SNOW?!?!?!?!!!!! >:(

[RyNJ]

It's snowing. In New Jersey. In October. It has NEVER snowed before the middle of November ever before!!!! We haven't even had a single frost yet, and it's snowing. Not just snowing, but accumulating. I'm up to almost 2 inches already. This. Sucks. And my plants are out there currently covered with snow.

None of my plants were already protected well because today was my first free day to get that done. Well, so much for that. I went to see how covering them would work, but the coverings got covered so quickly that they could easily break the plants.

So I have carrots, mustard greens, red russian kale, and garlic out there. The carrots and garlic are mulched, but not super well or thickly. Do you think the plants will survive? Should I leave the snow on, or try to brush it off?

[applestar]

I feel for you. I have been saying "this is ridiculous" and "can you believe it!?" all morning. I had to rush out and bring in the rest of my hardiest potted plants -- several pots of rosemary, lemon verbena, pomegranate, etc.

...my kitchen floor is muddy, wet, and burgeoning....

We had giant wet snow flakes and sleet coming down for about 4 hrs and the slushy mess though not deep is covering my patio table.

If I forgot anything else outside, they are lost, but I am not going out there.

I think the list of vegs you mentioned can all withstand and even taste better with this level of snow even around 2" the way you are getting it.

Its supposed to get super cold tonight here. If you are expecting under 28°F then you may want to harvest the greens. Carrot roots will be OK below ground (they are called snow carrots and are supposed to taste sweeter) and garlic will just go dormant and doesn't need to be heavily mulched until about a week before sustained hard freeze arrives which for me is (should be) nearer Thanksgiving.

[RyNJ]

Well 2 minutes after I wrote that post my power ever-so-conveniently went out. So I couldn't look up anything about what to do. I left everything in, but, junk. It's gonna get cold, cold, cold here tonight. Urrrrrrrg. Some zinnias kind of fell over one row of mustard, so maybe they'll help keep those alive. I'm gonna just have to see what I have tomorrow. Hopefully not just piles of mush

[Tilde]

Sorry guys.

[CharlieBear]

Sorry, the only good news is that snow is a great insulator. If the ground doesn't freeze, which the snow will retard the carrots should be ok, but I would dig them as soon as you can. The kale may survive, some types are quite hardy, but some are not. Anything like spinach, lettuce it gone no doubt. Garlic isn't generally fazed by snow.

[Bobberman]

The snow will protect the plants from a drop in temp! Lettuce and most leaf crops like kale will be fine! N frost here either with 3 inches of snow today! The nice thing is when it snows the temp s usually above 32 early in the fall! Clouds also protect the drop in temp so let it snow! I use to always have nice endive and lettuce under the snow and leaves early in the winter till it got down to 25 or lower for a few days! I think you will be fine for another week or two.

[stella1751]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. When you don't expect snow in October or, in my case, early September or late May, it seriously does suck. For what it's worth, I had radishes survive 6" of snow one time. The snow does insulate the plants. However, if it freezes once the snow melts, they're gone

[rainbowgardener]

Wow!! I've been reading about the storm hitting you folks! Sounds intense. Bundle up and keep warm. It may be that your outdoor garden season is over! Mine's been winding down anyway... Worry about your safety and health and keeping everything together when the power is out, first.

[RyNJ]

Thanks, guys. It didn't seem to get as cold as was expected last night, which is awesome. Total for the evening ended up being about 5.5". This one was seriously bad. No trees had really lost their leaves yet, so they caught EVERY bit of snow. I've got 2 down, one is kinda hanging over the pool but almost crashed right through it. I could hear them cracking all around me all day yesterday. Down trees and power lines everywhere.

So, I'm gonna let it warm up a bit and brush off the snow. I'll let you know how they made it through.

Heh, now watch it be 70 in a week and not snow all winter.

[applestar]

It's unreal to see frozen snow on the ground and on the cars (albeit only about 1" around here) WHEN MOST OF THE TREES STILL HAVE GREEN -- GREEN! not even FALL COLORED -- LEAVES ON THEM !!!

ehem. sorry about all the shouting....

Take lots of pictures RyNJ -- this one's for the picture albums to show our grandkids.

Sorry to hear your situation's so much worse. Hope your trees and plants are OK.... and go make some snowmen or have snowball fights! Nothing like hot chocolate after playing in the snow....

[applestar]

29°F on my front porch right now and expected to go lower overnight.
I guess that's that.

[Bobberman]

Ya same here in Pa. Three days of blow 30. Lucky I took alot of plants in last week! I even dug out some 4 foot peppers!

[stella1751]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it may get worse before it gets better. It's snowing here now, with up to a foot of accumulation expected in the Rockies. Our forecast lows have now dropped to the teens, and by the end of the week, our highs will be in the upper 20's.

On the plus side, I really have a good feeling about spring. We've had warm falls and cold springs for the last two years. Could the trend be reversing?

[johnnortredamme]

Thats funny really,

Here in Belgium it was still 30 degrees in September and now it's still 17 ...°C. In the past the temperature usually starts to plummet in October below 10°C

[RyNJ]

Yeah, the night after the snow it didn't frost, it FROZE. But, it's ok, 'cause I have good news:

EVERYTHING SURVIVED!!!!!

I left the kale out, thinking it would be ok. In the morning I saw it had frozen, so I picked it all and put it in the fridge to thaw. It was unaffected, so I prob could have left it out, but oh well.
[img]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/RyNJ/DSC01501.jpg[/img]

The mustard greens and carrots were so snow-covered that I didn't even try to get them out. And that's a good thing! When I checked the following morning, they were all intact. The leaves hadn't frozen at all, and the ground under the snow is still soft.
[img]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/RyNJ/DSC01502.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/RyNJ/DSC01503.jpg[/img]

So this is all good. The snow has melted, and I'm keeping everything that's left covered. I'd really like to keep the carrots in 'til Thanksgiving, if possible.

Phew. Now I can finally calm down. And learn how to use a chainsaw.

[img]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/RyNJ/DSC01497.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/RyNJ/DSC01498.jpg[/img]

[shadylane]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it may get worse before it gets better. It's snowing here now, with up to a foot of accumulation expected in the Rockies. Our forecast lows have now dropped to the teens, and by the end of the week, our highs will be in the upper 20's.

On the plus side, I really have a good feeling about spring. We've had warm falls and cold springs for the last two years. Could the trend be reversing?

I have heard stories about the weather changing, due to a northern flip. There is a name for it but I don't remember it...Said to be just what you stated Stella...We shall see, even in any amount I'm not ready for winter weather.

[john gault]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it may get worse before it gets better. It's snowing here now, with up to a foot of accumulation expected in the Rockies. Our forecast lows have now dropped to the teens, and by the end of the week, our highs will be in the upper 20's.

On the plus side, I really have a good feeling about spring. We've had warm falls and cold springs for the last two years. Could the trend be reversing?

I have heard stories about the weather changing, due to a northern flip. There is a name for it but I don't remember it...Said to be just what you stated Stella...We shall see, even in any amount I'm not ready for winter weather.

You may be thinking of PDO https://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/45220/bastardi-three-of-next-five-wi.asp

An Excerpt from above link:

"Bastardi has pointed out that the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), which is a pattern of Pacific climate variability that shifts phases usually about every 20 to 30 years, has shifted into a "cold" or "negative" phase.

Over the past 30 years or so, according to Bastardi, the PDO has been "warm" or "positive."

This change to a cold PDO over the next 20 to 30 years, he says, will cause La Niñas to be stronger and longer than El Niños. Bastardi adds that when El Niños do kick in, if they try to come on strong like they did last year, they will get "beaten back" pretty quickly.

"When you have a cold PDO and lots of La Niñas, when El Niños do come on, you generally tend to have cold, snowy weather patterns across the U.S.," Bastardi said. "That's what we saw in the 1960s and 1970s."

[Runningtrails]

Wow! I can't believe you got snow that early! We have not had snow yet, several hard frosts and early ones, but no snow, thank goodness! I'm still getting lots of projects finished outside. We are getting a lot of rain this coming week, however, so I won't get much done now.

Last year at this time, the snow came to stay. We didn't see the ground again until spring but that's unusual.

[stella1751]

I have heard stories about the weather changing, due to a northern flip. There is a name for it but I don't remember it...Said to be just what you stated Stella...We shall see, even in any amount I'm not ready for winter weather.

I'll bet you're thinking about the Alberta Clipper. It comes down from Alaska and moves south down the center of the nation. When I lived in the Dakotas (both of 'em), that was the weather system I dreaded the most. Cold, cold, cold and nasty winds.

This year, and during all the La Nina years, it's the Pacific systems that are getting all of us. They move eastward, off the Pacific coast, and if they don't dissipate or stall over the Great Lakes, they are the ones that seem to finally work their way over to the East coast, bringing all the snow. Generally, we are four days ahead of the big East coast snows.

The Clippers are real jerks when it comes to severe cold. I've seen -30 many a time and many a -80 wind chill with those. The Pacific storms give us the biggest dose of snow, though, which isn't a problem, not really, in Wyoming. I'm not sure why