February, 1999

Blizzard thins Michigan fruit crops

By Mark Longstroth
MSU Extension

The arctic air mass, which followed the New Year’s, snowstorm, settled into the Ohio River Valley and damaged tender fruits in the Midwest.
This cold air dropped the nighttime lows well below zero, this cold air moving into southern Michigan from the south. Since the air came from the south and not the west, Lake Michigan did not provide the protection that we expected. On Tuesday, January 5, lows in southern Michigan fell into the -14° to -18° range. These temperatures are into the range that will damage tender fruit crops.
These temperatures severely damaged the region’s peach crop by killing most of the fruit buds responsible for this year's crop. The trees themselves were not damaged. These temperatures also injured the buds of the region’s grapevines. It appears that about 20% of the buds in Concord and Niagara juice grapes have been damaged. Growers should leave more buds to compensate for the buds lost. There is also the possibility of trunk damage to Niagara and wine grapes from cold air near the snow line during the freeze, but this damage will not be as easy to assess. The cold temperatures were not cold enough to injure most other tree fruits and blueberries.
The cold air was confined to extreme southern Michigan, which had clear skies, while Central and Northern Michigan had cloudy skies and warmer temperatures. While temperatures in central Van Buren County were near -15°, temperatures at Fennville in northern Allegan County were above zero at 14°.

The Fruit Growers News