The forecast this week is for chilly weather compared to the past couple of weeks of unseasonably warm temperatures.

Cold air will kiss those emerging daffodils and tulips with lows in the 20s this week, but even though people may want to keep gloves and coats handy, the plants should do fine.

Tonight’s predicted low of about 40 degrees is expected to be followed by several days with lows in the 20s lasting into the weekend, said Harry Hillaker, Iowa state climatologist.

“It’s going to be pretty cold this week,” he said.

There is some chance of snow, but nothing of great consequence, Hillaker said.

“The trees that are beginning to leaf out have a bud sheath around the leaf, and until that bud is fully open and there’s a whole bunch of green sticking out of there those trees will be just fine,” said Dan Cullen, co-owner of Blackmore Nursery.

Those who are looking for signs of spring may see ornamental trees and shrubs like lilacs, crab apple and the service berry beginning to bud, Cullen said. Some of the silver maple trees are starting to bloom.

“Anything that’s leafing out, the trees, the spireas, they’re fine down to 20 degrees,” said Dave Hopper, owner of Natural Plus Nursery in Clear Lake. “If it gets much colder than that and nips the leaves back, it generally doesn’t kill the plant, just deforms the leaves.”

Perennial shoots that are coming up “are the ones that are really tough and really hardy,” Cullen said. They can be up 2 to 3 inches with temperatures falling to the 20s and be unharmed, he said. If temperatures drop to the teens or below that might be a different story with the perennials.

“The only time you really get bothered on a cold snap like that is some things that are really not supposed to be here like peaches, cherries, apricots,” Cullen said.

Blooms may freeze on plants that are not entirely zone hardy which could keep them from bearing fruit this season, Cullen said.

The normal high for Mason City on April 2 is 51, Hillaker said. High are expected to only reach the 40s with partly cloudy skies the rest of the week.

Yet the unusually warm weather in the past couple of weeks is more of a departure from normal than the cold, Hillaker said. The last time the thermometer dipped to 30 or below was March 20.

On the bright side, drier weather will accompany the cold, replacing the wet pattern that brought rain nearly every day during the past couple of weeks, Hillaker said.

Reach Julie Birkedal at 421-0535 or julie.birkedal@globegazette.com.

source : www.globegazette.com