DALLAS — The best part about winter is the lack of MOSQUITOES.
The colder weather is associated with the lack of pesky bugs, but what happens when the cold weather hasn't been ALL THAT COLD?
Mild winter so far
This winter season has played out like our WFAA Winter Outlook thought it would.
Although a few arctic fronts found their way into Texas over the last few months, temperatures are still warmer than normal. The average temperature for the winter so far is 49.3° which is about 1.5° above the normal for a DFW winter. The average temperature takes into consideration morning lows and afternoon highs since December 1st. The number of freezes DFW has reported comes out to 14 total for the season which is also well behind schedule. Normal total freezes for the season is 29. On average, the last freeze falls on March 12th.
Okay, but does cold weather kill mosquitoes?
The short answer is no. Mosquitoes can thrive in much colder environments than what North Texas provides. States with much colder climates like Minnesota and Alaska are home to mosquitoes and they even thrive in those environments.
Cold weather doesn't kill mosquitoes. Colder temperatures do, however, cause them to be inactive during the winter. If it is a particularly harsh winter, it can even delay the mosquito emergence in the spring. If it is a mild winter, it can speed up their emergence in the late winter and early spring.
Reminder - all the mosquitoes we have are descendants of mosquitoes that lived (and survived) the ice age.