It’s a few degrees warmer this morning.
26 at my house in Port Orchard Washington at 6 AM.
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Another cold night 10.6F for low, currently 16.3F. What a demonstration of Fraser Valley outflow!
I need to knock snow off tree branches before next snowfall on Wed.
Buds on apricots and nectarines had started to swell before cold spell. Even with bubble wrap, reemay, and heat lamps, it’s probably 80% loss for them.
https://www.canr.msu.edu/fruit/uploads/files/PictureTableofFruitFreezeDamageThresholds.pdf
Once it warms up I’ll uncover max/min thermometers buried within and see just how many degrees I gained with protection.I doubt it’s more than 5F!
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I feel for you guys 
Hopefully the trees hold up better than they should.
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Wow Chris,your temps are really getting low.In Redmond,we may have dodged the under 15 degree bullet,this time.
By next week,the killer cold and snow,should be a memory.
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My weather station recorded 7.8 degrees. That’s going to hurt! Had a good snow cover but still not ideal for my zone 8a and 8b plants.
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Likewise, 7.7 as my lowest so far. At least I’ll find out the true meaning of “can be grown with protection.”
This morning I see that snow load on old chicken coop partially collapsed its roof - chickens (still protected with heat lamp) are wondering ‘what’s up with this? I have to squeeze through this hole to get to my feed and water?’ Kind of funny but can’t fix till things warm up!
Aaaah, farm life!
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18.1°F was my lowest on Monday morning, lowest today was 23.6°. Looks like one of the two heaters in the greenhouse started malfunctioning last night (turns on and off every few minutes regardless of temperature), so I’m glad I got that second heater before leaving. The greenhouse is still holding about 16° above ambient with one good heater and one wonky.
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It’s just above 32 here now in Port Orchard, but not much. Cold wind blowing!
There are more WA members than I realized. Wish I were realizing this under better circumstances
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Wow - a helpless feeling 3000 miles away! Like remotely monitoring a space probe with programmed fail safes!
I’m thinking of relying more on my ghouse …at least I’ll be able to appreciate, and not dread, the vagaries of weather. Of course I’ll change my mind once temps hit 50.
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It’s not as helpless as the feeling I got when the pet sitter sent a photo this morning of our new ice sculpture where a hose spigot used to be. This is the last time I agree to a monthlong trip in winter!
Glad you have someone checking in. At least there is no obvious house damage.
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We are doing well up here in the northwest corner. I’m not a zone pusher and I already pulled the potted figs indoors. I am mostly worried about my potted Japanese maples but que sera. I am very grateful we never lost power! Our new split system HVAC is working beyond my expectations. They say the wind chill is below zero but I’m not feeling it. The pump house is OK as are the pipes and faucets. The snow is beautiful, rare and will be gone soon.
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SeaTac didn’t get quite as warm as my back yard these last few days, and highs stayed below 30° Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday, the first 3-day streak of highs that cold since 1998:
My yard is already above freezing again this morning:
4 more inches of snow last night. Overnight low of 25F. Right now I’ll take much maligned nw rain!
Maybe Seattle’s getting it?
Yikes, was not expecting this evening to match the coldest low of the entire cold snap (~18°F). Hopefully it’s not going down any more from here:
Was nice to see some solar gain for once, might be the first sunny day in like a month, but the poor cold air drainage of our lot is on full display this evening.
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Ended up being the coldest night yet, just under 16°F. 
Now that we’re starting to thaw I’ve been very interested at the damage (or lack of) that I’m seeing. I know that we won’t know the full extend of the damage until spring but usually, I can see obvious signs in things that really took a beating. I see that many of my plants that got hit by a good cold spell back in 2016 but were all very young have survived this much better. Having a few milder years to give them some establishment has made a big difference. Also, you can see the insulating effect of the snow. A few things were hit pretty good above the snow line but with about 12" of snow on the ground, everything below that line looks untouched. I’ve found in a lot of broad leaf evergreens, the easiest place to see the damage early on is on the underside of the leaf. It seems to show there sooner and more obvious.
A few early observations:
7’ tall Loquat that is 5 year old. Damage mostly from the snow weight. Broke off a few branches but maybe 50% defoliation expected. Some leaves look fresh and green where others have the darkening effect from burst cells. Maybe the coating of snow was on the leaves that survived but the woody material seems to be fine. Cambium is still bright green and looks healthy rather that the faded green to brown you usually see when damaged. Also the wood is not listless and weak like you usually see when damaged. Even some of the late season apex growth seems undamaged.
Luma Apiculata many around the property from 3’ to 15’. For sure some defoliation will happen. Maybe 50%. Older inner leaves seem less affected. Woody material seems good except young tip growth. Outer 2-3" are dead but older wood seems fine.
Luma Chequen Same as above
Myrceugenia Ovata Nummularifolia Same as above. Maybe slightly less damaged.
Ugni Molinae seedlings and many cultivars. Flambau seems to be my hardiest both this year and in the last 2 times I got really cold. Many small ones under snow cover seem fine. Largest are 3’ tall and 5 years old. They appear mostly undamaged except the outer 2-3" where there was young growth. You can see where the cambium layer goes from brown to a healthy green about that point. I don’t expect to lose any and think they will mostly be cut back a few inches.
Feijoa. I have lots of seedlings and named cultivars. No woody damage appears on any of them but 25-50% defoliation is expected. My largest is 10’ and I would expect it to have the same level of defoliation as the small ones but the wood seems fine.
Jelly Palm. Exterior of the fronds are nuked back. Each frond looks to be alive close to where it connects to the branches but maybe only 25% of the frond will survive I’d guess.
Spineless Prickly Pear. No damage at all. Very surprised. The pads are strong with no sponginess.
Citrus: Meyer Lemon in a very protected micro climate did get leaf damage but woody branches seem okay. Yuzu, Ichang Lemon and Sudachi all have some leaf burn but wood seems fine where it was hardened off. The young shoots are scorched.
4 year old Maqui has scorched leaves and small wood is for sure damaged. I think it will be fine close to the ground.
3-6 year old pomegrantes seem fine. Some tip burn but old wood looks healthy.
I’m sure I’m wrong on some of these but I think most will survive the cold. Getting the snow cover before the bulk of it hit was for sure a blessing!
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