First Frost of Autumn 2024

 We experienced our first autumn frost of 2024 on the 11th October. It was forecast and occurred between 5 o'clock and 9 o'clock in the morning (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Recorded Minimum Temperatures (12 am to 12 pm, 11/10/24)

The data logger recorded a minimum -0 ℃, so just below the freezing point of water, which was rounded up to 0 ℃ in the above plot. Figure 1 shows a period of 4 hours (between 5 am and 9 am) when the temperature was zero. The bird bath had a thin sliver of floating ice, confirming the temperature dropped below the freezing point of water, if only just (Photo 1).

Photo 1: Ice on the Bird Bath (11/10/24)

At 8 o'clock in the morning, the surrounding roofs were still frosted and the sky was clear of clouds.

Photo 2: Frosted Roofs I (11/10/24)

Photo 3: Frosted Roofs II (11/10/24)

Later in the morning, I had a quick look round the garden to see if any plants had frosted but they had, thankfully survived.

Photo 4: Cosmos (11/10/24)

Photo 5: Japanese Anemone (11/10/24)

Photo 6: Dahlia (11/10/24)

Photo 7: Strawberry Tree (11/10/24)

Photo 8: Salvia (11/10/24)

Photo 9: Salvia Hot Lips (11/10/24)

The day before (10th October 2024), this rather ragged specimen of a butterfly (Large White) was spotted on the appropriately-named butterfly bush (aka Buddleja). With a frost predicted overnight (11/10/24), this may have been the butterfly's last taste of nectar. 

Photo 10: Late-Season Large White Butterfly (10/10/24)

The clear blue skies (Photo 10) provided ideal conditions for rapid temperature drops and the subsequent frost the following morning. Coincidentally, it also provided ideal conditions to observe the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) in Herefordshire. Unfortunately, we missed them due light pollution at our location. Here are some pictures from the Hereford Times.

This year's first autumn frost (October 11th) is much earlier than normal for Hereford. In 2020 and 2021, the first frosts were on November 4th and November 3rd respectively. In 2022 and 2023, they were much later in November - the 29th and the 24th respectively.

The weather forecast for the next couple of weeks is not predicting any more frosts. So there is still time to gather in the harvest from the kitchen garden and enjoy the flowers for a while longer.

Photo 11: Ten Winter Squashes Sitting on a Windowsill