In warmer falls I water later.

If it is dry and 0 degrees F then I do not water.

Our weather is usually up and down over the winter so if we have a dry spell then some 50 drgree F days I might water new plants if the finger in the dirt feels dry.

The last time an extreme El Nino like the one predicted appeared, much of New England, upstate New York and parts of Quebec and Ontario experienced the worst ice storm in their histories. Downed power lines and transmission towers kept many people without electricity for weeks. El Nino events are very unpredictable in their effects, but the likelihood of unfrozen ground and trees in need of winter watering in northern tier states is very remote.

Even a 'normal'l El Nino's effects are on consistent throughout the Northeast. The coastal Northeast tends to be WET and stormy in these events (with California storms becoming Gulf Coast storms, becoming East Coast storms. Western NYS is not part of this storm tract..., so you may be milder (hard not to be milder after the last two winters), but I don't think you will need to do winter watering.

I'm not in your zone, but I have learned to always water my junipers at least a few times in the winter. Got burned last season when I didn't.

Don't count on El Nino warming up New England unless it's really strong. If it's just average, the effect on east/northeast NA is unpredictable depending on what the jetstream does. Very strong ones like in the late 1990s did produce several very mild/wet winters, tho (& an enormous ice-storm in Canada).

i will yell ... NOT IF YOUR GROUND FREEZES ... and i am pretty sure your probably does ...

bunch of cliches .....dormant trees need little water ... dont confuse a dry surface.. with moisture at root depth ... and if soil frozen.. its not like you can dig little holes to find out ... roots need air as much as water .. and if frozen into an ice cube.. no air ...

i am sure this would all be different in warmer climes where soil doesnt freeze ....

lastly ... these dudes cant predict tomorrows weather.. i have little faith in long term predictions ... try to keep some perspective of all the chicken little weather predictions ...

too many peeps put their hoses away .. when raking leaves in late october ... you should be CHECKING moisture thru thxgiving ... and if need be.. ON NEW TRANSPLANTS... give them a late drink ... THEN PUT THE HOSE AWAY ... again .. i would not be all that worried about long established plants ... in our zone ...

and lastly.. again.. lol ... you can waste a lot of money.. cracking hoses in very cold weather ... probably more money than the plants you are trying to save ... its hard to wind up a hose for winter storage... when its 40 degrees out ...

ken

Thanks everyone, for your responses! I appreciate them very much. I hope we don't get any ice storms, as we had one in 2006 that was a complete disaster. People in Buffalo were without power for over a week. We had/have a generator, but still, it was awful. It was really big news around here when it was going on. They called it the October Surprise. I am so hoping Mother Nature will spare us this time around.

I never water mature trees, ever. I figure any tree that can't survive a drought without help is going to get forgotten some year and die anyway. I only water newly planted things, under 6 years old. IF El Niño causes a mild snowless winter, then the ground will freeze later then usual. It might be a good idea to water shortly before the ground freezes, if you have young or drought intolerant plants.

I'm with lincoln. I watered my Sweetgum recently (it's been in the ground 4 years) but that was only so I didn't get any early leaf drop. Unless the ground is BONE dry and unfrozen, I don't think watering would be necessary for any established plant for sure. New plantings don't even get water from me over the winter.

And to speak of El Nino, if what the mets are calling for happens, the last couple moderate El Ninos have brought much snow to my area. Supposedly, moderate ones have been in 09-10, 02-03, 91-92, 87-88, 86-87. We got mega snow 09-10 and a nice storm (18") in 02-03. The last strong El Nino (97-98) we got nothing remarkable but the one before that in 82-83 brought us a mega snow. I guess the point is basically the same as someone made earlier, that El Nino for the NE is inconsistent in the type of weather it brings. As for me, I'm hoping for a warm and average precip winter :-)

El Nino winters here tend to be normal to wet in precip, although can be cold (snowy) or warm (rainy). I don't think dryness is a concern all that much in the East, it's the PNW that tends to be dry during a strong El Nino, since the precipitation is routed down towards S. CA instead.

As far as snowy vs mild, STRONG El Ninos tend to be mild, but can produce epic snowfalls if enough cold air is present. It tends to push the polar jet north (warmer in East), but the NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) is also a factor - if the NAO trends negative (which it has so far this year), it can pull cold air deep down (think "polar vortex") and we could end up getting some big snowfalls on the East Coast and/or New England.

I remember '97/'98 though in Ohio being almost ridiculously mild. We had several days in Feb and early March well into the 70s, and it was virtually snowless by NE Ohio standards.

DC, OTOH, only got 0.1" of snow that whole winter.

Here in the upper midwest, the need to water plants during times of year when we usually don't worry about that is slightly more of a reality, simply because, in many El Nino years, we are more or less completely bypassed by storm tracks. Often, we seem to end up in what I call a "nothing winter".....not real cold (yeah!), not especially snowy, just nothing. Some folks like that but I'm a snow guy and hate "open" winters. Now all that said, I do not believe I've ever watered a thing beyond say, Oct. Certainly not a biggie, but each person must assess what's gone on in their own locale. If it would be so dry that watering would be called for, then by all means, do the watering. Just not a point, IMO, to panic over, and not a frequent reality.

+oM

Geez, hairmetal, I'll take a few 60-70* days in late Feb, early March. I'm ready for a warm winter after the two doosies we had recently. A perfect winter for me would be warmer than average but just cold enough when big moisture comes to get a lot of snow. Call me Goldielocks I guess.

I don't know. Lately, summer precipitation here is very bizarre. Currently, in semi-drought conditions in parts of NJ, Long Island, and Eastern New England. We were supposed to get a big rainstorm today..., a bit of rain last night, now, not a cloud in the sky. Multiple alarms ringing on the TV, cell phones for flood warnings and it's a big nothing (but other towns get several inches). What gets me is these idiot weather announcers who seem to be clueless that you actually do need rain occasionally..., every day cannot be 86 F. with sun and gentle breezes, they seem clueless that the soils are drying up rapidly (pet peeve). I don't think I will have to be watering in the winter, but do think I will be watering in in the September-November time frame. August used to be an extremely wet month..., in recent years has become very droughty and this continues into the Fall. Camber of commerce sunshine and warmth..., BUT GARDENS NEED RAIN TOO.