Yumans warned of freezing temperatures

The past few nights have been chilly, but today from 3 to 9 a.m., Yuma will be cold! And so will tonight (Friday) and Saturday morning.

That means it's time to cover up your plants to protect them against freezing weather.

"Temperatures will be 32 degrees and lower, with a north wind 10 to 20 miles per hour," reported Valerie Meyers, meteorologist and forecaster with the National Weather Service in Phoenix.

"It will be mostly sunny the rest of the day with highs near 58 in the afternoon. Winds will be from five to 15 mph, lighter in the evening," Meyers said.

Tonight (Friday) will be partly cloudy, with lows from 34 to 40 with a light wind, she said.

Saturday will be mostly sunny, warming to nearly 62 during the day. The night temps will drop down to range from 38 to 43 degrees with a light wind. Accuweather forecasts predict temperatures going up to only 61 degrees this afternoon (Friday).

"Sunday through Monday should be mostly clear and warmer, with the lows in the upper 30s and lower 40s, and the highs in the upper 60s," Meyers said.

Bill Spencer, president of the Arizona Citrus Association, concurred with the NWS forecast. "We have our own weather service forecasters. They said in the citrus areas, the lows today were to be in the upper 20s and 30s, then Saturday morning's forecast about the same, but moving up to the mid 30s.

"The breezes and clouds, even the higher ones forecast, do help stave off the freezing. I don't think this will be anything like the (cold spell) we had in January. From Jan 15, 17 and 18, three days out of four, there was damage in the citrus. Lemon production since has been light, and minneolas and tangelos were affected," Spencer said.

Precautions taken by citrus growers are to irrigate the orchards since the water tends to heat the roots.

Wind machines can be turned on to circulate the air. Citrus is grown on the Yuma mesa, in the North Gila and Dome valleys, in Tacna and in the Bard area, Spencer said.

"Vegetable crops, such as lettuce, should be watered. That includes iceberg, romaine and leaf varieties," said grower Rick Rademacher. "Our Yuma Fresh Vegetable group has people going out into the fields to check for ice. Crews don't start cutting until it's warmer - sometimes not until noon.

"Cauliflower is tougher as it can tolerate more cold, but you don't touch the head, because you can damage it. Kale and celery can also stand more cold.

"The thing about the cold weather on vegetables is that the crops slow down in growing. It is important to keep crops, especially lettuce, watered, because if it dries, the epidermal leaves are damaged and have to be trimmed. This causes heads to have less weight, and we often lose much of the crop," Rademacher added.

"As a rule of thumb, growers pull out of Tacna by Christmas as it gets too cold for a good crop," he said.

For the home gardener, suggestions on how to save plants, flowers and trees during a freeze include watering and proper covering at night.

Pat Fox, manager of Yuma Nursery, explained covering for small trees and bushes can be done by using large pieces of burlap, old sheets or other fabrics. Paper bags or newspapers are also good.

"Plastic can be used, as long as it does not touch the leaves of the plant," Fox said. "Now with longer beds of plants, be sure to prop the plastic up so that it does not touch the leaves."

Another protective measure is to make a "stand" with four corners of plastic pipe. "You can put plastic or other material over the plastic frame," Fox said.

Other suggestions are to have an electric floor fan plugged in outside to keep air circulating around the plant.

Some have strung a light bulb or a strand of small Christmas lights at the base of the plant and under the cover to light at night.

Precautionary measures for freeze warnings also apply to the outside water hoses. Just keep a small amount of water flowing through the hose, and, if the drip of water is from a pipe, put something to catch the drip so it won't freeze the ground beneath.

As to the near future - New Year's Eve and the first day of 2008 - it should be mostly clear, with lows in the upper 30s to mid 40s and highs in the upper 60s.

No snow is forecast for Yuma and vicinity.