=&SID=LAN Link is for Lansing.

Tonight:

[Hoosier]

Freeze warning tonight.

[daddylonglegs]

18z GFS looks warmer this weekend...only showing lows of 32/34F here...

Planted a bunch of marigolds today...-probably a mistake.

[Indystorm]

Hard freeze warning for Michiana area and much of northern IN tonight.Very concerned for apple growers in my immediate area whose buds have previously been nipped. Sw MI grape growers said that 70% of their first buds were damaged by earlier frost episodes and asked for an emergency declaration. I can only imagine what tonight might bring with sustained temps around 28-32 for a number of hours. We are really in uncharted territory after such record setting warmth in March.

[Geos]

Geez, 40° here right at sunset. Winds lightening up...

Edit: 37° at 8:45. 3° drop/hour

Dewpoint of 30° will lead to some frost tonight.

[SpartyOn]

18z GFS looks warmer this weekend...only showing lows of 32/34F here...

Planted a bunch of marigolds today...-probably a mistake.

Shame on you

Always wait to plant the annuals until after mothers day.

[Geos]

32° as of 11pm. Frosty outside. See how long it actually stays below freezing tonight!

I guess MKX is getting tired of issuing frost and freeze advisories/warnings!

[Tropical]

Ok MKX really dropped the ball tonight. I know most garden centers now have ALL their annuals outside, along with tomato and pepper plants ... and a lot of people have been planting.

It's down to 27.3F outside! Where is my freeze warning??? Luckily I was smart enough and turned my heater on in my greenhouse before I went to bed. Otherwise, everything in there would be fried!

[IWXwx]

Ok MKX really dropped the ball tonight. I know most garden centers now have ALL their annuals outside, along with tomato and pepper plants ... and a lot of people have been planting.

It's down to 27.3F outside! Where is my freeze warning??? Luckily I was smart enough and turned my heater on in my greenhouse before I went to bed. Otherwise, everything in there would be fried!

IWX went the opposite route and went overboard with a Hard Freeze Warning while all of the surrounding CWA's have a regular freeze warning. All reporting stations in the IWX area at 6 AM have temps between 29-32. I thought a Hard Freeze Warning was reserved for temps falling to 28 or below for several hours.

[dmc76]

Got down to 29.

[Tropical]

Drove by my favorite garden center on the way to work. They had the intelligence to cover everything even though no frost advisory or freeze warning was issued. Props to them!!

[BowMeHunter]

Ok MKX really dropped the ball tonight. I know most garden centers now have ALL their annuals outside, along with tomato and pepper plants ... and a lot of people have been planting.

It's down to 27.3F outside! Where is my freeze warning??? Luckily I was smart enough and turned my heater on in my greenhouse before I went to bed. Otherwise, everything in there would be fried!

anybody stupid enough to plant very tender vegetables and annuals this early deserve them to die.

[Tropical]

anybody stupid enough to plant very tender vegetables and annuals this early deserve them to die.

We're past the average FROST date (April 26th along the lake counties). That's 32F. We were 5F below that.

MKX screwed the pooch on this one, no one can say differently.

[A-L-E-K]

might have bottomed out around 41.

[daddylonglegs]

37F here for the low... Clouds moved in and took care of any frost/freeze...

I know Turtle has talked about MKX and their lack of any freeze warnings...

Home Depot here had all their stuff covered the other night when I drove by... Menards is smart enough to have built a covered area outside to protect tender plants.

[BowMeHunter]

We're past the average FROST date (April 26th along the lake counties). That's 32F. We were 5F below that.

MKX screwed the pooch on this one, no one can say differently.

and you shouldn't plant very tender veg until at least 2+ weeks after the avg last frost. which is more like mid-may lake side counties. Plus VT veg likes temps in the 70+ Not 40's and 50's that are still common along the lake in May. Always have and always will only plant very tenders in the ground during the last week of may. There is really no benefit doing it earlier.

[Tropical]

and you shouldn't plant very tender veg until at least 2+ weeks after the avg last frost. which is more like mid-may lake side counties. Plus VT veg likes temps in the 70+ Not 40's and 50's that are still common along the lake in May. Always have and always will only plant very tenders in the ground during the last week of may. There is really no benefit doing it earlier.

Mid-May is not the average last frost for us. It's April 26 - May 2.

What we had last night was a hard freeze, which is usually done with by mid April.

See map.

Color Key to Typical Dates of Last Spring Frost

Yellow is Apr 26 - May 2.

http://www.wisconlin...pringfrost.html

[Jonger]

Hit 27 in Howell.

[daddylonglegs]

Traverse City was 25F... Those poor farmers... I was reading they've had to protect crops a dozen times or more (water/fans/etc)... I know looking at my own bed of strawberries, one night of 29F and frost wiped out almost all of the flowers...luckily they had just started flowering.

http://www.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KTVC.html

[hawkeye_wx]

Clouds kept us near 40 this morning and clouds should keep us in the upper 30s Sunday morning, so we are probably done frosting for the season.

[daddylonglegs]

Same here Hawk... Probably start planting flowers Monday.

[hawkeye_wx]

Same here Hawk... Probably start planting flowers Monday.

I'm going to some garden centers today to get more potting mix as well as a few plants. Next week I want to get all my stuff outside.

We had a couple decent freezes a couple weeks ago that nipped a few plants, but we've been fortunate to be on the back edge of many of the cold shots so we've avoided several nights in the 20s that have hit areas farther east.

[Geos]

and you shouldn't plant very tender veg until at least 2+ weeks after the avg last frost. which is more like mid-may lake side counties. Plus VT veg likes temps in the 70+ Not 40's and 50's that are still common along the lake in May. Always have and always will only plant very tenders in the ground during the last week of may. There is really no benefit doing it earlier.

No kidding. Even during the summer it can be hard to grow vegetables like tomatoes. The cool, wetter summers I can forget about tomatoes here! Peppers too, usually.

Hit 31° this morning around 1:30am, then the temperature rose up a bit for the rest of the night.

[Tropical]

No kidding. Even during the summer it can be hard to grow vegetables like tomatoes. The cool, wetter summers I can forget about tomatoes here! Peppers too, usually.

Hit 31° this morning around 1:30am, then the temperature rose up a bit for the rest of the night.

You guys act like you live in the middle of Lake Michigan. It's typically HOT and HUMID at my house almost every day from June 15 to Sept 1st.

I can grow tropical plants like bananas, elephant ears and cannas just fine ... so... I don't see what your issue is??

[A-L-E-K]

You guys act like you live in the middle of Lake Michigan. It's typically HOT and HUMID at my house almost every day from June 15 to Sept 1st.

I can grow tropical plants like bananas, elephant ears and cannas just fine ... so... I don't see what your issue is??

reality is somewhere in the middle, it gets plenty hot here July-Sept when it matters for tomatoes and whatnot.

anyways...I haven't seen sub-freezing temps much less 20s since February...with only a couple nights in the upper 30s.

[Geos]

You guys act like you live in the middle of Lake Michigan. It's typically HOT and HUMID at my house almost every day from June 15 to Sept 1st.

I can grow tropical plants like bananas, elephant ears and cannas just fine ... so... I don't see what your issue is??

Sometimes it can be, not always. Last 2 years have been really good. Summer of 2009 was horrible for tomatoes, but the cucumbers did great!

The summers that are drier than normal typically have more over night lows in the 50s, even 40s well into June! Alot of cloud cover doesn't help matters any either for some crops.

Of course it helps if you have your own greenhouse! lol I would love to have fresh bananas from my yard!

@Alek - You've got yourself your own micro climate down there! Which is great if you have things planted already. I think every regular member on this board has had a frost this month!

[Hoosier]

Missed a freeze at LAF. Only got to 34.