November 21st, 2010
Austin’s First and Last Freeze Dates
2007-01-18 Two things to remember about Austin’s occasional confrontations with icy weather. Our plants don’t go dormant. Our cars don’t have chains or snow tires.
This post was published originally on November 23, 2006. It’s been updated to include data from Winter 2006 to Spring 2010.
Tamara up in Plano and I both have been eyeing these gorgeous October days with suspicion. It is after all November. As memory serves, Thanksgiving week is cursed with ice storms to frustrate all the Austinites trying to make it back to their parents in DFW or Houston or Lubbock. (Austin has a population of about 60,000 students from 5 universities. Many, like me, stay after graduation and make a trek out of town for holidays. The Friday after Thanksgiving, downtown Austin is so void of people you’d think the rapture had hit, except that this is Austin and if the rapture hit we probably wouldn’t notice anyone missing.)
But does memory serve? or does it distort? I decided to troll though my garden journal and the KXAN Weather Diary for data. These go back only to 1997 not enough to make out any trends except the already known: Austin’s weather is unpredictable. We get 8 to 15 days of freezing weather but rarely at one time. The all-time record low? -1F in February 1899. I’m glad I didn’t live through that!
Typically we have a week of bad weather (yes, Kathy, just one) in mid-January or early February. But in 1998, the only pre-spring freeze was on March 10th. The peach growers weren’t too happy. We also usually have a winter storm sometime in December.
A lot of our freeze dates are just light frosts with temperatures brushing 32F. Our hard freezes (28F or below) are the result of arctic fronts. Even then, freezing temperatures last only three or four days. It’s unusual, even in our worst winters, for the daily high temperature to stay below freezing. (This happened in 1997 on January 13th and 14th). The record for consecutive hours below freezing at Austin was 140 hours from December 21-27, 1983. The water main on South 1st St near my apartment broke. Also the rubber connectors on the fuel line of my Spitfire cracked and a month later my car burst into flames as I was driving down Anderson Lane with my kid in the car seat.
Due to the general mildness of our winters, any time Austin does get freezing rain or sleet, the town shuts down. Schools and stores close. Hundreds of people get into traffic accidents. Airline flights are delayed. And the power goes out. Northerners are agog. The answer is simple. For a once-a-year winter storm, why invest in infrastructure? So our cars don’t have chains or snow tires.
Our ground never freezes. Our plants don’t go dormant. A bad freeze is often preceded or followed by record high temperatures.
Last Spring Freeze
Looking back to 1997, the last freeze before spring in Austin was March 10th, 1998.
| January | February | March |
|---|---|---|
| 1/05/2000 1/10/1999 1/24/2005 1/29/1997 |
2/03/2009 2/07/2004 2/13/2006 2/16/2007 2/17/2001 2/25/2010 2/26/2003 2/27/2008 |
3/04/2002 3/10/1998 |
If it’s 81F in January, wouldn’t you plant out your tomatoes? That’s what happened in 2002. Then March brought the coldest mornings of the year (and two of the colder days in this little study) when it got down to 24F on March 3rd and 4th.
First Fall Freeze
As for the answer to the question that started this research–When should Austinites expect our first frost? Anytime now.
| November | December |
|---|---|
| 11/17/2005 11/28/2001 11/29/2003 |
12/01/2004 12/01/2006 12/01/2010 12/05/2009 12/06/1999 12/06/2008 12/07/2000 12/13/1997 12/16/2007 12/21/1998 12/25/2002 |
A Summary of Winter in Austin Over the Last 14 Years
Note: In 1999 the weather service begins reports from both Camp Mabry and the airport (ABIA). I stuck with the Camp Mabry statistics to be consistent. The weather in my garden is closer to Camp Mabry’s than ABIA’s. ABIA is often 3-5 degrees colder than downtown. As I’ve learned from my gardening friends, your results may vary. One part of Austin may freeze and another not. Even within your yard, the microclimate varies.
1997: 16 days freezing temperatures.
Austin gets all our winter in one week and then have ten frost-free months. The coldest part of winter was a week in January from 1/7 to 1/14: 1/7 (32F); 1/9 (30F); 1/10 (30F); 1/11 (25F); 1/12 (24F); 1/13 (23F) high (27F); 1/14 (26F) high (32F); 1/15 (30F); 1/17 (26F). 1/28 (27F); 1/29 (29F). Not another freeze until December: 12/13 (29F) and a few snow flurries; 12/15 (32F); 12/28(32F).
1998: 3 days freezing temperatures.
This is the kind of winter that lulls gardeners into putting out the tomato plants too early and peach trees into bloom. The first freeze of 1998 was in March, 3/10. It was also the last freeze until December when we got our one week of winter 12/21 and 12/26. The temperature dropped from 74 degrees at 5pm to 38 degrees at 8pm and continued to drop. The weather service notes, “Freezing drizzle creates early morning chaos. All area bridges and elevated roads become iced over. 400+ Austin accidents. 64 car pileup on I-35 at 290 kills 2. 1 other fatality in area, 16 total in Texas ice-related accidents. Many businesses open late or close. Occasional freezing drizzle continues through evening. A few snow flurries reported at airport. Winter storm warning thought tomorrow A.M. Christmas travelers stranded as many flights into and out of Robert Mueller Airport are delayed and cancelled, mainly due to delays elsewhere, including DFW.” The lowest temperature of this storm was 25F on 12/26. The next day the high was 72F.
1999: 5 days freezing temperatures.
Cold the first week of January. For three days in a row the nighttime lows dip below freezing with the lowest temperature of 27F on 1/5 and then again on 1/10. However, we also have a record high of 81 on 1/17. (The tulips hate that!) The only other freezing day of the year is 12/6 when it drops to 32F.
2000: 11 days freezing temperatures.
Cold the first week of January: 32F on 1/4 and 27F on 1/5. Next freeze on 12/7 (31F). A couple of days later on 12/11 an arctic front moves in. 12/11 has a low of 31F. 12/12 has a high of 31F and the low for the year of 26F. Icy conditions result in more than 300 auto accidents. It continues to be really nasty on 12/13 “90,000 lose power in Austin as heavy freezing rain downs trees and powerlines. More than 288,000 without power statewide, mainly in Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler-Longview, Waco-Killeen and Austin areas. Record daily rainfall at ABIA. It dips to 28F on 12/17; 31F on 12/22; 32F on 12/27 and 12/28 and 28F on 12/30. December was an unusually cold end to a year of warmer than average months through November.
2001: 12 days freezing temperatures.
The cold weather continues into January of the new year. 1/1 (31F), 1/2 (30F), 1/3 (32F) 1/4 (32F). We are teased with a chance of snow on 1/19 but it is much too warm. When the front moves through leaving clear skies it drops to 27F (1/20). February has two freeze dates: 2/3 (32F) and 2/17 (32F). Then Austin’s frost-free until November: 11/28 (31F) and 11/29 (30F). December is rainy and fairly mild: 12/10 (32F), 12/24 (32F) and 12/31 (32F).
2002: 15 days freezing temperatures.
1/2 (30F); 1/3 (26F); 1/4 (28F); 1/13 (32F); 1/15 (31F) and then a record high of 81F on 1/29. A colder February than in recent memory: 2/2 (32F); 2/7 (30); 2/26 (30); 2/27 (25F); 2/28 (30F). And a cold start to March: 3/2 (29F); followed by the coldest morning of the winter 3/3 (24F) and 3/4 (24F); 3/5 (31F). That’s it until Christmas: 12/25 (32F).
2003: 14 days freezing temperatures.
In 1999 Austin had a record high of 81 on 1/17. Four years later, we get our first freeze on 1/17 (29F), followed by freezes on 1/18 (27F) and 1/19 (28F), followed by a record high on 1/21 (82F). Two days later it’s cold again: 1/23 (30F); 1/24 (26F). 2/17 (31F). Temperatures drop from 78F on 2/23 to 26F on 2/24. Camp Mabry report .6 inch of snow! Then the usual power outages, school closings and traffic tie-ups on 2/25 (24F) which posts a high of 30F. 2/26 (29F). No more freezes until November: 11/29 (30F). December: 12/6 (31F); 12/14 (31F); 12/20 (32F); 12/30 (30F).
Scenes from late February’s winter storm.
2004: 14 days freezing temperatures.
January: 1/6 (29F); 1/20 (32F); 1/27 (29F); 1/28 (30F). February: 2/7 (30F). December: 12/1 (31F); 12/14 (31F); 12/15 (25F); 12/22 (32F); 12/23 (24F); 12/24 (26F). A historic Christmas Eve snowstorm drops snow to the north of us and 12″ of snow to the southeast of us and ZERO snow in Austin. I have never had a white Christmas. 12/25 (25F); 12/26 (27F); 12/27 (31F). We began the year with a high of 74F and ended it on a high of 78F.
2005: 9 days freezing temperatures.
January: 1/16 (30F); 1/17 (29F); 1/23 (30F); 1/24 (32F). November starts with highs of 88F on 11/7 and 11/8 before our first freeze on 11/17 (31F). Then it’s back to record highs of 87F on 11/23. I think this is when I gave up gardening that year. And suddenly it’s winter: 12/6 (27F); 12/7 (25F) and freezing drizzle and hundreds of car accidents.; 12/8 (23F); 12/9 (27F).
2006: 7 days freezing temperatures.
February: 2/12 (29F); 2/13 (31F). High of 82F on 2/16 preceding an arctic front: 2/18 (28F); 2/19 (28F) which results in more than 400 accidents as freezing fog ices up bridges and overpasses.
December: 12/1 (29F); 12/4 (29F); 12/8 (31F).
2007: 16 days freezing temperatures.
January: 1/15 (29F); 1/16 (29F); 1/17 (29F); 1/18 (32F); 1/29 (31F). A high of 81 on 1/5 is followed by some of our nastiest cold weather of the year. In the middle of a nasty 4-day storm, Austin has a rare day (1/16) where the temperature never gets above freezing. The low was 29F and the high was 31F. Bonus. Snow!
Austinites were excited by a dusting of snow.
February: 2/3 (28F); 2/4 (32); 2/14 (30F); 2/15 (29F); 2/16 (24F).
December: 12/16 (30F); 12/17 (30F); 12/23 (28F); 12/24 (29F); 12/27 (30F); 12/29 (31F). What’s a gardener to do? December 2007 had four days in the 80s and 6 days at 32 or below.
2008: 12 days freezing temperatures.
January: 1/2 (30F); 1/3 (29F); 1/17 (32F); 1/19 (30F); 1/20 (25F); 1/30 (32F).
February: 2/1 (28F); 2/27 (31F). This month opens with a hard freeze but then temperatures soar to 92F on February 25th. Seven other high temperature readings this month were in the 80s.
December: 12/6 (29F); 12/15 (31F); 12/16 (29F); 12/22 (28F).
2009: 13 days freezing temperatures.
January: 1/12 (30F); 1/14 (30F); 1/21 (31F); 1/27 (32F); 1/28 (28F); 1/29 (28F). Two days of hard freeze on the 28th and 29th but by the 31st the high has rebounded to 71F.
February: 2/3 (30F). We’re still in the drought and like 2008, this February starts with one cold day but ends with a temperature in the 90s: 91F on 2/27.
It starts raining in September 2009 and we have a much wetter winter than in the previous two years. The cloud cover and the soil moisture keeps the temperatures more constant and cooler. Winter begins with a hard freeze causing many trees to drop all their leaves in a few hours.
December: 12/4 (29F); 12/5 (25F); 12/9 (32F); 12/10 (31F); 12/25 (31F); 12/26 (28F).
2010: 17 days freezing temperatures in spring.
January 2010 brings the most miserable winter weather in most Austin gardeners’ memories. We hope never to see its equal in our lifetimes. Five hard freezes in a row and temperatures in the teens! The official Camp Mabry temperature dropped to 17F but it was lower at ABIA and in many of my friends’ gardens.
January: 1/2 (29F); 1/4 (32F); 1/5 (27F); 1/7 (28F); 1/8 (21F); 1/9 (17F); 1/10 (20F); 1/11 (27F); 1/29 (32F); 1/30 (30F); 1/31 (30F).
February: 2/13 (30F); 2/15 (32F); 2/16 (30F); 2/17 (30F); 2/24 (32F); 2/25 (32F).
December: 12/1 (32F)
We got a wonderful snowy day (but no freeze?) on February 23rd. The snow didn’t stick and alternated with rain, sometimes freezing and sometimes not.
Although two freeze warnings have been issued for Austin, we’re still waiting for our first freeze of this winter.
Update: December 1, 2010
This morning Camp Mabry registered its first freeze of winter 2010/11. Many Austin gardens already experienced light frost damage from cold temperatures last week.
by M Sinclair Stevens
November 24th, 2006
“A bad freeze is often preceded or followed by record high temperatures.” This doesn’t surprise me. A day with no cloud cover will often really warm the air, but allows all the radiant heat to escape after dark. When it’s “that time of year,” we are more suspicious of sunny days bringing frost than cloudy. So on those rare freezing nights, do you drain your washer or cross your fingers?
I didn’t even know I could drain my washer. It’s up against the house on a southwest facing porch. However, since last winter, we had that wall rebuilt and it is now insulated and sheathed with particle board. (Previously it was just tar paper and asbestos shingles between us and the outside world–and so it remains in the rest of the house.) Without the heat seeping out of the kitchen, maybe the porch will get colder. Maybe I’ll throw a blanket over it. — mss
November 25th, 2006
Tom Spencer (http://www.soulofthegarden.com/dailymuse1106.html) posted that we got our first freeze in central Austin last week. I remember waking one morning that week and seeing a touch of silver on my plants and wondering if it was frost or some strange disease—I was that surprised to see a frost this early. But according to your post, it would have been right on time. At any rate, the frost was so light that it didn’t kill anything in my garden. Still waiting for the biggie.
Annie also mentioned seeing signs of light frost (along with reading it at the Daily Muse) so I started looking harder. Although the basil looked fine, some leaves of some bananas have turned yellow, as did the lower leaves of the hyacinth beans and some four o’clocks. The frost-delicate cosmos and bloodflower were untouched.
I haven’t found a good source for a weather summary–nothing to answer the question of how cold or hot was it yesterday, or how much rain did we get, or how many day in a row has the temperature topped 100. I have to wait until the end of the month for KXAN’s updates to the Weather Diary. If anyone knows a good source, tell me!
A hard freeze is forecast for this Thursday/Friday. It’s supposed to drop to 28F. Sunny before, during and after–so it’s not a winter storm, just a moistureless front. — mss
November 26th, 2006
Chains & Snow tires? I think those are of the past, at least where I live (central Indiana). We get all kinds of weather all winter long… snow, ice, sleet, rain. The way tires are made today and with front wheel drive or all wheel drive vehicles, most snow tires and chains are a thing of the past. In fact, I think they discourage chains… they tear up the roads. I think the real difference is they start salting and applying a molasses based mixture to the roads as soon as it is apparent we are getting something. That, and drivers here know *mostly* know how to drive on snow, though ice is challenging no matter how skilled a driver you are!
Ah! (So-o des’ ka.) We southerners are ignorant of the ways of the frozen lands of the north. And my Miata is rear-wheel drive (part of what makes it go zoom! zoom!). So you guys don’t get 400 accidents every time it ices over? Do they sell different tires in different areas of the country? — mss
November 26th, 2006
Have you checked out the Weather Underground site nearest to you? I’m not sure which of the individual stations would be most useful to you; mine is Balcones. They’re very local weather stations.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Thanks for the tip, Annie. (Actually I think you’ve mentioned the Weather Underground before…I’m just a bit slow on the uptake. The closest station to me appears to be Clarksville, on the other side of the river, less than halfway between me and Pam. The coldest temperatures it’s reported so far in November are 38F (11/17) and 37F (11/21). That’s what my thermometer showed; no freeze yet for central Austin. As we get closer to this week’s front, the forecasts are updating to show more moisture and, as a result, slightly warmer temperatures. Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain! — mss
November 21st, 2010
I love a post that’s all crunchy with data–thanks for this. It’s great to be able to compare across years, and so much more informative than just knowing that the frost-free date is Mar 15.
I think that’s one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said. I’m glad you find it as interesting as I do. My poor husband was bored almost to tears listening to my discoveries as I was updating it yesterday. — mss
November 22nd, 2010
This post did not bore me one bit ….and if you ever need a tagline for your blog, “Zanthan Gardens, Crunchy With Data” is kind of cool!
Annie
I agree. That’s a great tagline. “Crunchy with Data”. I think I’ll go update my Twitter profile. Isn’t it interesting that 2010 has already had more days of freezing in any year of the last 14 and winter hasn’t even started yet? — mss
November 23rd, 2010
Ice is a tragic thing in Charleston, SC as well. Hate to see it. What a mess it makes!!!
November 30th, 2010
Very nice breakdown, very helpful!
August 7th, 2011
Wonderful shot, the first one.It doesnt freeze here in winter.The min temp here will stay at 0C during december-january.Plants never go dormant so it’s a plus point.Well, the only plus point gardening in zone 10.