Good Saturday, everyone. MUCH colder winds are blowing across the state this weekend and this is a pattern that’s going to be with us for a while. It’s cold enough for green thumbs to be on high alert for frost and freezing conditions over the next few mornings.
Let’s start with our Saturday and roll forward.
The day starts with rain pushing out of eastern Kentucky with clearing behind it. Some sunshine will then combine with a cold pool of air over top of us to produce scattered showers and storms during the afternoon and early evening. Some of these may put down some small hail.
Here are your radars to follow along…
Highs today are mainly in the 50s but may hit 60 in a few spots.
Skies clean up tonight with temps heading toward the upper 20s and low 30s…
Highs on Sunday reach 50-55 in most areas with clouds going up during the peak heating of the day.
Another frost or light freeze is likely Monday morning…
Monday afternoon may not get out of the 50s again for many.
A few systems will try to roll across the region in the week ahead into the coming weekend. That could lead to some chilly showers from time to time as we get set to close out April…
Average temps for the final week of the month are well below normal…
That cold likely takes us into the first week of May, at least…
That could make for a chilly Kentucky Derby week.
Make it a sensational Saturday and take care.
We got some rain earlier tonight I haven’t looked back out but I think it stopped. I don’t hear it and looks like we have some more moving in. So maybe we will get a good downpour. Does anyone want to guess when will will finally break out of these cold snaps and stay into the warm weather??? In a little while we will be saying gosh I miss the cooler weather lol.
The cold will not last into May.
When do you think we will see the last of it ?
I would say after May tenth. Summer weather will then arrive. Just a guess though.
We ended up with 0.72″ of welcome rain over the past 24 hours at my PWS near Bowling Green. Plants that survived that March cold snap are finally spreading their leaves, but we ended up losing a total of 7 shrubs, including 3 out of my 4 azaleas. My neighbors sustained similar losses.
Joe, I’m sorry you lost your Azalea plants. I had good luck growing Azaleas and Rhododendron in my Nursery in Indiana, but not here in Kentucky. Don’t really know why that is ? Better to plant the natives.
Joe, our azaleas also look dead, but in the past 72 hours every single one has growth from the root ball. Same with our nandinas, beauty berries, and Otto Luyken laurel. Our Oregon grape (mahonia aquifolium) is way out its zone and looks decidedly battered, but we’re following the old adage to do nothing until Memorial Day following a brutally cold winter. Our biggest loss was the grove of leather leaf viburnum cuttings we babied all through 2022. Out of almost 100, only 3 survived (maybe).
I notice when we had that freeze in late December that the Humidity was very low. Long hours of temperatures below zero plus no Snow cover resulted in Bark Split that killed the cells resulting in death to plants to ground level.
I was really disappointed to find that my Catawba Rhododendron ( Winter hardy to 25 below zero ) had so much damage. It’s the low humidity that cause the damage. It’s got to the Fourth of July to come back or die.
Catawba Rhododendrons are native to the mountains in Southeast Kentucky, East Tennessee, North Carolina mountains.
Catawba Rhododendrons are native to the mountains in Southeast Kentucky, East Tennessee, North Carolina mountains.
Thanks Chris. I was surprised that in the last 48 hours we received a little over an inch of much needed rain here in Maple. Hopefully, this will be a trend for the remaining days of Spring.
Spring Frost / Freezes have always been a problem. No enjoyment in covering expensive plantings. Better to grow the native plants. No expensive upkeep. and a liability that results in disappointment.
we actually got good rains through evening/overnight… Right at at inch
Same here Mark. Takes the fire danger down for a while.