Couple things worth bumping this for: The new URL to see 24h min temperature is this: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/map/?&zoom=12&center=39.46879995920132,-76.18812561035156&basemap=OpenStreetMap&boundaries=true,false&hazard=true&hazard_type=hi-all&hazard_opacity=60&obs=true&obs_type=weather&elements=temp,wind,gust&obs_popup=false&obs_density=10 Although you still have to use the controls at left to set that as the criteria; unlike the old one the controls don't seem to generate a new URL for every data request. (may depend on browser) You can of course bookmark a different URL with coordinates closer to your area. And...last week I swung by McLean Nursery on the way to a Dr.'s appointment. Mr. Kuhl was in the middle of operating his old farm tractor but we spoke for a couple minutes...I was in a hurry anyhow. He said his 'Scepter' was undamaged, and that the reason mine was so injured might have been not being well established. I know his part of Baltimore had similar lows to mine, and has to be pretty windy as well since it's on a hill. (the nursery is on Satyr Hill Rd. after all)

I saw the Weather Channel tracking tornadoes through Alabama and Georgia and thought about you and others on these forums coming out OK. It is good that you had no damage. We here in upstate NY only had thunder and drenching rain, which showed me where a natural little creek from gutter downspouts to outside my fence forms then, an opportunity to a little dry creek bed, doubling up as a path. Bernd

Well, after a rather harrowing night, the last half of today turned out to be amazingly beautiful. Perfect weather to be outdoors, and for all the clean up. That said, I'm sure most people were not exactly having 'fun' today though. It seems like the absolute worst of this storm and its damage occurred from about Cape May, NJ, south along the coast to Va Beach, and inland to the big cities west of those points. The Damage seems to be less severe the farther north you go from NC/VA. For us here in the DC area, well, I have to say I was 'surprised' at this storm. The damage left behind was just about as bad as Isabel in 2003, maybe slightly less. From about 30 miles west of DC, to the coast the damage is what is being called 'major'. The most common are trees being blown on homes and going through them and crushing cars. The sheer number of trees down around just the DC Metro is staggering. Probably in the thousands. Lots of roads / streets were blocked and many still are. No real structural damage to most buildings from winds alone, other than a couple buildings having roofs partially peeled back / loss of shingles / some siding / gutters ripped off. Some minor to moderate flooding from storm surge along tidal waters which capped out at about 3-4 feet. The far worst of the flooding came from the massive rains. Ranging from 3-4 inches 30 miles west of DC, to 5-8" right in the city, to 10-12" 30 miles east and much more the farther south/ east you go from here. Lots of river and creek flooding causing road overwashes. My rain gauge maxes out at 5", and was full by 1:30 am. I'm guessing we got 1-2" more than that here. Reports of 4-8" in the immediate metro area were commonplace. Over all, it was probably 'worse than expected' in our area. The absolute worst of it came in the period from midnight to about 5am, when we were having sustained winds of 40-50+ and gusts 55-75mph. The worst part was pretty much like a 6 hour long severe thunderstorm. It would come in waves. Backing off to 40MPH or so for a few minutes, then big huge gusts around 55+, then every 7-10 minutes or so we would get a period of several minutes where the sustained winds were like a gust that just would not stop, and then an even higher gust on top of that, topping out around 70+. The wind reports all around our region were pretty consistent, with the highest gusts just west topping out around 55in places 30 miles west, to 65-70 inside the beltway, and 75-80 30 miles east and south along the Chesapeake Bay. about 40 miles west of D.C., almost no damage to speak of. Just some heavy rains at times, and gusty winds of 35+, but nothing very bad. It was a very sharp cutoff line between damage and almost nothing. The thing that made this storm worse, was its size, and slow movement. Had this been a quick event, we probably would not have seen nearly the damage. But, because this event was very protracted and lasted for 20 hours, most certainly lead to more damage. Isabel in 2003 was in and out fairly quickly. She was here less than 6 hours at her worst. The other difference, with respect to storm surge anyway was that it was less here because the storm passed to our east this time, in stead of to our west. This was a east, northeast, north, and northwest wind event here, which helped to push water more OUT , than in on top of the storm surge itself. Partners mother in Smithfield VA had a pretty bad night, as I suspect most did in SE Virginia and Eastern NC where the damage reports are much worse. No power since 6AM Saturday morning. They lost two large trees in their yard, but fortunately both missed the house. Their neighorhood is literally littered with trees down, and quite a few homes damaged by them. The pictures coming out of Va Beach, and the NC beaches are by far and away the most incredible. Even along the MD/ Delaware beaches there is quite a bit of damage. Tornadoes caused damage in both Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, DE. As for my yard, well, just 1 large tree limb from someone elses tree is in it, and most things that were not either VERY HEAVY and/ or tied down , did blow over. It looked like a war zone, but fortunately nothing was really damaged except for a clay pot with my rosemary bush in it. The palms, well, 2 got knocked over, but the big 8 foot pigmy date came through it like a champ. I tied it down with rope and rebar and it went no where. Ill post some photos in a bit. I hope everyone made it through OK with no significant losses / damage!

while someone else has bumped this... A few (mostly unfortunate) updates. The Nerium and Callistemon probably would have survived if they had been better established, but they had been planted the prior spring. Although they appeared alive and had some green leaves and stems, they went into that slow, curious decline of winter damaged plants and were dead by mid-June. I might have been too stingy in watering them. The Phlomis died back in early summer, making me wonder if it will be a 'spring ephemeral' in this climate. Same with the Gardenias OTHER THAN 'Kleim's Hardy', which for me at least, does appear to be the hardiest. (though, again, cannot rule out other factors. It has the most protection from winter sunlight, so maybe that is what is making the difference. Winter morning sun here is deadly to all but the hardiest camellias, for example.) There were OTOH some 'surprise' survivals, discovered after the thread above. One I can remember is Manettia cordifolia 'John Elsley', which survived its second winter, colder than the last. But getting it to regrow fast enough to have much of an ornamental impact is going to be the catch. It might make more sense to have a big patch of it and think of it more as a clambering ground cover, in this climate. It will bloom Sept-Nov. Interesting that a rosemary was totally undamaged in a winter I have no doubt would have killed an 'Arp' or 'Hill Hardy', which are clearly not the hardiest in an east coast climate. (maybe they are in TX where they were selected) I think the one that did well is 'Blue Spire'. I don't like the taste of rosemary, I just grow them for ornament! They are the quintessential Mediterranean climate shrubs. Oh another one: an Agave lechuguilla was right on the brink, but is growing back vigorously. I really need to start keeping more notes LOL. Too many plants to keep track of! The Toona has grown back to a monstrous size so it will be interesting to see if it survives on top this winter. Not winter cold related, but interesting to report that a potted Telopea truncata has survived, in shade, this beastly hot AND HUMID summer. We've had the longest stretches of high dewpoints > 75F I can remember. It's been the most acutely damaging to plants since 2012, probably. I lost a couple desirable rhododendrons that were not fully established. I am likewise struck that both clones of 'extra hardy' Phormium are doing well so far. I think because they are in well drained soilless mixes. In a garden setting in my climate, will need a south slope both for winter warmth and for summer drainage. (they will get summer root rot...I suspect the reason they are not seen along the gulf coast, for example) I will always keep 'backup plants' in my garage in case another winter like 1994 happens...but the green clone has survived near 0F with no special protection.