Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

Last Updated: 9:11 PM GMT on May 24, 2013 — Last Comment: 5:44 AM GMT on May 26, 2013

	Hard freeze likely to significantly damage Midwest fruit trees

Posted by: JeffMasters, 1:13 PM GMT on March 26, 2012

After a week of temperatures in the 70s and 80s last week, it was a rude awakening for Michigan this morning, as temperatures across all but the extreme southern portions of the state dropped below freezing. Tonight, far colder temperatures in the low to mid-20s are expected across the entire state, and frosts and freezes are also expected in all of Ohio, plus portions of Indiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Washington D.C., and New Jersey. A hard freeze (temperatures below 28°F ) will cause widespread damage to flowering plants fooled into blooming by last week's unprecedented "Summer in March" heat wave. Temperatures as hot as 90° hit Michigan last week, and the National Weather Service in Detroit called the "Summer in March" heat wave "perhaps the most anomalous weather event in Michigan since climate records began 130 years ago."

Figure 1. Frost and freeze advisories (white colors) are posted today for all of Lower Michigan and all of Ohio, plus portions of Indiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Washington D.C., and New Jersey. Although freezing temperatures in the extreme Northeast are also expected, the growing season there has not yet begun, since last week's heat was not long-enough lived in that part of the country. Image taken from wunderground's severe weather map.

Fruit trees at risk
Tonight's hard freeze poses a significant danger to the region's fruit industry, and growers of apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, and cherries are gearing up to battle the freezing temperatures by operating large fans and propane heaters in orchards in an attempts to keep temperatures a few degrees warmer. While freezing temperatures for an extended period will not kill the trees, they will destroy the flowers and fragile buds that are needed to produce fruit later in the year. The situation this week is similar to what occurred in 2007. A warm spell in March that year was followed by cold temperatures in early April that were 10 - 20 degrees below average, bringing killing frosts and freezes to the Midwest and South that caused $2.2 billion in agricultural damage, wiping out apple, peach, winter wheat and alfalfa crops. In an interview with citizensvoice.com, Ian Merwin, Ph.D., a horticulturist who specializes in tree fruit at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., said, "I'm pretty sure this will be the earliest bloom, going back at least to the early 1900s. We are definitely in a very risky situation right now for the fruit crop in the whole Northeast."

Jeff Masters

Cherry Blossoms

This photo was uploaded by: KEM

Cherry blossoms in Washington, DC.

Pretty In Pink

This photo was uploaded by: THudgins

A little hazy today, but still a good day to take in some views of the Apple Blossoms along route 45.

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551. hydrus 3:00 PM GMT on March 27, 2012
Quoting Minnemike: mitigation, quality of life, stewardship.. just a few ideas i'll float your way. why so scared? perhaps it's not fear, but a sense of responsibility to understand and discuss human impacts and the relationship we have with our surroundings. otherwise complete ignorance of the facts and lack of action could lead to unnecessary suffering, such that we ought use good stewardship to mitigate the potentiality of undue suffering. yeah, we'll likely survive as a species, but what inheritance shall we provide? choices... Good post Mike. Member Since: September 27, 2007 Posts: 1 Comments: 14315

552. Minnemike 3:03 PM GMT on March 27, 2012
Quoting Barefootontherocks: You missed my point. Of course man contributes. "The" and "is" makes Neo's statement absolute. The way that reads, man is causing all warming. By his second statement, the science, apparently, does not support this. No thanks. Had enough of that stuff and enough English Usage for Today. This re: previous comments. Neo: Some people are ~~consumed~~ concerned with the idea that man is causing the warming only because he is. There's an increasingly smaller amount of doubt on that among scientists. Here's a well-made video you might find interesting: Welcome to the Anthropocene. Barefootontherocks' reply: Your comment contradicts itself. The way the first sentence reads, there is no other cause but man. Then you go on to mention the "increasingly smaller amount of doubt" among scientists "on that." I'm confused, but maybe I need more coffee. if you are going to be 'literal', then you miss your own point. he cited 'scientists' not 'science'. science is the collective of research about our physical environment, and the act of verifying thoughts about it's nature. scientists are people with those thoughts, perceptions, and opinions. the 'scientists' are not 'science'. so semantically speaking, Nea is a guy with an opinion that our natural environment is warming due to man, and that a scientific consensus is growing among scientists about 'that'. Member Since: July 31, 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 1257

553. Xandra 3:07 PM GMT on March 27, 2012
New Blog Member Since: November 22, 2010 Posts: 0 Comments: 758

554. Barefootontherocks 3:09 PM GMT on March 27, 2012
Quoting Minnemike: if you are going to be 'literal', then you miss your own point. he cited 'scientists' not 'science'. science is the collective of research about our physical environment, and the act of verifying thoughts about it's nature. scientists are people with those thoughts, perceptions, and opinions. the 'scientists' are not 'science'. Gads. Where does that collective research called science come from - anthills? LOL Ain't gonna argue this no more. ADD: Quoting Minnemike: if you are going to be 'literal', then you miss your own point. he cited 'scientists' not 'science'. science is the collective of research about our physical environment, and the act of verifying thoughts about it's nature. scientists are people with those thoughts, perceptions, and opinions. the 'scientists' are not 'science'. so semantically speaking, Nea is a guy with an opinion that our natural environment is warming due to man, and that a scientific consensus is growing among scientists about 'that'. LOL. For shame. No indication you added that last little statement (at 552.) that "explains" the whole thing. Aha. Now I get it. Neo stated his own opinion that man is causing the warming - based on seeing a growing scientific consensus that led him in that direction. And here, all this time I thought he was into stating scientific fact, not his opinion. My mistake. Member Since: April 29, 2006 Posts: 135 Comments: 16341

555. hydrus 3:10 PM GMT on March 27, 2012
This look familiar.? Member Since: September 27, 2007 Posts: 1 Comments: 14315

556. goodsign 12:45 AM GMT on March 31, 2012
Quoting Barefootontherocks: Gads. Where does that collective research called science come from - anthills? LOL Ain't gonna argue this no more. ADD: LOL. For shame. No indication you added that last little statement (at 552.) that "explains" the whole thing. Aha. Now I get it. Neo stated his own opinion that man is causing the warming - based on seeing a growing scientific consensus that led him in that direction. And here, all this time I thought he was into stating scientific fact, not his opinion. My mistake. You sure like to laugh at people without even a discussion. Member Since: May 28, 2011 Posts: 0 Comments: 33

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