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GREGG COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) - The recent hard freeze, and consistent freezing temperatures overnight, have put a chill into most East Texans, but for some it’s very appreciated.

January, and the temperatures drop to a bone chilling hard freeze in East Texas, complete with snow, and having many deciding to stay inside.

“For January, temperatures have trended a little colder than we would typically be, but overall the winter has trended a little cooler than normal,” says KLTV First Alert Weather’s Andrew Tate.

While ice, snow and freezing temperatures can turn grass brown and kill some plants, there is a benefit from it. Chill hours.

“In the winter when the trees go dormant, especially fruit trees, temperatures below 45 help those trees to create essentially a hormone in them that will produce budding and eventually fruit when we get into the spring and summer,” Tate says.

Peaches for instance, require around 7-to-800 chill hours, that is average hours of temperatures between 45 to 32 degrees, every winter for a healthy crop.

“Their still about 2-to-300 hours behind this year compared to last year,” Andrew says.

“45 to 32 degrees temperature. and once they raise you are reducing those chill hours because the plant is warming up,” says Gregg county Agri-Life extension agent Shanequa Davis.

Although many would love a return of spring-like weather, that could be very bad for growers.

“Whenever you’re talking about the weather going from the freezing to the warmer weather it’s a minus,” Davis says.

So a little more wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or two more periods of cold weather where we get more chill hours in and everyone’s bundled up because it’s too cold outside,” says Tate.

According to the Texas Farmers Almanac, this winter will be colder than normal, with the coldest periods in early to mid-January, which has already happened, and early to mid-February.