FROST PREDICTION SENDS GARDENERS SCRAMBLING

Gardeners scrambled Tuesday to protect their tender plants from expected frost, just a week after some kicked on their air conditioners to deal with near-record heat.

But that's just another spring in Southeast Missouri, say local weather watchers, accustomed to the yearly ritual of early warm weather followed by a flurry of planting and then panic over freeze advisories.

"April can be a funny month," said Al Robertson, a local climatologist who keeps weather records dating back to 1946. "In March, you expect this kind of thing."

Meteorologists predicted a record low temperature of 28 degrees for Cape Girardeau overnight going into today. The current record stands at 33 degrees for April 17 and 29 degrees for April 18.

Robertson said the average last killing frost is April 1, although he recorded one as late as May 12.

Dave Blanchard, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, shrugged off the temperature anomaly as "winter refusing to let go" but offered a scientific explanation as well.

"It's called a polar vortex," he said. "It's an unusually strong mid- to upper-level low pressure area that's dipping down and bringing in a lot of Canadian cold air. The jet stream is dipping way down."

He said that's unusual for late April, but temperatures will be back above 70 by Friday. The average high for this time of year is 69 degrees and the average low is 47.

Temperatures were well above average last week, when the high hit 83 degrees on April 9. The record is 85 for that date.

Tuesday's predicted freeze was of some concern to local fruit growers with blooming trees, but David Diebold, co-owner of Diebold Orchards in Benton, Mo., predicted his apple and peach crop would survive.

"We may lose a few apples, but they needed thinning anyway," he said. "And the peaches are finished blooming. It usually takes a little more than the upper 20s to do a lot of damage."

He said the crop is most susceptible to frost after the trees bloom but before blooms have been pollinated. Diebold Orchards sells other plants and flowers that workers moved inside near a furnace over the past couple of days.

Sophie Dugan, executive director of the Charleston, Mo., Chamber of Commerce, had her eye on the city's azaleas Tuesday. She's expecting thousands to converge on Charleston beginning Friday for the city's 33rd annual Dogwood-Azalea Festival, with every last guest expecting to see the spectacular bushes and trees that the city prides itself on.

"We have had two beautiful weeks, but it always turns cold the week of the festival," Dugan said. "I've done this for four years. I don't think there's anything to worry about. If it does freeze, we have a festival anyway.

"Azaleas are more hearty than people give them credit for."

HIGHS AND LOWS FOR APRIL 17, 18

Cape Giradeau high and low temperatures.

April 17 April 18

1992 78/60 78/64

1993 64/33 67/42

1994 76/46 82/56

1995 79/68 78/60

1996 78/47 70/56

1997 57/33 66/29

1998 67/40 56/46

1999 50/36 61/33

2000 61/45 68/35

2001* 53/36 61/28

*Predicted