News - Blogs - A new plant hardiness map Ahead what that means for your weekend

A new plant hardiness map! Ahead, what that means for your weekend...
Published: 1/27/2012 2:00 PM
Last Modified: 1/27/2012 4:26 PM

Here is the new map of Oklahoma, from the USDA.

You couldn’t tell by standing outside this afternoon, but as it turns out, it’s still the middle of winter.

While it may feel like spring and you might want to get your green thumb dirty, you should hold off on planting your spring garden. But not as long as you may have previously thought.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released on Thursday its new Plant Hardiness Zone Map. The map zones show the average annual extreme minimum temperatures for a given location. It gives an idea of how plants will survive in different climatic zones, in a nutshell.

It’s the first time the USDA has redone the map since 1990.

Here are the highlights:

It’s warmer than before! Generally. The zones have shifted north by about 5 degrees across the U.S. In northeast Oklahoma, we used to be on the edge of zones six and seven. Tulsa is solidly in zone 7A now.

It’s interactive! At this website, you can go down nearly to the street, click on a spot on the map and see the zone, average extreme minimum and range. Though when you get down that close, minute changes may not be that detrimental, but it’s still handy to know.

It’s more sophisticated! The new map takes into account such factors as “changes in elevation, nearness to large bodies of water, and position on the terrain, such as valley bottoms and ridge tops.” That makes it the most detailed and precise map available. Even in the more mountainous regions of the country, the sophistication has actually decreased the temperature in some areas compared to 1990

More Zones! This map includes two additional zones in the United States. Zones 12 and 13 are the warmest, but you won’t find them on the mainland. Look to Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

My go-to source for all things horticulture is, of course, my father. He works for a canning company in Arkansas that works with farmers across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Missouri.

A new Plant Hardiness Zone Map? “Cool,” he says.

I asked what that means. He said most people who work in the plant field (lol) know it is a little warmer now than 1990. So that won’t have a monumental effect. The interactivity and detail of the map could help anybody who deals with plants, from the backyard gardener to the large corporate farmer.

An example he gave was for landscape companies. Changing zones could have some affect on what plants could be planted where. Some companies could have to adjust their mixes to make sure they fit within the new zones. Another example was fruit trees, which can be very adversely affected by harsh winters. Warmer zones could mean more fruit trees able to thrive further north.

Below is a (crude...) 1990 map followed by the new 2012 map. It's not easy to really tell the big differences here, but it gives you some kind of idea.

--Jerry Wofford

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Almanac

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

	Temperature		Precipitation
Date	High Temp	Low Temp	Total	Month to date	Historical average
1	44°	16°	0	0.00	0.05
2	59°	24°	0	0.00	0.11
3	57°	33°	0	0.00	0.16
4	68°	37°	Trace	0.00	0.21
5	69°	29°	0	0.00	0.26
6	66°	33°	0	0.00	0.32
7	59°	38°	0.05	0.05	0.38
8	51°	34°	0	0.05	0.44
9	44°	36°	0.01	0.06	0.51
10	62°	37°	0.07	0.13	0.57
11	54°	28°	0	0.13	0.64
12	44°	30°	0.25	0.38	0.70
13	55°	40°	0.01	0.39	0.76
14	°	°			0.83
15	°	°			0.89
16	°	°			0.95
17	°	°			1.02
18	°	°			1.09
19	°	°			1.16
20	°	°			1.23
21	°	°			1.31
22	°	°			1.38
23	°	°			1.46
24	°	°			1.53
25	°	°			1.61
26	°	°			1.69
27	°	°			1.77
28	°	°			1.85

TEMPERATURE

RAINFALL

SNOWFALL

Weather World

Follow Jerry Wofford on Twitter for updates during severe weather conditions.

Tulsa weather milestones of 2013 (as of Feb. 12)

Highest temperature: 70 on Jan. 11 (Record: 115 on Aug. 15, 1936)
Lowest temperature: 15 on Jan. 16 (Record: Minus-16 on Jan. 22, 1930)
Hottest month (average): 40.5 degrees in January (Record: 91.7 degrees on July 1980)
Coldest month (average): 40. 5 degrees in January (Record: 21.7 in January 1918)
Most snowfall (day): 0.1 of an inch on Feb. 12(Record: 13.2 inches on Feb. 1, 2011)
Most snowfall (month): 0.1 of an inch in February(Record: 22.5 inches in February 2011)
Most rainfall (day): 0.91 of an inch on Jan. 29 (Record: 9.27 inches on May 26-27, 1984)
Most rainfall (month): 1.54 of an inch in January (Record: 18.18 inches on September 1971)
Highest wind speed: 30 mph on Jan. 30
Previous day with any rain: Feb. 12
Previous day with 1 inch or more of rain: Oct. 17, 2012
Previous day with any snow: Feb. 12
Previous day with freezing temperatures: Feb. 12
Read regular updates on Oklahoma's unpredictable weather and learn more about meteorology from the Tulsa office of the National Weather Service.

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Contributors
Staff Writer Althea Peterson started writing for the Tulsa World in March 2007 after previous stops at the Norman Transcript in 2006 and the Oklahoma Gazette in 2005. She followed her older brother from rural Wisconsin (with a public school that never seemed to call snow days) to the University of Oklahoma, but did not follow his pursuit to study meteorology. However, she tries to find as many opportunities to report on the weather as possible.

Staff Writer Jerry Wofford came to the Tulsa World in 2010 from The Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Originally from western Arkansas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Jerry has lived in Tornado Alley his entire life and is one of those people who goes outside when the sirens go off.

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