Bastardi is predicting a two to three week period of below normal temperatures from late March into April. I hope he is wrong we do not want to be dealing with freezes in April. He says this cold event could be a mini version of the extreme cold that gripped Texas earlier this month! We could have hard freezes especially in north Texas maybe not in south Texas though. It has been a very very long time since the last freeze here in April and I am 42 years old and it has not happened in my life time!
This is only a once in a century event!

Who is Bastardi? Have a link to the forecast?

Thx,

P.

Hey TRI:

For your reading pleasure, here is part of an interesting analysis by Dr. Jeff Masters, Weather Underground. For the complete story, see http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1749

La Niña weaker; may be gone by summer

A significant shift is occurring in the Equatorial waters of the Eastern Pacific off the coast of South America, where the tell-tale signs of the end to the current La Niña event are beginning to show up. A borderline moderate/strong La Niña event has been underway since last summer, with sea surface temperatures (SSTs) about 1.5°C below average over a wide stretch of the Equatorial Pacific. These cool SSTs have altered the course of the jet stream and have had major impacts on the global atmosphere. The La Niña has been partially responsible for some of the extreme flooding events in recent months, such as the floods in Australia, Sri Lanka, and Colombia. La Niña is also largely to blame for the expanding drought over the southern states of the U.S. But in the last few weeks, SSTs in the Equatorial Pacific have undergone a modest warm-up, and these temperatures are now about 1.2°C below average. A region of above-average warmth has appeared immediately adjacent to the coast of South America--often a harbinger of the end to a La Niña event. An animation of SSTs since late November shows this developing warm tongue nicely. Springtime is the most common time for a La Niña event to end; since 1950, half of all La Niñas ended in March, April, or May. The weakness displayed by the current La Niña event has prompted NOAA's Climate Predictions Center to give a 50% chance that La Niña will be gone by June. If La Niña does rapidly wane, this should help reduce the chances for a continuation of the period of high-impact floods and droughts that have the affected the world in recent months.[url][/url]

Plant your garden, the worst is over for this winter. I want to plant some purslane,tomatoes and maybe water melon this year but do not have a lot of spare space available. Temperatures in the south USA for the next 15 days will be near or above average with a couple of brief cool downs. It is time to fertilize citrus as the spring growth flush is starting to emerge.

You have enough time to plant watermelons first then tomatoes. Think two crops.

Randy

Next Friday

Tomatoes, green beans, snap beans, lima beans, squash, zuccinni, cucumbers, peas,....etc.....

AND

four Xie Shan

I have got my potatoes planted. My onions I planted in November are starting to grow now and my strawberries are blooming. My summer apples and peaches are blooming so my spray program is in full swing.

My tomato plants are started but I want plant them till I pull onions and dig potatoes.

That is the real advantage of citrus, they are much easier deal with. Apples and peaches its not if you will have a fungus or bugs, its how bad.

Randy

Apples are very hard to grow in warm humid climates. They are better adapted to cold climates with less heat and humidity. My uncle tried to grow apples in the 1980s but they suffered from insect and fungus problems and very unproductive. The trees had very very few apples if any at all. Citrus is much easier to grow and the only limitation is cold. If you have adequate cold protection like microsprayers, soil banks, covering and heating, you should have success long term.


Citrus is much more resistant to disease and insects, but much less cold tolerant than apples.

Another cold night on tap. Hopefully the last really cold cold spell. The temperature will likely fall to low 40s maybe even as low as 38F in some colder areas. Not as cold in Texas though.

They forecast 40-41 tonight for us. I just dragged seedlings in the garage and placed a garbage can over my newly planted navel that is about to bloom. hopefully, this will be the last one.

My La Crosse thermometer measured a low temperature of 37.5 F last night. The other weather stations lows in the area were 41 to 43F. There is no way my location can be 3 to 5F lower than places so close by. My location is also not any colder than nearby location during most severe and radiational freezes so I think maybe my thermometer is off. The receiver for this thermometer is not working for some reason so I put the indoor weather station outside to measure the temperature last night. Could this be why it is so off? Are La Crosse thermometers reliable? What brand thermometer do you use?

It is well with in reason your temperature can be lower than those around you. There sensor location can have a lot to do with the others temperature.

La Crosse is a good value instrument. Have you checked the batteries and clean the terminals in your outdoor sensor?

Cloud cover can have a big impact this time of year.

I have a weather station installed. Here is my web site.

http://mybaxleyweather.localweatherview.net/index.htm[/url]

Without wanting to start a religious war , you might want to check out the Davis line of equipment (http://www.davisnet.com/weather/index.asp. The best prices from an authorized dealer are at http://www.provantage.com/davis-instruments~880DAVS.htm.

P.