The USDA has recently released a new plant hardiness cold zones. Many areas seems to have move 5° warmer. However my area seems to remain in the same cold zone.  

Can they make that chart any smaller ?
I cant see the numbers..lol

click on your state and it gets larger....and get your bifocals. :-)

What John said. You can simply type your zip code as well. 

moved up a notch - 6b to 7a....  doesnt explain the snowstorm we got on Halloween, though :)

It looks like my little town has changed from 8b to 9a, but I'm not buying it. We may not have temps below 20 very often, but it does happen. Last year we had a few nights of 15 to 17.  I don't know how they average it all out, but speaking for myself, I wouldn't go by that hardiness for my area.

These are based on Average extreme minimum temperature from 1976-2005 I'm in zone 6b which shows -5°F as average minimum, last winter was -8°F in my garden. This year the lowest temps has only been 10°.

Little John i had bi-focals at one time they made me dizzy.
No longer have them and glad they fell off my car roof one day when i left them there doing something in the garage.  ; )
I just use reading glasses now.

The chart is about right for my area.
I was looking at some information and saw that August is our rainiest month when my figs get ripe hmm and our area is considered humid maybe thats why i sweat profusely when i'm in the yard during the summer amongst my fig trees taking pics and eating the figs off the trees.

C'mon spring.

Your lucky Bass.at least you can still grow Oriental persimmon, at you place.

Wow, I moved up from 6b to 7a also. Because they updated it does that mean you start using that new zone right away as a reference?

I can agree with that. In my area of NC., it's getting warmer earlier and longer. My zip code was in zone 7b, now it's 8a. I like it. The daffodills and forsythia bushes are up and in bloom. But we got 20 degree weather coming this weekend. Go figure!

We also moved up...from zone 7 to zone 8b.  I can't wait to tell my fig trees.  They will be so happy...

"These are based on Average extreme minimum temperature from 1976-2005"
 
I guess I don't like risking my figs and other tropicals on averages. One night of below average temps can mean the demise of valued plant material. My carob tree didn't survive just a couple degrees too cold. Pity, as it was a very nice tree. 

Guess a lot of us will need to update our signatures now.
I went from 7b to 8a.

Looking forward to this again.
I hate cold weather.

It seems that most the USDA zones have been bumped-up by a half-zone (+5*F).

Mine changed up from Z6b to Z7a.

This is way up from the touted/expected ~2*F increase in global warming...

Should I be thinking of (soon) growing oranges in my own backyard?

What will be next? - (Bonita) bananas?

Here in Michigan this year it feels like it's zone 7 here.The lowest we had this winter was 10 degrees f.This has been a very mild winter.I have Florea,Marseilles VS,Sals and Hardy Chicago all left unprotected and there still alive and the tips seem to still be in good shape.Our high's in Jan have been 30's and 40's unheard of.Gorgi's idea sonds great maybe I'll start growing Manadrins and Pomegranites.

Overall across the country its been a milder winter for most generally speaking.
Here we only dipped below zero a few times.
That chart goes up to 2005 only.
Here a few years since 2005 we went 23 below zero 18 below zero and have had a spell of just cold weather.
2008 -2009 were cold winters.
Last year brought a blizzard here and closed Ohare and Midway airports and expressways , they got caught with there pants down on LSD when there was accident and shut the drive down and it was a total nightmare for several days and also much the same back east.

I dont pay attention anymore to winter cold weather for my plants as there in pots safely sleeping in my attached garage.

Here is the sad truth. The map has been ready since January

2011

See this link!

http://citrus.forumup.org/viewtopic.php?p=49856&mforum=citrus#49856 

Fortunately I have been using 8b/9a for my signature for a while so I can keep my signature.

Yeah I love how they use colors with such great contrast. It is virtually impossible to see the 8b 9a line in my county in North West Florida.

I have lived here in MA for 5 years now. The zone map says I'm a zone 6a. But I'm within the Blackstone Valley River Corridor. The temps sway a bit against what the local weather spells out all the time.

I AM in 5b  occasionally we do get -15 or -24  but very seldom and not for long .

last winter it was -19 one night  winter before -17 one evening .

today dec 26th low is to be 24f   could enough for me.

I am still 6A. It amazes me that today we are having our first snow storm of this winter in Maine and we have been unseasonably warmer than normal. I have been worried that some of my plants might pop buds. I saw these cherry trees in full bloom on Sunday in Peabody Massachussetts. I'm just glad my trees didn't start.

We got ice here in zone 9B.  Sucks!  But we sprayed everything with "Cloud Cover" knowing this would happen.  Unusual, thanks to El Nino.

Suzi, you're back!!!

We missed you!!

Ice really in 9B? No way!

I have not changed zones, still 7b. And that is accurate -- most years. But the past two in a row we hit the lows for 7a. This year is looking more like z8b so far. But I am not taking chances, my figs are all nicely wrapped for a zone 7a winter just in case.