MANHATTAN, Kan. – Spring weather in Kansas this year has been hitting from almost every direction: warm, then cold, deluges of rain, hail, tornadoes, record-setting straight winds. But, at least mid-April’s hard freeze was more set-back than knock-out punch.

The lowest reading for state climatologist Mary Knapp’s network of weather stations came in from Goodland, which registered a chilly 21 F during the nighttime between April 16 and 17. Hill City, Russell, Dodge City, Garden City, Concordia, Lawrence and Salina were among the many locales registering 30 degrees or less. Wichita was the only station with an above-freezing low temperature.

"When it gets down to 21 F., that’s cold enough to burn everything off a landscape plant that has broken out of winter dormancy," said Ward Upham, Kansas State University horticulturist. "That shouldn’t kill the plant, however. In awhile, secondary buds should start putting out a new set of leaves."

Plants that lost their year’s supply of buds probably won’t flower this year, Upham added. And, the quick changes from warm to cold to warm will place most plants under some stress.

"Just don’t add any more by letting them get overly dry, if the weather hands us that problem. If they benefit from a feeding in springtime, make sure you don’t skip that application this year," he advised.

Abrupt temperature changes are more likely to be fatal for plants at the end of the growing season, Upham said. The "absolute worst" is a warm fall, suddenly ended by an extreme cold snap.

Climatologist Knapp maintains the state’s 100-plus-year-old library of weather data at her base with K-State Research and Extension. But, for those interested in following current state or local weather trends, she also maintains a cross-section of constantly updated weather-related facts on the World Wide Web ( http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/wdl/ ).