Challenges Abound for Wine Grape Growers This Season | Lancaster Farming

Jean Manspeaker, owner of Briar Valley Vineyard and Winery in Bedford, Pa., noticed the effects the late-spring chilly weather had on her vines when she and her husband returned from a trip to France on May 27.

“All of our vines are brown. We’re a total loss,” she said. “We totally didn’t expect that to happen.”

Temperatures during the May frosts have gotten down to as low as 28 degrees Fahrenheit in her area.
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...the recent cold weather snaps have been unusual to say the least.

Mark Chien, Penn State’s statewide wine grape educator, wrote in his May 20 wine grape newsletter about the trouble some growers throughout the state are having with frost injury.

He wrote that growers should start adjusting to a new reality this season — reduced crop and possibly a delayed harvest.

Crop concern grows

"We cannot afford to have an early frost this year at all. Certainly that's something we cannot afford to have anywhere on the Prairies."

The CWB's production estimates for western Canadian wheat, durum and barley have fallen due to the late, cold spring.

The marketing agency is predicting a 20 per cent production drop to 29.7 million tonnes in the 2009 crop year, down from last year's 36.7 million tonnes, and also below the five-year average of 33.9 million tonnes. The all-wheat yield estimate of 33.4 bushels per acre is the lowest initial projection in seven years, says the CWB.

The consistent pattern of well-below-normal temperatures, which has persisted for five or six months, comes from a strong meteorological anomaly over Hudson Bay, said Burnett.

Weather History - In June 1877, how many Hummers were on US roads?

1877
The temperature at Los Angeles, CA reached 112° during a heat wave. It would have been the all-time record for Los Angeles but official records did not begin until 20 days later.