Phoenix Freeze Watch Till Friday (Tempe, Sun City: home, tree, winters)

[Valley Native]

Here we go again: one extreme to the other. A hot, hellish summer followed by an early cold snap. Tell me again please why so many people love Phoenix for the climate! Well actually, we usually do have nice spring & fall seasons ... but both excessive heat and cold are murder on vegetation. My Hibiscus bushes fell victim to last January's freeze (even after I covered them). I replaced them in the spring, and lost one of them (again) after this last June's massive heat wave. I'm about ready to give up gardening in Phoenix. Right now, Honolulu sounds pretty damn nice!

[tijlover]

Elevation makes a difference, and I'm sure Phoenix's stated 1100 feet altitude is not even all across the Valley, and even a few hundred feet rise in altitude can make a difference during one of these cold spells.

Curiously, what area of Phoenix would be most susceptible to frost damage, and what areas least susceptible?

[new2colo]

Originally Posted by tijlover

Elevation makes a difference, and I'm sure Phoenix's stated 1100 feet altitude is not even all across the Valley, and even a few hundred feet rise in altitude can make a difference during one of these cold spells.

Curiously, what area of Phoenix would be most susceptible to frost damage, and what areas least susceptible?

Most susceptible: Wickenberg, Carefree, Cave Creek, San Tan Valley, Queen Creek, South Chandler, south and east Gilbert, and southeast and east Mesa, North Scottsdale.

Least susceptible: Downtown Phoenix and Downtown Tempe.

It's partially about elevation here, but it is also about the heat island. Outlying agricultural areas of the Southeast Valley and the higher elevations in the Northeast Valley tend to get the coldest in the metro area.

[magnum0417]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Most susceptible: Wickenberg, Carefree, Cave Creek, San Tan Valley, Queen Creek, South Chandler, south and east Gilbert, and southeast and east Mesa, North Scottsdale.

Least susceptible: Downtown Phoenix and Downtown Tempe.

It's partially about elevation here, but it is also about the heat island. Outlying agricultural areas of the Southeast Valley and the higher elevations in the Northeast Valley tend to get the coldest in the metro area.

Good post ! Basically inside the Loop 202 in the East Valley is very built up so the heat island keeps nights some 5 plus degrees warmer than the areas outside of Loop 202. While elevation plays a role, I believe the heat island is more important for summer and winter nights. Buckeye is downstream and only 900 feet above sea level. Yet, nights are often quite a few degrees cooler than Sky Harbor at 1100 feet including this week where it was 30 this AM there while 35 where I am in Tempe.

[magnum0417]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Here we go again: one extreme to the other. A hot, hellish summer followed by an early cold snap. Tell me again please why so many people love Phoenix for the climate! Well actually, we usually do have nice spring & fall seasons ... but both excessive heat and cold are murder on vegetation. My Hibiscus bushes fell victim to last January's freeze (even after I covered them). I replaced them in the spring, and lost one of them (again) after this last June's massive heat wave. I'm about ready to give up gardening in Phoenix. Right now, Honolulu sounds pretty damn nice!

Spent all but the last 2 years in NY so this is childs play for me personally. However, I agree that year around temps in Phoenix are way more extreme than areas in the Southeast. Anyone who suggests that they can swim comfortably between Thanksgiving and St Patty's day is lying. I could personally do it ,albeit uncomfortably, but that is what San Diego is for. If I want 60 air and 60 water temps, I want WAVES !!! I hate the snow which played a role in my desire to transfer my employment here along with favorable taxes compared to NY. There is no utopia for weather. 85 and sunny year around may get redundant after awhile for many in Honolulu. Even San Diego people complain about the pesky marine layer for half the year making it too chilly for a normal person to take advantage of the Pacific. There are better overall climates than PHX including SD but not many. Of the major cities, I'd argue LA, SD, El Paso,Tucson and ABQ are the only 5 major cities that I feel have more enjoyable year around temps without extreme heat,humidity or cold.

BTW. I'll never forget last February. That was SNOW in Scottsdale, not graupel. That slush I drove through on Loop 101 near Indian Bend was SNOW. Chamber of Commerce will never admit that it snowed so weathercasters (not real meteorologists) like Dave Munsey kept spewing graupel.

[Doctacity]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Here we go again: one extreme to the other. A hot, hellish summer followed by an early cold snap. Tell me again please why so many people love Phoenix for the climate! Well actually, we usually do have nice spring & fall seasons ... but both excessive heat and cold are murder on vegetation. My Hibiscus bushes fell victim to last January's freeze (even after I covered them). I replaced them in the spring, and lost one of them (again) after this last June's massive heat wave. I'm about ready to give up gardening in Phoenix. Right now, Honolulu sounds pretty damn nice!

This implies that winters in Phoenix are actually that cold. Sure, nights are chilly, and I'm a SoCal native, so I'm also pretty wimpy when it comes to cold weather. But this NOTHING compared to what 80% of the U.S. calls winter. In fact, most major cities call this weather summer!

[new2colo]

Originally Posted by Doctacity

In fact, most major cities call this weather summer!

I wouldn't go that far. This would be March weather for many major cities with continental climates (NY, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, etc).

[Kimballette]

Originally Posted by Doctacity

This implies that winters in Phoenix are actually that cold. Sure, nights are chilly, and I'm a SoCal native, so I'm also pretty wimpy when it comes to cold weather. But this NOTHING compared to what 80% of the U.S. calls winter. In fact, most major cities call this weather summer!

Well, that's neither here nor there since this is the Phoenix AZ forum. We're discussing the relative cold locally.

[tijlover]

One thing that Phoenix is blessed with, which lessens the cold/windchill, is their envious yearly average windspeeds.

One winter, when it was unusually windy up here in Las Vegas, I did a research on wind. I discovered Phoenix and L.A. share the lowest average windspeeds in the country, speaking of major cities, with only 6.2MPH. Compare that to Las Vegas at 9.3MPH and Cheyenne, WY at 13.2MPH.

[MNSvenska]

We just bought a house in Sun City. We can't make it down from MN, until Dec 30th, for closing on 31st. Our house has desert landscape with a wonderful 7' orange tree, that was loaded with nearly ripe oranges. When we signed the purchase agreement, we took 2 oranges with us back and they were real sweet! Now my husband & I are hoping that the oranges survive the cold snap. Otherwise, we'll have to wait till next December, to taste our fruit.