Hoping Palm Trees Survived Deep Freeze (St. George, Washington: areas, winters, nursery)

[tylerhaynes3]

Palm trees have become as iconic to St. George and southwest Utah as its red rocks.
We've experienced one of our hardest winters on record, and it's only mid December.
For perspective, some reports showed the city dropped to a record, zero degrees fahrenheit, shattering the previous record of 10 degrees for the morning of Dec. 6th. If that's in fact true, it must have been devastating for our palms and other cold-sensitive vegetation.
The deep freeze came after a record-breaking snowstorm blanketed the valley, areas recorded 8 inches of snow, making that the 3rd deepest snow accumulation in the city's history!

Being the palm tree lover I am, I've had anxiety since this rare cold snap, so, naturally, I have been observing palms all over the area in hopes they survived. I even Googled coldest temps. that palms have been known to survive, and to my relief, many of the varieties in our area have actually endured brief (keyword: brief) temps. between 0 and 10F.

It's going to be a miracle if the less cold-hardy, Mexican fans (Washingtonia robusta) made it. They look very hammered, brown and gray fronds all the way down into the 'hearts' of the trees, although some I've seen, amazingly still have green at the bases of the fronds, nearest the trunks.
Something I've never seen before however, are the much cold-hardier, Windmill and Mediterranean fan palms' fronds are even brown or gray and crisp.

It's a shame that most people don't bother to wrap their palms with insulation or burlap.
Although mostly mild, this is the high desert, not southern Florida, we're prone to severe cold, and obviously the record-keeping shows it.
I think people have the misconception that palms here, particularly the more mature ones will always weather our winters.

Fingers crossed most survived, or our desert cityscape St George is known for, will never be the same

[GoOutsideAndPlay]

We love the palm trees too! They just create such a tropical feel throughout the city. I thought a lot were going to die after last winter, but the vast majority survived. I'm worried this year, given the temps went much lower. We only have a small palm and I have a sleeping bag around that. Hope it did the trick.

I have a feeling Star Nursery is going to be very busy this spring.

[irman]

If those trees will survive a low temp around freezing, then doing the same thing as what citrus growers do, spray/mist them so there is a thin layer of ice on them, might work, no ?

[tylerhaynes3]

Well the trees were actually covered in several inches of snow during most of the single digit temps. hopefully as a blanket. But maybe that did more harm as the snow weighed down the fronds further allowing more frigid air to reach the hearts of the palms.