From 7:00pm EST, Tue Jan 21 until 9:00am EST, Wed Jan 22
Action Recommended: Make preparations per the instructions
Issued by: Miami - FL, US, National Weather Service,
...WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 AM EST WEDNESDAY... * WHAT...WIND CHILLS ARE FORECAST TO RANGE FROM THE MID 20S TO MID 30S. * WHERE...ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA. * WHEN...TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND CHILLS. THIS WILL RESULT IN FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS, MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES. &&

You know they say not to refrigerate tomatoes as it ruins their flavor so this is going to be one big fridge.

Bower wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2020 8:53 am Fingers crossed for your beautiful tomatoes Ginger! Any cloth that will breathe is the best (vs plastic sheets I have used a plastic dropcloth once and learned the hard way, it causes condensation and plants were damaged instead of protected ).
@Whwoz I'm so glad there's finally rain. Even if a bit too much, so much better than none!
Just took a pic of the amazing clear driveway courtesy of my neighbors. The real emergency is in the city where they have nowhere to put the snow, so they are loading up trucks to take it away.
snow-rescue.JPG

We keep hearing about NFLD's snow emergency. Saw how army guys are showing up at people's doors as they shovel them out. I see that they are letting shops open for a while so people can stock up on groceries and meds. Still not ordinary conditions for you there. Some funny pics online with snow people facades in the snow blocking front doors and pop chilling in it too. Never knew before that 'storm chips' was a thing. Glad you had kind neighbours save you the trouble of digging out that too, too much snow!
Heard that at one point winds reached 170k. Can't imagine such high winds and cold at the same time.Dreadful.
During the same time we had winds and some snow too, enough to stop ferries but only to 90k.
Glad to see that you are doing well.

MsCowpea wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2020 9:32 am You know they say not to refrigerate tomatoes as it ruins their flavor so this is going to be one big fridge.

Dar Jones pointed out that tomatoes will recover from very low temperatures as long as it is followed by a warm sunny day. I have kept that in mind with our always-swinging temperatures and this seems to be true. A lot depends on how long they are exposed to the low temperature. Usually the lowest is reached in the hour before dawn, and then starts to rise, so the worst may be for an hour or two. I hope your next day recovers into the tomato goldilocks zone!
I have had to keep plants covered for three days in a row with temps in the low 40's, and they afterwards recovered and were fine. But I also give my seedlings the cold treatment, which is supposed to activate epigenetic resistance to cold. And I don't even bother to grow many kinds of tomatoes that don't have cold tolerance... so ymmv.
Also, MrBig46 found some research, that tomatoes tolerate cold a lot better if they are dry. I have tested that on tomato seedlings outdoors here. The ones that were watered before the cold night had a lot of leaf damage, while the ones that were not watered had no damage at all.
One exception when facing day after day of cold temperatures, I have sometimes made a warm kelp drink to lightly water and warm the soil. Kelp is supposed to help with the stress, and it did seem to (I didn't use a control group though so can't say if it was any better than leaving them dry).

Bower, I'm glad you're dug out! Quite a blow you folks had. Good on the army for helping out.

Keeping fingers crossed for Marsha's tomatoes!

Beautiful sight @Bower, not something that we see very often down here outside of the ski resorts, and only rarely would they see the sort of snowfall you recieved

Its scary! Julie Durda said it on channel 10 weather this am.

[mention]Growing Coastal[/mention] [mention]Whwoz[/mention] The pics of people using their front doorway as a walk in cooler for beers etc are a hoot! My doorway was not blocked in, facing North and the deck being about 4-5 ft off the ground, this time the howling winds made a small sculpture for me instead. I was delighted not to even have to shovel to get access open and took the day off. This is what I got.

Sorry about the big snow storm—that is so powerful and dangerous compared to our little cold front.

Amazing Bower. I always consider snow to be something to go and visit, would not like to have it visit us to that extent.

It looks like another beautiful winter's day in Paradise!

I love the peaceful calm after the storm.

MsCowpea wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:21 pm Sorry about the big snow storm—that is so powerful and dangerous compared to our little cold front.

It's all relative - we got a bit more than usual. But frostbite in Florida... it's a terrible forecast! The risk to your tomatoes and to other crops is not a small thing! Really hope that it passes quickly and leaves no damage behind.

The might be the wettest winter I have seen in ages.

The actual low was 41 but severe wind making it feel like 30, below freezing. This according to local abc news Julie Durda.

Any iguanas falling out of trees yet in the yards of you Floridians?

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Wed Jan 22, 2020 7:36 am Any iguanas falling out of trees yet in the yards of you Floridians?

My husband saw one on his dog walk this am on a sidewalk, sideways and twisted.

Looks like your temps are cooler than ours right now.

Growing Coastal wrote: ↑Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:23 am Looks like your temps are cooler than ours right now.

Yep. We want you northerners to come and take your weather back.

MsCowpea wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2020 9:32 am You know they say not to refrigerate tomatoes as it ruins their flavor so this is going to be one big fridge.

Yup.

We haven't had any frost or snow this winter (The Netherlands) and it doesn't look like that will change. I'm kinda worried about bugs and diseases in my garden. I really really really want some frost. Even if that means hauling with buckets of water to the horses at night.