Temp. data

[Ernie]

No sure what the following data tells me but I found it interesting. Accurate records for temperatures taken in my rear garden in Thornaby On Tees.
November 2022. Nights below freezing = 0
Highest night time temp. = +14 degrees
Lowest night time temp. = 0.5 degrees
December 2022 Nights below freezing = 14 (consecutively)
Highest night time temp. = +6 degrees
Lowest night time temp. = -6 degrees
January 2023 Nights below freezing = 7 (consecutively)
Highest night time temp. = +7 degrees
Lowest night time temp. = -6 degrees
February 2023 Nights below freezing = 3
Highest night time temp. +8 degrees
Lowest night time temp. -1.5 degrees
March 2023 Nights below freezing = 7
Highest night time temp. +8 degrees
Lowest night time temp. -6 degrees
Maybe 'Greta global warming' can tell us what it all means.
One thing is certain 14 consecutive nights at -6 would take its toll on many plants said to be hardy. Not just the temp its the dampness that goes with it that causes the damage. A number of BCSS members have reported large losses in unheated greenhouses during the winter.

[MatDz]

[...] what it all means.

This usually means that Earth is a way too complex ecosystem to assess its state based on a cold March. Or that climate change from time to time, at a small scale (local, year over year - prob. safe to ignore) or long term and globally (prob. less if we want to keep living as we are).

Yesterday I was reading a paper on "Changes in extreme daily rainfall characteristics in South Africa: 1921–2020" https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 4722000962, which claims a stat. significant increase in heavy rainfall days in the last 50 years as compared to the previous 50. This cannot be good, the question is what's causing it.

Global warning aside, heavy industrialisation and other "human made" pollutants can't be good for anyone. There is a reason remote resorts charge arm and leg just for "breathing" there.

[SimonT]

Hi
I quite like the weather spark site- https://weatherspark.com, just put in where you live to access the local weather data.
If you look at the plot "Average High and Low Temperature" then you can select History: and review the weather history for the selected year.
I think it maps to the nearest place with accurate weather data, but it gives an idea anyway. Of course if you have your own weather station with historical data then this is best for comparison. But otherwise this resource (or similar) can help give some idea of the yearly weather patterns.

[iann]

Looks like you had it a bit colder than here, although we did hit -6C in December at least. Interesting that the December cold spell doesn't really stand out in that set of stats, except maybe duration of freezing conditions. I feel like it was by far the harshest period of weather this winter, both in absolute temperatures and duration. I'm pretty sure it wasn't historically unusual though, and I know for sure that I've had much lower lows in other winters, but not the same level of damage that I had this time around.

[MikeT]

Looks like you had it a bit colder than here, although we did hit -6C in December at least. Interesting that the December cold spell doesn't really stand out in that set of stats, except maybe duration of freezing conditions. I feel like it was by far the harshest period of weather this winter, both in absolute temperatures and duration. I'm pretty sure it wasn't historically unusual though, and I know for sure that I've had much lower lows in other winters, but not the same level of damage that I had this time around.

I'd agree about December seeming to be the harshest part of the winter, and also agree that it wasn't that remarkable in terms of the temperatures. I've also experienced greater that usual losses this winter. I go along with the suggestion, made in another thread on the forum, that it was the cold spell following on after a very mild spell that caused the problems. Plants went rapidly from very mild to pretty cold, they hadn't had time to make the physiological changes needed to cope with the low temperatures.

[edds]

I've also found I've lost things that should have coped with the minimums seen here. Yesterday I found my Fascicularia bicolour had rotted out completely.

I certainly subscribe to Paul S's theory that plants that were continuing to grow when the cold spell hit got damaged the most, whereas ones that went dormant earlier did much better. To illustrate this, I also grow a number of Agapanthus in pots that all spend the winter in my unheated greenhouse. Agapanthus can be broken into two groups - deciduous ones that are generally hardy and evergreen ones that aren't as tough and need some protection.

This winter my three deciduous plants have all struggled. Two have a few surviving growths but one has been killed completely. All the evergreen ones are doing great and don't seem to have been affected at all! The deciduous ones were all still in growth when the cold hit in December.

[SimonT]

It does seem it was a 'confusing' autumn for some plants last year- I noticed some autumn apple blossom for example.
This came out when we had the extended mild autumn weather but then of course met with a very cold December.
Apple trees are pretty tough but I can imagine what a false spring start followed by a cold December would have done to more delicate plants.