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Oklahoma Gardening

Forecast: Fire and Rain/Sleet/Snow

Okiedawn OK Zone 7

15 years ago

I know we have a couple of good days ahead of us before the weather changes, so I am going to prepare for the coming weather by adding a little more mulch to my shrub and perennial beds, and I am going to water well on Saturday. (more on that in a second)

Remember that cold plant roots freeze more easily than wet plant roots, so you might want to water your plants (especially those less than 3 years old because they are not really well-established yet). Don't forget the containers too because they dry out quickly when the cold north winds blow.

I am hoping to work the soil and plant the daffs on Saturday. Then I can water them in, mulch them, and wait for spring.

Saturday's weather could be scarey. Fire Danger on Saturday is currently forecast to be "Very High to Extreme" because the temps. will be fairly high and the winds will blow steadily at 30-35 mph, gusting to 50. So, that's the actual reason I'll water on Saturday instead of Sunday.

On Sunday, I might actually have to carry the potted brugs down into the tornado cellar where they will spend the rest of the winter keeping their roots warm. I've been putting it off because they are still blooming. I'm not sure the garage can keep them from freezing in the coming cold spell though.

Next week's forecasted cold and its' accompanying winds and precipitation sound horrible. Whatever happened to mild December weather? (sigh)

We have a gazillion wild birds at the feeders every day, and I imagine we'll really have a lot in next week's cold. I still have petunias and malva in the ground blooming, and a few dianthus, but the cold probably will take care of them.

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Comment (1)

Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
15 years ago
FIRE: In looking at the NWS enhanced pages, I see that a Red Flag Fire Warning has been posted for many western counties--roughly those west of a line from Enid to Wichita Fall, Texas.

Also, our "Fire Danger" for today has been upgraded from "very high to extreme" to merely "Extreme". Remember, if you are in the 13 counties in southern OK through east-central OK that have issued burn bans, your area is extra-dry (hence, the burn bans) and, in many of the southernmost counties, the KBDI numbers indicate that even LIVE fuels (plants) will burn if a wildfire starts. If wildfire is in your area, water your plants ASAP to help them resist the flames.

With winds like we have today, wildfire can spread incredibly fast, burning through hundreds of acres per hour.

ICE/SLEET/SNOW: The storm that is headed our way is already making trouble for the PNW, where wind gusts as high as 100 m.p.h. have been recorded. I'm dreading the arrival of the cold front and its' awful wind chill.

In the attached link, there is a graphic that shows you what time the cold front is expecting to come across each section of Oklahoma.

It is sunny, warm and gorgeous here today, and if it wasn't for wind gusting into the 40s, it'd be an almost perfect day.

After almost a week without a significant fire, wildfire returned to our county yesterday, and today looks to be worse.

I've been watering (today and yesterday), prompting DS to ask me "Are you trying to create a wetland?" Well, you know I am not, but the clay is so hard and dry that the water is ponding/puddling and only very, very slowly soaking into the ground.

If wildfire hits our fire district today, almost all our firefighters are out of town for one reason or another and that worries me a lot. Whatcha gonna do, though? The weather will do whatever it will do.

I'm tempted to sit on the chaise lounge and soak up some sunlight today and tomorrow before the cold front hits. I'm supposed to be planting daffs, but in this wind.....I just don't know. I bet I don't get much done, except for the watering, which is imperative at this point.

I know OK is prone to wild weather swings but this is crazy. We're going to have highs in the 70s here in southern OK tomorrow, and in the upper 20s to lower 30s on Monday.

Here's the link for the latest weather data--just click on any of the smaller graphics at the right to enlarge them.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Enhanced Weather Page
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