[Winter that Wasn't update]: French beet sowings off to slow start

While frost in February improved soil conditions the extended period of cold weather has delayed the start of beet sowings this year, industry sources said.

Only 3.2% of the area to be sown with sugar beet for the upcoming 2012/13 crop had been drilled as of March 14 whereas almost half of the crop had been in the ground on the same date last year.

Ukraine: Frost has disastrous consequences for orchards

The severe frost, which controlled the weather in a large part of Ukraine from the middle of January till the end of February has had extremely damaging results for the orchards in Southern and Eastern Ukraine. Annually an important part of the

Ukrainian fruit harvest comes from orchards in these regions.

 

The meteorological service of the Ukraine came to this conclusion. According to them more than 50% of the flower buds were lost in the Eastern and Southern regions of the Ukraine because of frost. Only considering pear and apple trees the loss was slightly less dramatic, namely about 20%. What, however, is very alarming,
is the fact, that there are many orchards where the trees have suffered serious damage to the branches and trunks. This could have long term consequences for the fruit harvest in the coming years.

Rate of extreme weather events increasing, Bulgarian meteorologist says - Bulgaria - The Sofia Echo

Valeri Spiridonov, deputy director of the National Institute of Meteorology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, said that arguably for the past 60 years, there had not been a winter like the one past, with heavy snowfalls and prolonged periods of sub-zero temperatures.

Avalanche engulfs village family | thetelegraph.com.au

Afghanistan has been experiencing its harshest winter in around two decades, with more than 100 people killed in two previous avalanches elsewhere in Badakhshan province.

Climate change: The spring jailbreak of 2012 - Achenblog - The Washington Post

The tulips are already in flower, weeks ahead of schedule. The apple tree has blossomed. The cherry trees have peaked and we’re only a couple of days past the equinox. And the birds are as chattery already as they usually are on the first of May. It’s a bloomin’ buzzin’ confusion of nature out there, and even if we cannot incontrovertibly ascribe this to climate change (the jet stream is the proximate cause), we can nod our heads when someone says that this is what climate change looks like.