THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603100045
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CINDY CLAYTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
It wasn't that the record, at 20 degrees, was so terribly extreme, but that it came this late in the season.
Saturday was the coldest March 9 on record in Hampton Roads, breaking a mark that had stood since 1947.
And the cold weather, which arrived with an Arctic air mass that dropped snow on Friday, is likely to linger through the weekend.
That could be bad news for some early bloomers, but for most plants, the freezing weather should not be critical.
A National Weather Service meteorologist, James Keller, said temperatures were expected to dip into the 20s or below again overnight, with a high only in the 30s today. The record for March 10 is 18 degrees, which was set in 1932.
``The Arctic air mass that has settled in our area will remain with us through the weekend,'' Keller said.
The forecast for the rest of the week calls for more unseasonably cold weather, with lows in the 20s and highs in the 40s.
``The average high temperature this time of year is almost 60,'' said Keller. ``But this season hasn't been climatologically typical.''
Local garden experts said that the 20-degree weather, which followed several warm days, may have damaged some plants but that most trees and flowers should be safe.
``The damage will be relatively minimal,'' said Bonnie Appleton, a Virginia Tech nursery specialist and horticulturist at the Hampton Roads Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Virginia Beach.
``There are some plants that have started to flower, like the deciduous magnolias and the flowering apricots. Many of those flowers may have been killed,'' Appleton said.
``Some of the camellia flowers probably have gotten burned back, too,'' she said. ``They may have some mushy-looking brown on them.'' Other species that may have suffered some damage include witch hazel and forsythia.
And some early bloomers, such as daffodils, will look damaged after the harsh weather, she said, but will probably perk up when temperatures rise. ``The daffodils can take it,'' Appleton said.
Azaleas probably won't be flowering for a couple more weeks, she said, so they should be safe from this cold snap.
``There isn't a lot right now that has bloomed out, so there isn't a lot of damage that could occur,'' Appleton said.
There is little a gardener can do to protect early flowering plants, she said. Putting plastic covers over the plants, she said, will raise their temperature only a degree or two - not enough to compensate for the cold.
``The further we go into the spring,'' Appleton said, ``the more damage we will see if we have a cold snap.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot
It is flowers, like these iced and wilted daffodils, that suffer.
by CNB