Winter Freeze Jan 20-22
In collaboration with AWIS Weather Services
First Rain, then Freeze
Welcome to 2024 and to a new year of frost and freeze weather advisories. We will experience precipitation on Friday (Jan 19), followed by a drop of temperatures on Saturday (Jan 20). Crucial is especially the night from Saturday to Sunday (Jan 21), when temperatures fall into the teens in almost all of Eastern NC and into the single digits in the Western part of the state, as well as wide regions of VA and the mid-Atlantic.When should I cover?
First. For most, there will be enough time to deploy covers after the rain has passed. For those of you who expect snow, covers can be deployed before the snowfall.So it is crucial to do two things: Check when it will rain/snow in you area. Decide then based on the predicted temperatures whether or not you want to use row covers. Please use the tables at the end of this post to do that.
Generally speaking, if you live in Eastern NC or in parts of SC and GA, and predicted minimum temperatures stay in the mid teens, there won't be a need for row covers. However, if temperatures are predicted to be lower, then row covers are warranted.
While we have seen 'Chandler' in the past surviving single digit weather in Winter, that's by far not a given and certainly not true for other cultivars.
We highly recommend to use row covers in areas where temperaturs are predicted to be in single digits (Central and Western NC, VA, Northern GA and other areas; see maps below).
Everyone stay safe and we will update as the event comes closer.
