Snow Storm In New Zealand Hits My Sub-Tropicals

[Rod]

Hi Everyone, here are some pics today of the snowfall in Christchurch New Zealand.
Do not know how long it will last ( This is the first day ).

[GoggleboxUK]

Horrible weather but great pics, that last one is a stunner.

[bev]

Looks familiar rod, i hope your plants don't suffer too much.

Cheers

Lee

[Conifers]

Cool (well, downright cold!) pics. How often does this happen in Christchurch?

[Tom2006]

Not good! What are lowest temps? Do you think plants will be lost on the island this winter?

[Dave Brown]

Unfortunately De Ja vous of here last December. Blizzard for 3 days resulting in 33cm of snow. The thing to beware of is any clear skies over a snow field can lead to super cold temps, and in part of the garden you would not expect. Under the eaves for instance. Radiation cooling flowed down thesnow covered roof, and pooled on the ground next to the bungalow wall Plants under the snow cover were fine, but anything exposed suffered badly. I've gone from being an 8 Cordyline garden, to 7 respouts from ground and a 12 foot respouting stump. Best of luck

[Rod]

Cool (well, downright cold!) pics. How often does this happen in Christchurch?

Last time it was like this was 1992

[Rod]

Not good! What are lowest temps? Do you think plants will be lost on the island this winter?

Will post low temps soon, the cold temps will come tonight.
I may have lost some, only time will tell. ( Once the blizzard has gone, i will let you know what survived and what died )

[Rod]

Unfortunately De Ja vous of here last December. Blizzard for 3 days resulting in 33cm of snow. The thing to beware of is any clear skies over a snow field can lead to super cold temps, and in part of the garden you would not expect. Under the eaves for instance. Radiation cooling flowed down thesnow covered roof, and pooled on the ground next to the bungalow wall Plants under the snow cover were fine, but anything exposed suffered badly. I've gone from being an 8 Cordyline garden, to 7 respouts from ground and a 12 foot respouting stump. Best of luck

Great!!! - I just did the opposite of what you have wrote, and cleared all the snow off the palms and aloes.
Just hope the temps don't drop too low tonight. ( Fingers crossed )

[Rod]

Not good! What are lowest temps? Do you think plants will be lost on the island this winter?

At this very minute it is 2.0°c at 9.00pm

[Dave Brown]

Unfortunately De Ja vous of here last December. Blizzard for 3 days resulting in 33cm of snow. The thing to beware of is any clear skies over a snow field can lead to super cold temps, and in part of the garden you would not expect. Under the eaves for instance. Radiation cooling flowed down thesnow covered roof, and pooled on the ground next to the bungalow wall Plants under the snow cover were fine, but anything exposed suffered badly. I've gone from being an 8 Cordyline garden, to 7 respouts from ground and a 12 foot respouting stump. Best of luck

Great!!! - I just did the opposite of what you have wrote, and cleared all the snow off the palms and aloes.
Just hope the temps don't drop too low tonight. ( Fingers crossed )

It may not get that cold for you. I had -10C, and some places got down to -19C in southern England, but as you have more sensitive palms/plants I'd keep a close eye on the forecasts. As I said, clear skies over a snowfield spell trouble. The snow insulates the ground so where as in a normal clear sky radiation situation, the ground gives up heat and the air is warmed slightly, once snow covered the ground stays nice an snug, and the air above does not get the warmth from the ground.

[Rod]

Horrible weather but great pics, that last one is a stunner.

Thanks, GoggleboxUK

[Rod]

Looks familiar rod, i hope your plants don't suffer too much.

Cheers

Lee

Thanks Lee - I hope they don't suffer too much as well, as the garden was looking great before the blizzard.

[Rod]

Before and After shots of 1-days dumping of snow

[Yorkshire Kris]

Wow Rod. Seeing snow pics in my summertime has sent a cold shiver down my spine. I had enough of the white stuff last December. Hopefully all your plants will be fine, if a bit damaged. Have you got anything borderline planted out?