29 October 2016
In the olden days the first killing frost in Pittsburgh usually occurred by Halloween and we had to wear winter coats over our costumes while trick-or-treating. … I always hated to cover my costume.
This year has been very warm, even hot. Only ten days ago it felt like August and today the temperature is 5-10 degrees above normal. When will we experience the first killing frost?
Some of you already have. If you live east or north of Pittsburgh the growing season is shorter (bluer), as shown on the USDA Plant Hardiness Map below. Bradford, Pennsylvania is three growing zones colder than Pittsburgh and the Monongahela and Ohio Valleys. I’ll bet they’ve had a killing frost.
Here in Pittsburgh the weather forecast says we won’t dip near freezing for the next several days. Today it’ll be 10 degrees above normal.
When do you think we’ll have our first killing frost?
(photo of frosty leaves by Dianne Machesney, excerpt from USDA Plant Hardiness map at USDA.gov)
Another great example of how fast the climate is changing.
And I remember trying to get the costume to go over enough layers that we would be allowed to forego the winter coat. The leaves had almost all dropped and we had great piles to jump in as we made our Trick-or-treating rounds!
Put tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, yams and a common potato so I am getting some vegetables which I shouldn’t have gotten. Yesterday it was 78°. I haven’t heard any talk of killing frost yet. I am going to try a cover up for stray freezing Temps in the mean time.