Yup it's true. Seven days after 85* weekend weather that felt like summer it is time to raise the warning flag again. For gardeners in the Hudson Valley Region of NY there is a freeze warning in place. Temps tonight are expected to go down to 25*. The warning is in effect from late tonight through 9AM Tuesday morning.
I was going to plant tomato, egg plant and peppers this weekend. But the cold rainy weather put and end to that. Good thing!
But let's put this all in perspective. It is May 9th. the average last frost date for this region is May 15th. Should we be surprised? Yes and no.
Yes because we hear constantly in the news about climate change, aka global warming, and just last week I heard on a major news outlet that the growing season in the north east has gotten 10 days longer due to this global climate warming change or whatever they want to call it this week. Really? No not true at all. If anything we have had later last frosts several times in this area the last several years. Freeze warnings have been issued around memorial Day quite often in recent years.Memorial Day is often two weeks later than the average last frost date of May 15th.
So do the numbers lie? I don't think so. It could be an old trick of manipulating the numbers. If you throw in all the extraordinary warm days that pop up in April and early May then you may come up with a few extra growing days. However a warm day in March or April does not a growing season make!
And no we should not be surprised by the freeze warning because after all it is still early May and Jack Frost is in no hurry to leave gardeners alone just yet.
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