Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Low temperatures not extensive enough to damage crops

The night and early morning weather from Jan. 11 through Jan. 16 was more suitable for hockey than for produce and flower growing, but the cold periods weren’t extensive enough to cause crop damage.

“It just seems like minor amounts of damage,” said San Diego County Farm Bureau executive director Eric Larson.

Much of the impact involved reversed growth from December’s warmer temperatures. “Some of that got burnt back, but that seems to be about it,” Larson said.

“I’ve talked to a lot of growers this week,” Larson said. “Everybody’s just really pleased the way it’s turned out.”

It is possible that damage from stem freezing may have occurred, although the impact of that would be that fruit would need to be picked earlier.

“It did get cold, but a couple of things happened,” Larson said. “It didn’t stay cold long enough to cause prolonged damage.”

The other factor was that wind and clouds mitigated the effects of the cold air temperature. “The real cold tended to restrict itself to those pockets where the cold can gather,” Larson said.

Larson added that growers are familiar with those cold pockets and can avoid crops susceptible to frost damage.

National Weather Service data for Fallbrook utilizes measurements at the Red Mountain station. The lows were 37 degrees on Jan. 12, 36 on Jan. 13, 33 on Jan. 14, and 37 on Jan. 15. The low on Jan. 16 was 44 degrees.

The Red Mountain station reports hourly data. Ten consecutive measurements on Jan. 11-12 were below 40 degrees: from 11:53 p.m. to 8:53 a.m. Consecutive measurements below 40 degrees occurred from 12:53 a.m. to 7:53 a.m. Jan. 13, 11:53 p.m. to 9:53 a.m. Jan. 13-14, and 1:53 a.m. to 5:53 a.m. Jan. 15.

Bonsall’s lows were 31 degrees on Jan. 12, 32 on Jan. 13, 35 on Jan. 14, 32 on Jan. 15, and 35 on Jan. 16. Consecutive measurements of under 40 degrees were recorded from 12:44 a.m. to 7:44 a.m. Jan. 12, 8:44 p.m. to 7:45 a.m. Jan. 12-13, 8:45 p.m. to 7:45 a.m. Jan. 13-14, 7:45 p.m. to 7:45 a.m. Jan. 14-15, and 11:45 p.m. to 7:45 a.m. Jan. 15-16.

The Rainbow Valley weather station records measurements every 10 minutes. The lows were 32 degrees on Jan. 12, 33 on Jan. 13, 33 on Jan. 14, 33 on Jan. 15, and 40 on Jan. 16. Consecutive measurements below 40 degrees were recorded from 7:20 p.m. to 9 a.m. Jan. 11-12, 6:50 p.m. to 9 a.m. Jan. 12-13, 10:10 p.m. to 9:50 a.m. Jan. 13-14, and 8 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. Jan. 14-15.

The DeLuz station also provides measurements every 10 minutes. The lows in DeLuz were 31 degrees on Jan. 12, 32 on Jan. 13, 38 on Jan. 14, 32 on Jan. 15, and 36 on Jan. 16.

DeLuz consecutive measurements of below 40 degrees occurred from 9:10 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 11-12 and 6:40 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. Jan. 12-13. During the next three days the night and early morning measurements fluctuated between the 30s and low 40s. The Jan. 13-14 temperature first dropped below 40 degrees at 8:30 p.m. while the last measurement under 40 degrees was at 7:40 a.m. The temperature that night had its longest consecutive measurements between 40 and 44 degrees from 11:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. while the most consecutive measurements below 40 degrees were recorded between 5:30 a.m. and 6:50 a.m. The Jan. 14-15 temperatures included measurements of 40 degrees at 10:10 p.m., 10:20 p.m., and 11:30 p.m. with temperatures in the 30s otherwise from 9:40 p.m. to 8:20 a.m. Between 9:40 p.m. Jan. 15 and 7:30 a.m. Jan. 16 the temperature was at or slightly above 40 degrees from 9:50 p.m. to 10:40 p.m., from 11 p.m. to midnight, and at 12:50 a.m., 1:20 a.m., and 2:20 a.m.

The low temperatures in Valley Center between Jan. 12 and Jan. 16 were 30, 31, 26, 27, and 34 degrees.

 

Reader Comments(0)