It looks like Old Man Winter is going to take one more shot at Georgia over the next few days, and that could be bad news for gardeners and farmers across the state for a second year in a row. The Weather Service is calling for low temperatures in Lawrenceville of 36 degrees on Sunday night and Tuesday night, and 34 degrees Monday night. Across the state, lows are expected to be in the upper 30s Monday morning, and 31 in Atlanta, 32 in Athens, and 30 in Macon on Tuesday morning.

Accuweather.com is calling for lows of 34 on Sunday night, 30 Monday night and 39 Tuesday Night, while Weather.com says it will be 36 Sunday night, 31 on Monday and 33 on Tuesday.  In comparison, temperatures dropped to 28 degrees the nights of April 6 and 7, 2007, the infamous Easter Freeze that caused widespread damage to spring flowers and crops.

My guess is that the damage won’t be as bad as what we saw last year– it looks like it will be a little warmer– but I wouldn’t suggest you plant any annuals this weekend.  You should also bring in any houseplants or container plants you’ve set outside until at least Wednesday. If the worst does happen, Walter Reeves has a good article on coping with freeze damage.

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With less than two months until the start of the Atlantic tropical season on June 1, the forecasting team at Colorado State University has updated its forecast, and is now calling for a more active season than originally predicted last December.

Drs. Klotzbach and Gray are estimating that there will be 15 named storms and eight hurricanes in 2008, with four of those being intense hurricanes.  This compares to the December forecast of 13 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three intense hurricanes. Between 1950 and 2000, there were, on average, 9.6 named storms, 5.9 hurricanes, and 2.3 intense hurricanes each year.  Overall tropical activity is predicted to be 160% of normal.

There is a 99% chance that some sort of tropical activity will cross the US coastline this year, with a 69% chance of a major hurricane making landfall.  There is a 44% chance that a major hurricane will strike the Gulf Coast, and a 45% chance that a major hurricane will strike the East coast or the Florida peninsula.

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If you are like me, you were probably looking forward to the predicted sunny skies this afternoon, which obviously didn’t happen. The moist air left over from Saturday’s rain remained in place as the slow moving cold front that brought the rain stalled across south Georgia. This kept the clouds in place and kept the temperatures cooler than expected.

If you were hoping for bright April skies this week, it looks like that won’t happen either, and there is a possibility of rain affecting the upcoming Masters Tournament in Augusta this weekend. For the first part of the week, we’ll see another wedge keep temperatures cooler than normal, with a good chance of fog and drizzle in northeast Georgia.

The wedge moves out on Wednesday, leaving us with a pleasant day for the first round of the Masters on Thursday, but setting us up for a chance of showers and thunderstorms through the weekend. Right now, it looks like the greatest chance of rain is in the western part of the state, but golfers could see rain on Friday and Saturday. The storm system moves out Saturday night, leaving better weather for Sunday.

The week of the 13th promises to be interesting, at least by the early forecasts. There’s a good possibility that cold Canadian air will make one last stand, with a chance of a very late freeze for the first part of the week. Both the 6-10 and 8-14 day outlooks are calling for colder than normal temperatures, and Accuweather is calling for lows in the mid 30s a week from Monday and Tuesday. If you were planning to get your annuals out this week, it might be a good idea to hold off until the forecast becomes clearer as the week wears on.

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Gwinnett County today revised its watering restrictions to allow hand watering as permitted by state guidelines, but held off on making changes to its policy for watering of professionally installed landscaping.

As you may remember, in mid-February, the county revised the watering restrictions it had put in place in December to allow filling of swimming pools. It also modified its rules regarding watering of professionally installed landscaping to allow watering on 10 days within 30 days of installation if a sign was posted and the homeowner had completed an online course. The county’s guidelines were set to expire on March 31st.

In March, the county commission delegated the authority for managing watering restrictions during the drought to county administrator Jock Connell. He decided today to relax the restrictions on hand watering to those allowed by the state. That means you can use a hose with a hand-activated nozzle to water your plants for up to 25 minutes three days per week, on an odd-even schedule. People with even numbered addresses can water on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, while people with odd numbered addressed can water on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. All watering must be done between midnight and 8 AM. Food gardens can be watered anytime, and the you are not allowed to use your 25 minute window to wash your car.

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Some folks in North Georgia got an unusual late March sight: snow flurries fell briefly this afternoon.  Although it was 45 degrees outside, much colder air aloft combined with lower pressure caused by a short wave passing through squeezed out just enough moisture for the flakes, which melted on contact with the ground. Temperatures today are 20 degrees cooler than normal, and the northern two thirds of the state will see a freeze tonight.  If you succumbed to the spring planting urge over the weekend, either bring your plants in, or at least cover them over.

Tonight’s freeze won’t be anywhere near as bad as the Easter Freeze of 2007. though.  Not only is it likely to be a bit warmer than the 28 degrees recorded last April, but not as many plants have started to bloom. A freeze in late March isn’t too unusual.  For metro Atlanta, the typical last frost occurs sometime between April 1st and April 15th.

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