STATESVILLE, N.C. —
Charlotte's Growing Season:
Tis' the season where we are warming up daily and those bare trees are turning more and more green. But April to May is also the beginning of the growing season which differs from place to place across our viewing area.
Charlotte officially began its growing season on April 1st and this will continue until November 11th (or until we receive our first hard freeze). By April 1st our temperature averages are a high of 68° and a low of 43°. At this point the flowers, grass and everything that grows is starting to flourish. Once the growing season begins, it is important for you to watch for freezing or frosty nights that could kill anything that was newly planted. As you can see from the graphic below, from Lincolnton and Concord south, have the same start and end to their growing season.
Note:
These are just the technical dates for the growing season. If we have an above-average trend, the growing season can start well before these dates. This has happened this year
The Differing Growing Seasons:
But some just started their season on April 15th. Referencing the graphic above, the areas in tan have a growing season that starts 15 days after Charlottes. This includes areas such as Greensboro, Statesville, Mooresville, Taylorsville, Hickory, Morganton and Salisbury. The change in latitude makes all the difference by a few degrees thus differing the season dates depending on how far north you live.
The Mountains:
The Mountains as we all know are usually colder than the rest of the viewing area so their season does not start until May 1st. Due to the higher elevation, it takes longer for some plants to start growing like the states north of us.
Once the growing season begins, that is when the National Weather Service begins its frost freeze program.
The Frost/Freeze Program:
During the winter you are never going to have a Frost Advisory or a Freeze Warning because this is expected this time of year. Once the growing season officially begins or is stated to have begun early by the National Weather Service, then you will start seeing freeze and frost alerts. By the end of May these will come to an end because we will be getting too warm and will not see the program started up again until October and November when we start seeing freezing temperatures again.