North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Thomas Olenio <tolenio@sentex.net>]

Hal Love wrote:
> Just took a look at the draft of the 2003 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
> Seems a little behind schedule getting out, since its now 2004, but since I
> did not see any mention of this in the archives,
>   
Hi  Hal,
  
All heat zones maps are historical in nature.  You could not produce a map
that is current with 2004 data until 2004 had ended and you compiled the
data in  2005.
  
Since the map is more history than anything, even a map dated 2001 would
be sufficient for most needs.  Just because we had unusual cold in the winters
of 2003 and 2004, it would make little impact on overall trends.  The map
is really historical averages to my understanding.
  
Later,
Tom