Deep Freeze

This is unprecedented.  Yesterday's high was only 27 deg., and this morning's low was minus 6.  They're predicting a high today of 29.  Our water tank is frozen solid, and we have no water in the house.  Farmer's Market tomorrow is guaranteed to be a miserable experience, since they're predicting a low of 11 and a high of 47.  But just think:  less than a month from now the fruit trees will be blooming.

Record-Breaking Cold

To recap:  Yesterday we had a low of 7 deg., followed by a high of 23 deg., with no sun all day long.  I can't recall ever seeing a lower high than we had yesterday.  It cleared off after sunset, and I expected a record-breaking low.  Sure enough, this morning we had 5 below.  I'll have to check my records to make sure, but this is probably the lowest temperature we've ever had since I moved here in 1973.  This view upstream shows the river frozen solid all the way across.  I don't recall this ever happening before.

The view down the river, showing solid ice all the way across.  I'm assuming that all my pomegranate bushes got frozen to the ground, but they'll put up new tops next summer, and should produce fruit again in 2012.  I'm concerned about my Thompson Seedless grapevine that I've had since 1974 -- 5 below is awfully cold for a European grape.  Las Cruces can expect a year of no oleander blooms; this has happened before when temperatures didn't get as low as they did last night.

A close-up of the frozen river showing a galaxy of ice crystals on the surface.  I took unusual precautions -- I ran electric heaters all night long in the Ark and greenhouse, put a lightbulb in the pump house (which wasn't enough -- we are without water in the bakery/honey house), covered the ground with blankets where a water line has been known to freeze.  I'm expecting all my water storage tanks to freeze solid; the amount of damage, if any, remains to be seen.  This is ordinary weather for Minnesota, but highly unusual for southern New Mexico.  I suspect the weather gods confused NM with MN, and gave us the wrong weather.

It Must Still Be Winter, You Reckon?

Last night we had 3 1/2" of snow, and a low of 7 degrees.  Here's the view up the river.  The hills a mile away are obscured by falling snow.  The river is confined to a narrow channel.  The ice and sandbars are covered by snow.

The view down the river, showing the narrow channel of unfrozen water.

The coldframe keeps our winter veggies snug and secure.

Clumpy snow on the saltcedar branches.

Protecting Water Tank Pipes from Freezing

This is the frost-protection assembly I built for the Ark rainwater catchment tank drop pipes.  I used 3/4" foam building insulation, pinned together with nails and then caulked and painted.  The top door provides access to the control valves.  The bottom door is so I can change light bulbs whenever they burn out.  The foam box provides adequate protection most nights.  For extra-cold nights, I use a 60-watt incandescent light bulb in the bottom to provide a little heat.  Incandescent bulbs produce 10% light and 90% heat, so they make an excellent heat source for a variety of applications.

This foam box protects the drop pipe and control valves for the greenhouse water tank.  The door at the bottom provides access to the light bulb, which is hooked up to a timer so I don't have to walk all the way up there to turn it on.  The ladder and garden hose means I'm still pumping water from my well into the tank, using a little electric pump.  Hopefully this will be the year when I'll finally install my solar-powered submersible pump to fill the tank.