Lithops Emergency: Polar Vortex

Even down here on my very southerly sand dune, the Polar Vortex of 2014 is a problem. Actually, the whole last month has been a problem. Instead of our usual Dry-And-Not-So-Hot Season, we're having a Rainy- Damp-Cold-Hot Season. In other words, Weather Chaos. This has played hell with my outdoor Lithops, which expect a cool, dry winter:

It's been rainy-hot, rainy-cold, cold-damp, hot-damp, and my poor Lithops have become both waterlogged and confused. The one above did not make it. It was trying to re-leaf and hunker down at the same time, in the middle of winter, and became waterlogged to boot. But there were still some that could be saved.

Enter the Polar Vortex:

Now it's not nearly the problem at my latitude that it is up north. However, we're still going to freeze, and my soggy outdoor Lithops can't handle that. Time for an emergency repot:

The little weeds you see at top grew in only 48 hours! Too much water!

Nice dry, sandy, porous soil.

Hopefully, they'll survive.

The newly-potted outdoor Lithops will stay in a sheltered, above-freezing place until the weird weather clears. I think they'll survive. But these days, it's tough for outdoor Lithops everywhere. Weather chaos is not good for Lithops!