Last November, when visitors at
Unthreaded at Climate Audit were claiming that it was not unusually warm, on Nov. 16, I responded:

Bernie: It is darn warm in Chicago. I’ve got pepper plants that aren’t dead! My tomato plants are alive — but the tomatoes themselves are just green and lingering. It’s an eyesore, but I am marveling at how long they are staying alive.

It’s definitely not like the late seventies.

The next day, Duane Johnson responded.

I live about 130 miles ESE of Chicago in a rural area. We had a hard freeze last night, and my tomato and pepper plants have been dead for some time. Do you suppose Chicago might have an Urban Heat Island effect?

I then explained:

@Duane: I’m in Lisle.

The tomato/pepper status has changed as of yesterday. The tomatoes are now fully dead; one pepper is still alive. My tomatoes, and most peppers experienced the “planted by the side of the house effect” and also benefited from the “threw a blanket over them before I figured out the green tomatoes weren’t going to ripen even if the plants survive effect”. I did not throw the blanket over them last night.

The surviving pepper is experiencing the “planted in a container placed on a paver patio next to the house and well watered to ensure the local area is buffered by water which freezes at 0C.

No one would call it a healthy pepper plant, but I’m leaving it there to see when it finally succumbs. (BTW. The surface of water in the bucket I place outside for the squirrels is frozen. This is less than 2 feet from the pepper plant.)

I also still have some living basil that is benefiting from the “placed under a polyethylene green house I bought at Wannamakers effect”.

Nevertheless, this isn’t like the late 70 or early 80s. I lived in Urbana from ‘82-90. During November, my husband and I would joke that freezing rain was the state bird of Illinois. Winter was hell. March varied between glorious and hell.

In the photo to the left, taken from my kitchen window, you can see the “polyethylene green house I bought at Wannamakers”. It is now placed over the chair Jim made last summer. The container placed on the paver patio is covered with snow and peanut shells left by the squirrels. It’s still not like winter ’78-’79; it’s more like “normal winter”. Still…..’brrr!