Frank's Weather or Not: From Foggy to Freezing!

HOUSTON – After a February fog that wouldn't stop, welcome to March and some of the coldest temperatures this season! 

Monday morning dropped into the upper 20s north of Huntsville and as clouds begin to clear Monday night we're all pretty much under a Freeze Watch (likely to go to a warning).

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Our Click2Houston story on the cold is here.

Interestingly, the coldest we've officially seen this winter season is 30F and last month only dropped to 37F. So now what to do about this guy?

That's MY lemon tree! Fruit trees themselves, which are blooming all over the place, can survive to upper 20s, but the buds won't.

If you can move yours inside, do it, but if they are in the ground you might try wrapping them in Christmas lights to keep them warm! Use the old fashioned kind though for 4-8 degrees of heat, NOT the newer LED lights! If you don't have those, blankets and other coverings will help.

Buds are vulnerable to a freeze!

By the way, our record low for March 5 is 23F in 1996 and April 10, 1973 we dropped to 31F....the latest on record for freezing. So late freezes happen.

This one won't last past Wednesday morning when we could drop below freezing again. Say hello to the fog again at the end of this week and, right now, models have a big storm system setting up for us this Saturday:

Speaking of which, a successful, dry Mardi Gras made it by the hair of our wet noses! Clouds hung on last weekend with sea fog in the evenings, but all the parades went off without a wet note!

Even misty conditions Sunday stopped in time for the afternoon Barkus and Meoux pet parade.

Here's a pic or two from Saturday night's Momus fun:

Great crowds from the Momus Parade:

Finally, on a personal note, thanks to all the supportive messages over the weekend. I found out last Friday my prostate cancer biopsy came back benign, "no cancer at all". Absolutely the best text I could have gotten!

For those interested in the clinical trial I have been going through, more is here. Those gold nanoparticles are literally homegrown--created right here at Rice University!

Stay warm!

Frank


About the Author:

KPRC 2's chief meteorologist with four decades of experience forecasting Houston's weather.