Fort Collins under freeze watch tonight. And Tuesday will be really windy again

This is why the old adage in Colorado is don't plant tender flowers and vegetables until at least Mother's Day, which is May 12 this year.

It's also a reason not to turn on your sprinkler system until then.

Tuesday will pretty much be a rinse and repeat of Monday with strong winds and a northern mountain winter weather advisory. But tonight we add a freeze watch for Fort Collins and surrounding area.

Isn't spring fun?

Here's what you need to know to protect your plants and sprinkler system from the cold:

How cold is it forecast to get in Fort Collins tonight?

The National Weather Service issued a freeze watch from midnight Monday through 8 a.m. Wednesday for Fort Collins, Greeley, Boulder, Denver and east to Sterling.

The watch means a temperature of 32 degrees or colder is possible.

The weather service's forecast calls for a low tonight of 32 degrees in Fort Collins. Continued windy conditions tonight may help keep us above freezing. This is forecast to be the coldest night this week.

This isn't unusual cold for Fort Collins this time of year.

Here are the probabilities of Fort Collins' last spring frost and freeze:

• Frost (32 degrees): 90% until April 23, 50% until May 4 and 10% until May 16, which is why a general rule of thumb is to wait to plant tender plants around Mother's Day (May 12 this year).

• Freeze (28 degrees): 90% until April 5, 50% until April 19 and 10% until May 2.

Strong wind and highs in the upper 50s are forecast to stick around into Thursday for the Fort Collins area.

How to protect plants, sprinkler system from frost tonight if in the Fort Collins area

A temperature of 32 degrees, if sustained, can damage or kill tender vegetables and annual flowers if left exposed.

It also can damage the above-ground parts of your sprinkler system if you have water in the system.

Hardier vegetables such as onions, peas, radishes, carrots, lettuce and spinach, beets, carrots, cauliflower, parsley, potatoes and Swiss chard should weather the cold just fine.

However, if you planted tender vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, squash, pumpkin and watermelon, you will want to cover them tonight.

To protect tender annuals and vegetables in containers, move planters underneath a patio or other roof if that is available.

You can also use a cloth covering slightly raised so the covering does not touch the plants. Tomato cages work well for this. Do not place a plastic cover directly on plants, as that can result in frost damage.

If you started your sprinkler system this spring, there is an easy way to protect it from freeze damage.

You can do a quick drain yourself. This removes the water from your above-ground parts to prevent freeze damage. After the freeze threat is over, you can easily recharge your system with water.

Watch this video on how to do a quick drain.

Yes, it will be windy again today in Fort Collins and surrounding area. Here's how windy.

The Fort Collins area was spared the brunt of Monday's strong wind, which forced hundreds of flight delays and cancellations at DIA and caused several power outages in the Boulder and Denver areas.

Tuesday could see a repeat of those events.

Here are expected peak wind gusts in Fort Collins and surrounding areas Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service:

• Fort Collins: 35-40 mph

• Greeley: 40-45 mph

• Red Feather Lakes: 40-45 mph

• Estes Park: 40-45 mph

• Boulder: 40-45 mph

• DIA: 40-45 mph

• Denver: 35-40 mph

• Walden: 40-45 mph

• Sterling: 40-45 mph

• Cheyenne, Wyo.: 50-55 mph

Colorado's northern mountains above 9,000 feet, including in western Larimer County and Rocky Mountain National Park, remain under a winter weather advisory until 6 p.m. Tuesday due to an expected 4 to 8 inches of snow and wind gusts to 60 mph.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Isn't spring fun in Colorado? Freeze watch added to strong wind Tuesday