I remember the first or second week back at the university was always painfully cold. I don't remeber the thaws until a bit later in the winter.

winter of '05/'06 we had our warmest winter in recorded history in Southeastern Michigan. Our lowest temp reached out in my yard was +4F, and that's in zone 6. We used to be a zone 5 years ago. That same winter, I can remember a big thaw in which temps were in the 50s for much of January, normally temps should've been in the 30s on average. We did get an early spring. By the beginning of March it was so apparent that winter was over, we were planting arborvitae in my yard. It was like March 1st.

I think that a big thaw is definitely a good thing, especially for palms. give the ground a chance to warm up a little. If it's frozen, broadleaf evergreens, such as palms and southern magnolia can't pull frozen water up through the roots, so they start to dessicate from lack of water, wind and sun. Yuccas fare much better because they're extremely drought tolerant. I guess I wouldn't consider yuccas a broadleaf evergreen though. The palms need a break from the cold. We had a cold enough late fall, that felt more like winter. December was colder than normal most of the month.

So far this winter, we haven't dropped to lower than +7 F here in my yard, knock on wood. A couple nights ago when much of the country got hit with that cold snap. We got lucky here, we were even warmer than the city of Detroit, which is normally the warmest part of the state because of the urban heat island. Detroit got down to 5, and other surrounding areas got down to below zero, even down to -15f in one spot. Lot of winter to go yet, but I'm crossing my fingers. I planted a lot of borderline stuff that isn't really protected, including sabal minors, needle palm, several yuccas, and southern magnolia. I figure if they can get through this winter unscathed, they'll have a much better established root system, and be able to handle next winter, even if temps are lower.
Sorry for the long post. Got a lot to say on the topic.

a little off topic, remember how weird summer 2004 was? it was like 68-75 for all 3 months.

Frmmi, Yeah, I remember that summer. I felt like i was robbed. I hate the cold weather, and look forward to summer all winter long, but then when that summer came, it was such a disappointment. I hope I never see that here again, although I'm sure it will happen again. Everyone kept hoping for an Indian Summer, and I think we did have a relatively warm fall. It felt more like England around here than it did the Midwest.

on the short term, some pros and cons.

the good - you can actually get out in the yard and do a mid-winter clean up of all the dog droppings that have hit the snow and melted through to the ground. i would live in fear of spring without this opportunity.

the bad - when ontario stays warm, lake effect snows are even worse.

but it is warm inside and seeds are germinating!

cheers

jsf

I remember that summer - the summer it rained the whole time - I felt robbed too - Having winter we need our summers up here.

I remember the summer of 2004: We went to my parents place way up near Minoqua, Wisconsin. It was unseasonably cold and rainy. My teenage daughter was crying because she was c-o-l-d. It was colder than most of our winters in San Antonio. I l-o-v-e-d it. It was great to get away from the awful, suffocating 100 degree heat.