Strawberry Plasticulture Freeze Advisory - Wed. April 3, 2002 (11:30
am)
Vol. 3, No. 27 E. Barclay Poling, Ext. Specialist, Small Fruits
Here we go again - 2 or 3 more frosty nights!
General comments
Greetings! I am back from a week's break with the family, and I gather
there weren't too many frost episodes to contend with in the last week
of March across most of the region. Yesterday (April 2), I received a
SkyBit forecast calling for low on Friday night (April 5) of 38 F, and
it has now been dropped to 30 F at the canopy level (that's a big change
in 24 hrs). On Sat. morning we are expected to have a low of 30 F, and
on Sunday morning 30 F. The Sunday morning frost is more "iffy"
as with the warming we have in April, there is a good chance that the
air will modify and not be so cold on Sunday morning. Other weather products
I have reviewed in the last hour are calling for warmer temperatures of
38 F (Fri), 38 F (Sat) and 36 F (Sun) à go with the colder forecast!
This time of year, the plants have lost all hardiness with these warm day temperatures, and growers are advised to play it extra safe with a turn on temperature of à 34 F. This is a good temperature (34 F) to start the irrigation system up as a general rule. The dew points are way up today but will be in the 20s once this cold air gets established tomorrow (still, not as bad as recent freezes with v. low dps). In the Western part of NC you can look for the cold front to move in this Wed night and Thur morning.
Fig. 1. Minimum temperatures for Thursday morning (4/4/02). By Thursday
afternoon the cold air will be well-established across the state. By Friday
morning, Skybit is calling for upper 20's and lower 30's across the state.
Even some chance of parts of SC being affected as well as more coastal
NC. Please take the minimum temp values below in this advisory with a
real grain of salt - most models are underestimating
the cold air that is now heading, or "blasting" its way in here.
Fig. 2. Minimum temperature map for Friday morning (4/5/02). The pink
and purple areas are of concern, as well as the small gray area in NW
part of the state.
Fig. 3. . Minimum temperature map for Saturday morning (4/6/02). The pink and purple areas are of concern, as well as the small gray area in NW part of the state. This map would indicate far less of a threat than other forecast products we have received. On Sat. morning we are supposed to be down around 32 F at Clayton (this map shows a minimum nearer 38 F). So, play it real safe! If 32 F is being forecasted, it can just as easily hit 30 F, or possibly lower. I did not include the map for Sunday morning, but we may be slightly colder still (right now saying 31 F).
Minimum Temperatures (AWIS)…be advised that these can easily
drop several degrees or more!
Western NC (Thur, Fri, Sat, Sun)
Asheville - 37, 34, 32, 33 F
Charlotte - 41, 39, 40, 40 F
Hendersonville - 35, 34, 33, 35
Hickory - 40, 35, 37, 39 F
Lincolnton - 40, 38, 38 38 F
Salisbury - 41, 36, 36, 35 F
Wilkesboro - 31, 30, 30 32 F
Yadkinville - 34, 33, 33, 35 F
Central NC
Burlington 41, 34, 35, 34 F
Carthage 42, 39, 39, 39 F
Greensboro 40, 35, 35, 34 F
Lousiburg 36, 29, 31, 30 F
Nashville 43, 36, 36, 35 F
Rocky Mount 43, 36, 36, 35 F
Siler City 38, 32, 32, 32 F
Smithfield 44, 36, 37, 35 F
Winston-Salem 39, 32, 33, 33 F
Eastern NC
Burgaw 47, 39, 37, 37 F
Elizabeth City 43, 36, 38, 37 F
Jacksonville- 51, 41, 36, 36 F
New Bern 48, 38, 40, 38 F
Shallotte 49, 41, 39, 39 F
Snow Hill 47, 39, 39, 37 F
Williamston 44, 37, 36, 36 F
Wilmington 48, 40, 39, 38 F
South Carolina:
Northwestern SC
Clemson 40, 39, 37, 37 F
Clinton 40, 38, 37, 37 F
Pickens 43, 41, 39, 40 F
Greenville-Spartbg 42, 40, 38 38 F
York 45, 41, 40, 40 F
Fig. 4. At Clayton we were in full bloom on April 2nd - this stage is
extra critical time for fungicide spray application for botrytis control!
We learned from Arvesta (mfg. Elevate) that there should be no problem
with tank mix of Elevate and Topsin M. The reason Topsin may be included
is to provide powdery mildew control (you can see a russet).
Fig. 5. Southeast region minimum temp. map for Friday - note how the cold air will have pushed its way into N. C. mountains, foothills and piedmont. Frost alarms should definitely be set for Thursday night and Friday morning in the dark green areas. If the forecast changes again, it is possible that even South Carolina could also be at risk! Georgia - you need to pat attention as well, is the advice of meteorologist Jay Schlegal, SkyBite
Virginia
Ashland - 35, 28, 31, 31 F
Blacksburg - 28, 26, 26, 29 F
Danville - 37, 30, 32, 33 F
Farmville - 34, 27, 30, 30 F
Fredricksburg - 38, 30, 29, 28 F
Lynchburg 37, 28, 32, 33 F
Richmond - 38, 33, 32, 32 F
South Boston - 35, 29, 32, 33 F
Fig. 6. The minimum temperature map for Virginia - note the spread of
this frost/freeze on Friday morning with areas in light blue in the 25-30
range, and maybe lower! Again, at this time of year it is real important
not to let temperatures of open blooms, and especially blossoms that are
about to lose their petals, get below 30 F.
Call from Arkansas (4/3/02, 10 am): I am aware that growers out in Arkansas today are re-applying row covers as they are concerned about winds tonight with temperatures possibly below 30 F. I gather that a number of AR growers there are putting row covers back out today, not wishing to take any chances tonight. A wind of even 5-6 mph can be very tricky, and I don't fault them for re-applying the covers today to be on the safe side. Their situation will change from a windborne freeze tonight to a radiative frost for Thursday and Friday. Those will be strictly irrigation nights, but there should not be a problem leaving the covers on for the 3 consecutive evenings. Just an observation - where you use row covers and irrigate on top there seems to be relatively little water entering the beds themselves (you know how soggy the beds become with straight irrigation through the night and no row covers to essentially deflect the water into the aisles). By the way, the growers in Arkansas are truly singing the praises to row covers. These will become a permanent part of the program after this season. One of the leading producers said, "You pay for the covers with just an extra 2 oz fruit per plant." I agree!
E. Barclay Poling, Small Fruit Specialist
NC State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7609
919.515.1195
919.515.2505 (fax)
919.418.9687 (mobile - best number for Thur, 4/4/02 - doing muscadine
program in another part of the state)
Just in from SkyBit:
E-WEATHER FROST/FREEZE ALERT FOR THE SOUTHEAST
Issued: 04/03/02
GENERAL SUMMARY
Much colder air that is moving into the region today and tonight will
cause widespread frost Thursday night and Friday night and possibly Saturday
night. The coldest weather is expected Friday morning.
STATE SUMMARY
NORTH CAROLINA
Breezy and colder Wednesday night with low temperatures 35-40F. Winds
10-15 mph. Very cold Thursday night with low temperatures 27-31F. Low
temperatures Friday night 30-35F.
Copyright(C) 2002, SkyBit, Inc.
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