While the rest of the country copes with snow and ice, Floridians are getting an early look at azaleas and other flowering plants because of warmer than normal temperatures.
The pinks and purples of the South's trademark flowering plants are peeping through earlier thanks to a lingering La Nina in the Pacific Ocean. So are some redbud and fruit trees.
Florida's winter has been much warmer than normal, Bart Hagemeyer, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Melbourne, said this week. The average monthly temperature in Daytona Beach in December was 5 degrees above normal. January averaged 1.4 degrees above normal.
Temperatures early in the week ranged in the low 80s, with a high Tuesday of 82.
Forecasters say temperatures will be slightly cooler late this week, with a chance of showers today and Thursday but expect things to warm up again over the weekend.
Up at Ravine State Gardens in Palatka, about 10 percent of the state park's azaleas are already blooming, more than a month before the park's planned azalea festival in early March.
"It just hasn't been cold enough to make things go dormant. We've had a fair number of cold fronts, but they've been pretty weak," Hagemeyer said. "One of my mango trees started blooming right after Christmas."
The water current in the Pacific referred to as La Nina is about 2 degrees colder than normal, Hagemeyer said.
The chance of cold weather isn't entirely past, he said, with a freeze still possible in late February. But forecast models show the La Nina lingering for several more months.
"That should keep things drier and warmer than normal through the spring," he said.
Rainfall, on the other hand, has been below normal, forcing officials to begin preparing for a busier than normal wildfire season this spring. Rainfall in Daytona was nearly 2 inches below normal in January and nearly an inch below normal in December.
State meteorologist Ben Nelson said a La Nina usually leads to an active wildfire situation.
"The wildfire threat is going to be there," said Nelson, "especially once temperatures warm up in April and May."
Source : http://www.news-journalonline.com/
The pinks and purples of the South's trademark flowering plants are peeping through earlier thanks to a lingering La Nina in the Pacific Ocean. So are some redbud and fruit trees.
Florida's winter has been much warmer than normal, Bart Hagemeyer, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Melbourne, said this week. The average monthly temperature in Daytona Beach in December was 5 degrees above normal. January averaged 1.4 degrees above normal.
Temperatures early in the week ranged in the low 80s, with a high Tuesday of 82.
Forecasters say temperatures will be slightly cooler late this week, with a chance of showers today and Thursday but expect things to warm up again over the weekend.
Up at Ravine State Gardens in Palatka, about 10 percent of the state park's azaleas are already blooming, more than a month before the park's planned azalea festival in early March.
"It just hasn't been cold enough to make things go dormant. We've had a fair number of cold fronts, but they've been pretty weak," Hagemeyer said. "One of my mango trees started blooming right after Christmas."
The water current in the Pacific referred to as La Nina is about 2 degrees colder than normal, Hagemeyer said.
The chance of cold weather isn't entirely past, he said, with a freeze still possible in late February. But forecast models show the La Nina lingering for several more months.
"That should keep things drier and warmer than normal through the spring," he said.
Rainfall, on the other hand, has been below normal, forcing officials to begin preparing for a busier than normal wildfire season this spring. Rainfall in Daytona was nearly 2 inches below normal in January and nearly an inch below normal in December.
State meteorologist Ben Nelson said a La Nina usually leads to an active wildfire situation.
"The wildfire threat is going to be there," said Nelson, "especially once temperatures warm up in April and May."
Source : http://www.news-journalonline.com/
