Cold snap damages fruit crops across Southeast
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Cold snap damages fruit crops across Southeast
Storyhighlights
• One farmer calls damage "worst I've ever seen"
• States, growers assessing just how bad it is
• Cold hurt peaches, apples, berries, wine grapes
Kemp McLeod, owner of McLeod Farms, checks on the health of his corn Monday in McBee, South Carolina.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- Frigid weekend weather caused frost that damaged crops across the Southeast, raising fears that peach, apple, blueberry, strawberry and wine grape crops were harmed.
Cost estimates for the damage were expected later in the week, and Georgia's agriculture commissioner said he might ask for federal aid depending on how badly crops were affected.
Slicing open a peach in McBee, South Carolina, on Monday reveals frost damage (the brown spot) which will kill the fruit.
"We know there is a significant amount of damage through most of the state, but it's too early to give what the final analysis will be," said Tommy Irvin, Georgia's agriculture chief.
Richard Staton, of Staton Farms, looks over damage to his apple crop in Henderson County, North Carolina, on Monday.
In South Carolina, the nation's second-largest peach-producing state after California, farmers prepared for the worst.
"I don't think there'll be a good peach out of South Carolina this year," said Raymond Cook, who grows 60 acres of peaches each season. "It's the worst I've ever seen."
South Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers said he was trying to remain optimistic so retailers would not be alarmed. "By the middle of the week we'll know just how severe it is," he said.
In Blount County, Alabama, about 30 miles north of Birmingham, farmer James Witt said his fields of plums, peaches and pecans were completely lost. Crop damage in Chilton County ranged from 30 percent to 80 percent, depending on elevation, said Bobby Boozer, an area horticulturist.
In West Virginia, Alan Gibson's apple orchard had suffered early season weather damage from hail. After three days of freezing temperatures, he predicted a total loss on the 3,000 trees in his small, pick-your-own orchard in Harpers Ferry.
In Georgia, fruit has shriveled and leaves are turning black, said Frank Funderburk, an agricultural extension agent in Peach County, the heart of Georgia's peach-growing region.
"We're waiting to see how things turn out when we get some warm weather," Funderburk said.
South Carolina raised 100 million pounds of peaches last year, but in 1996, when temperatures dipped into the 20s, the state produced just 6.6 million pounds, according to Rhonda Brandt, director of the federal agriculture department in South Carolina.
Growers from West Virginia to North Carolina to Texas spent the weekend trying to save their crops as temperatures dipped into the 20s.
In South Carolina, Stacey Hardy used a sprinkler system to coat blueberries and strawberries with a layer of ice as protection. Experts say heat generated by the transformation of sprayed water into ice can keep plants healthy.
"We've been up for four nights, but we think we've protected them," said Hardy, of Hardy Berry Farm in Anderson. "This year was the worst."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
• One farmer calls damage "worst I've ever seen"
• States, growers assessing just how bad it is
• Cold hurt peaches, apples, berries, wine grapes
Kemp McLeod, owner of McLeod Farms, checks on the health of his corn Monday in McBee, South Carolina.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- Frigid weekend weather caused frost that damaged crops across the Southeast, raising fears that peach, apple, blueberry, strawberry and wine grape crops were harmed.
Cost estimates for the damage were expected later in the week, and Georgia's agriculture commissioner said he might ask for federal aid depending on how badly crops were affected.
Slicing open a peach in McBee, South Carolina, on Monday reveals frost damage (the brown spot) which will kill the fruit.
"We know there is a significant amount of damage through most of the state, but it's too early to give what the final analysis will be," said Tommy Irvin, Georgia's agriculture chief.
Richard Staton, of Staton Farms, looks over damage to his apple crop in Henderson County, North Carolina, on Monday.
In South Carolina, the nation's second-largest peach-producing state after California, farmers prepared for the worst.
"I don't think there'll be a good peach out of South Carolina this year," said Raymond Cook, who grows 60 acres of peaches each season. "It's the worst I've ever seen."
South Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers said he was trying to remain optimistic so retailers would not be alarmed. "By the middle of the week we'll know just how severe it is," he said.
In Blount County, Alabama, about 30 miles north of Birmingham, farmer James Witt said his fields of plums, peaches and pecans were completely lost. Crop damage in Chilton County ranged from 30 percent to 80 percent, depending on elevation, said Bobby Boozer, an area horticulturist.
In West Virginia, Alan Gibson's apple orchard had suffered early season weather damage from hail. After three days of freezing temperatures, he predicted a total loss on the 3,000 trees in his small, pick-your-own orchard in Harpers Ferry.
In Georgia, fruit has shriveled and leaves are turning black, said Frank Funderburk, an agricultural extension agent in Peach County, the heart of Georgia's peach-growing region.
"We're waiting to see how things turn out when we get some warm weather," Funderburk said.
South Carolina raised 100 million pounds of peaches last year, but in 1996, when temperatures dipped into the 20s, the state produced just 6.6 million pounds, according to Rhonda Brandt, director of the federal agriculture department in South Carolina.
Growers from West Virginia to North Carolina to Texas spent the weekend trying to save their crops as temperatures dipped into the 20s.
In South Carolina, Stacey Hardy used a sprinkler system to coat blueberries and strawberries with a layer of ice as protection. Experts say heat generated by the transformation of sprayed water into ice can keep plants healthy.
"We've been up for four nights, but we think we've protected them," said Hardy, of Hardy Berry Farm in Anderson. "This year was the worst."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
Every cloud has a silver lining
Storyhighlights
• South Carolina sees lows in the 20s
• Parades, church services, baseball games affected by cold
• Snow reported in Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Texas and Atlanta
• Farmers worry that cold snap could damage crops
A satellite image taken early Sunday morning shows clouds over the Great Lakes and Northeast associated with areas of scattered snow showers
ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- An unseasonable cold snap put a chill on Easter services across the Southeast and much of the rest of the country, moving some events indoors and adding layers over spring frocks.
Even baseball had to take a time out because of snow.
The usual courtyard service at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, had to be moved indoors, said the Rev. Michael Bingham. Sunday morning lows in Columbia dropped to the upper 20s, the National Weather Service said.
"Our musicians are worried about their fingers," he said Saturday as the church's plans were being changed.
Across much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation, Easter celebrants swapped frills, bonnets and sandals for coats, scarves and heavy socks. Baseball fans huddled in blankets and, instead of spring planting, backyard gardeners were bundling their crops.
Two weeks into spring, Easter morning temperatures were in the upper 30s along the Gulf Coast and in the single digits in northern Minnesota and the Dakotas. Atlanta had a low of 30 degrees, with a wind chill of 23, the weather service said. The same reading put a chill on New York City's Fifth Avenue, celebrated in song for the traditional Easter Parade of spring finery.
Fans bundle up Saturday during the third round of the 2007 Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia, where temperatures dipped into the 30s.
Despite the chill, nearly 1,000 people attended the annual sunrise service at Georgia's Stone Mountain Park, as a slight breeze whipped over the granite monument. The service usually attracts 10,000.
Nashville, Tennessee, bottomed out Sunday at 23 degrees, knocking one degree off the Easter record set March 24, 1940.
Light snow showers were scattered over the western Plains and around the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.
However, the snow was heavy along the Lake Erie shore in Cleveland, Ohio, and on Sunday, for the second day in a row, the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians had to cancel a doubleheader. More than a foot of snow has fallen on parts of the Cleveland area since Friday.
The teams were snowed out of the doubleheader Saturday, when they were attempting to make up Friday's game, which was postponed after they played four innings and sat through nearly three hours of delays.
Officials in Morrison, Colorado, canceled Sunday's annual sunrise service at the Red Rocks Amphitheater because seats and stairways were covered with ice.
Wildflowers get a coating of rare spring snow in east Texas on Saturday. Unseasonably low temperatures have been reported across the U.S.
Kids in Chicago, Illinois, donned winter clothing for an Easter egg hunt at the Glessner House Museum. The city high reached just 32 degrees Saturday -- matching a record set in 1936 -- and Sunday's low was 28. The Windy City's average high for early April is 54.
"All the little kids had boots on and some of them were trying to wear their spring dresses. It was awful," said Clare Schaecher, the museum's education director.
Visitors to the nation's capital awoke Saturday to see cherry blossoms coated with snow. Snow also fell in metro Atlanta Friday night, and even in parts of West Texas and the Texas Panhandle.
Farmers were worried about the impact the weather could have on crops. Blueberries could be particularly affected, said Stanley Scarborough, production manager of Sunnyridge Farms, which has fields in Baxley and Homerville, Georgia.
Scarborough said the majority of the state's blueberry crop, a variety called rabbit-eye, is normally harvested around June 1. This year, the bushes bloomed early because of a wave of warm temperatures last week. Scarborough said the blueberries are not able to withstand freezing temperatures.
"At 26 or 27 degrees, you would probably lose half of the Georgia crop," valued at about $20 million to $25 million dollars, Scarborough said.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
• South Carolina sees lows in the 20s
• Parades, church services, baseball games affected by cold
• Snow reported in Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Texas and Atlanta
• Farmers worry that cold snap could damage crops
A satellite image taken early Sunday morning shows clouds over the Great Lakes and Northeast associated with areas of scattered snow showers
ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- An unseasonable cold snap put a chill on Easter services across the Southeast and much of the rest of the country, moving some events indoors and adding layers over spring frocks.
Even baseball had to take a time out because of snow.
The usual courtyard service at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, had to be moved indoors, said the Rev. Michael Bingham. Sunday morning lows in Columbia dropped to the upper 20s, the National Weather Service said.
"Our musicians are worried about their fingers," he said Saturday as the church's plans were being changed.
Across much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation, Easter celebrants swapped frills, bonnets and sandals for coats, scarves and heavy socks. Baseball fans huddled in blankets and, instead of spring planting, backyard gardeners were bundling their crops.
Two weeks into spring, Easter morning temperatures were in the upper 30s along the Gulf Coast and in the single digits in northern Minnesota and the Dakotas. Atlanta had a low of 30 degrees, with a wind chill of 23, the weather service said. The same reading put a chill on New York City's Fifth Avenue, celebrated in song for the traditional Easter Parade of spring finery.
Fans bundle up Saturday during the third round of the 2007 Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia, where temperatures dipped into the 30s.
Despite the chill, nearly 1,000 people attended the annual sunrise service at Georgia's Stone Mountain Park, as a slight breeze whipped over the granite monument. The service usually attracts 10,000.
Nashville, Tennessee, bottomed out Sunday at 23 degrees, knocking one degree off the Easter record set March 24, 1940.
Light snow showers were scattered over the western Plains and around the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.
However, the snow was heavy along the Lake Erie shore in Cleveland, Ohio, and on Sunday, for the second day in a row, the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians had to cancel a doubleheader. More than a foot of snow has fallen on parts of the Cleveland area since Friday.
The teams were snowed out of the doubleheader Saturday, when they were attempting to make up Friday's game, which was postponed after they played four innings and sat through nearly three hours of delays.
Officials in Morrison, Colorado, canceled Sunday's annual sunrise service at the Red Rocks Amphitheater because seats and stairways were covered with ice.
Wildflowers get a coating of rare spring snow in east Texas on Saturday. Unseasonably low temperatures have been reported across the U.S.
Kids in Chicago, Illinois, donned winter clothing for an Easter egg hunt at the Glessner House Museum. The city high reached just 32 degrees Saturday -- matching a record set in 1936 -- and Sunday's low was 28. The Windy City's average high for early April is 54.
"All the little kids had boots on and some of them were trying to wear their spring dresses. It was awful," said Clare Schaecher, the museum's education director.
Visitors to the nation's capital awoke Saturday to see cherry blossoms coated with snow. Snow also fell in metro Atlanta Friday night, and even in parts of West Texas and the Texas Panhandle.
Farmers were worried about the impact the weather could have on crops. Blueberries could be particularly affected, said Stanley Scarborough, production manager of Sunnyridge Farms, which has fields in Baxley and Homerville, Georgia.
Scarborough said the majority of the state's blueberry crop, a variety called rabbit-eye, is normally harvested around June 1. This year, the bushes bloomed early because of a wave of warm temperatures last week. Scarborough said the blueberries are not able to withstand freezing temperatures.
"At 26 or 27 degrees, you would probably lose half of the Georgia crop," valued at about $20 million to $25 million dollars, Scarborough said.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
Every cloud has a silver lining
Storyhighlights
• Six games postponed because of weather in opening week
• Elijah Dukes hits first career home run while wearing ski mask
• Mariners make snow angels after game in Cleveland canceled
• Major League Baseball scrambles to reconfigure schedules
Indians fans build snowmen on top of the Seattle Mariners dugout during a weather delay at Jacobs Field.
(AP) -- Along with balls, strikes and outs, baseball players are tracking different statistics these days: snowfall amounts and wind chill factors.
Major League Baseball may be forced to tinker with its schedule after a weekend series in Cleveland, Ohio, was wiped out by a snowstorm and a cold snap forced the postponement of six games during the first week of the season.
Worried that more unseasonable weather could hit Cleveland again this week, baseball may send the Indians to warm up in Anaheim, California, instead of making the Angels head east.
Snow forced a Sunday doubleheader between the Mariners and Indians to be postponed.
And temperatures aren't the only things that are way down: Home runs plunged during the season's frigid first week to their lowest level since 1993, with the average dropping from 2.4 in last season's opening week to 1.8 this year. It hadn't been that low since a 1.6 average 14 years ago, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
"You can see it. Some of the swings, not the quickest at-bats," Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said following a game in the 20-degree wind chill of windy Chicago, Illinois.
After pitching an inning Sunday at Yankee Stadium, where snow flurries fell late, Andy Pettitte was happy to get out of New York and head to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Yes, the forecast called for a gametime temperature of 38 degrees Monday, but the Twins play in a dome.
"I think we're all looking forward to playing in a controlled environment," said Pettitte, who is used to warmer surroundings back home in Texas. "This is just miserable."
Cold didn't stop Tampa Bay's Elijah Dukes, who hit his first two career homers at Yankee Stadium. He connected for his second while wearing a ski mask with a slit around the eyes just wide enough to allow him to see, looking more cat burglar than slugger.
From far away, Angels outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. took notice and reconsidered his clothing for a scheduled trip to Cleveland and Boston, Massachusetts.
"I pack tights and gloves," he said. "I think I might go topcoat for the first time in my career for this trip."
Games postponed
Seattle Mariners players frolic in the snow at the Indians' Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday.
In damp and foggy San Francisco, California, Dave Roberts altered his pregame preparation.
"I spend a little more time in the hot tub to keep my body loose," he said.
At least he got to play.
Three games were wiped out in Cleveland, one in New York, one in Chicago and one in Detroit, Michigan. Unable to play the Indians on Sunday, at Cleveland's Jacobs Field, Richie Sexson, Adrian Beltre and some of their Seattle Mariners' teammate focused on the angels -- snow angels. With the green grass covered by a blanket wintry white flakes, they frolicked on the field along with Jose Vidro and Jose Lopez.
Baseball tried to work around the cold a decade ago, without great success. After enduring a snowout at Boston's Fenway Park, a snowy afternoon at Yankee Stadium and cold in Detroit and Chicago in 1996, baseball remade the schedule for 1997, using all five covered fields then in the majors and every West Coast site.
No brainer, right?
After teams in the East and Midwest got home, eight games were wiped out by weather on the season's second Saturday, raising that year's total to 17.
Draft schedules must be given to the players' association about nine months before opening day. Katy Feeney, baseball's senior vice president of scheduling, wished she had an advance forecast that early. She must deal with teams that want as many home dates in June, July and August -- when attendance is usually highest -- and clubs that don't want to spend weeks on the road in April.
"They'll lose fan interest if the baseball season opens and they don't come home for an extended period of time," she said. "It's like, 'Who are those guys and where did they come from?' "
That said, baseball is looking at alternatives. Bob DuPuy, the sport's chief operating officer, said outsiders are helping the sport examine its scheduling.
"Some of it is guesswork," he said. "You can have bad weather the third week in April in Detroit as easily as you could have bad weather the first week."
For AL MVP Justin Morneau, it's all relative. Spending the weekend with the Twins in Chicago wasn't nearly as frosty as some games in the minors.
"Portland, Maine, was real cold," he said. "At Rochester, I remember we played one game at Syracuse to open the season and the turf was still frozen, so we were slipping around. It was like a skating rink out there."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
• Six games postponed because of weather in opening week
• Elijah Dukes hits first career home run while wearing ski mask
• Mariners make snow angels after game in Cleveland canceled
• Major League Baseball scrambles to reconfigure schedules
Indians fans build snowmen on top of the Seattle Mariners dugout during a weather delay at Jacobs Field.
(AP) -- Along with balls, strikes and outs, baseball players are tracking different statistics these days: snowfall amounts and wind chill factors.
Major League Baseball may be forced to tinker with its schedule after a weekend series in Cleveland, Ohio, was wiped out by a snowstorm and a cold snap forced the postponement of six games during the first week of the season.
Worried that more unseasonable weather could hit Cleveland again this week, baseball may send the Indians to warm up in Anaheim, California, instead of making the Angels head east.
Snow forced a Sunday doubleheader between the Mariners and Indians to be postponed.
And temperatures aren't the only things that are way down: Home runs plunged during the season's frigid first week to their lowest level since 1993, with the average dropping from 2.4 in last season's opening week to 1.8 this year. It hadn't been that low since a 1.6 average 14 years ago, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
"You can see it. Some of the swings, not the quickest at-bats," Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said following a game in the 20-degree wind chill of windy Chicago, Illinois.
After pitching an inning Sunday at Yankee Stadium, where snow flurries fell late, Andy Pettitte was happy to get out of New York and head to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Yes, the forecast called for a gametime temperature of 38 degrees Monday, but the Twins play in a dome.
"I think we're all looking forward to playing in a controlled environment," said Pettitte, who is used to warmer surroundings back home in Texas. "This is just miserable."
Cold didn't stop Tampa Bay's Elijah Dukes, who hit his first two career homers at Yankee Stadium. He connected for his second while wearing a ski mask with a slit around the eyes just wide enough to allow him to see, looking more cat burglar than slugger.
From far away, Angels outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. took notice and reconsidered his clothing for a scheduled trip to Cleveland and Boston, Massachusetts.
"I pack tights and gloves," he said. "I think I might go topcoat for the first time in my career for this trip."
Games postponed
Seattle Mariners players frolic in the snow at the Indians' Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday.
In damp and foggy San Francisco, California, Dave Roberts altered his pregame preparation.
"I spend a little more time in the hot tub to keep my body loose," he said.
At least he got to play.
Three games were wiped out in Cleveland, one in New York, one in Chicago and one in Detroit, Michigan. Unable to play the Indians on Sunday, at Cleveland's Jacobs Field, Richie Sexson, Adrian Beltre and some of their Seattle Mariners' teammate focused on the angels -- snow angels. With the green grass covered by a blanket wintry white flakes, they frolicked on the field along with Jose Vidro and Jose Lopez.
Baseball tried to work around the cold a decade ago, without great success. After enduring a snowout at Boston's Fenway Park, a snowy afternoon at Yankee Stadium and cold in Detroit and Chicago in 1996, baseball remade the schedule for 1997, using all five covered fields then in the majors and every West Coast site.
No brainer, right?
After teams in the East and Midwest got home, eight games were wiped out by weather on the season's second Saturday, raising that year's total to 17.
Draft schedules must be given to the players' association about nine months before opening day. Katy Feeney, baseball's senior vice president of scheduling, wished she had an advance forecast that early. She must deal with teams that want as many home dates in June, July and August -- when attendance is usually highest -- and clubs that don't want to spend weeks on the road in April.
"They'll lose fan interest if the baseball season opens and they don't come home for an extended period of time," she said. "It's like, 'Who are those guys and where did they come from?' "
That said, baseball is looking at alternatives. Bob DuPuy, the sport's chief operating officer, said outsiders are helping the sport examine its scheduling.
"Some of it is guesswork," he said. "You can have bad weather the third week in April in Detroit as easily as you could have bad weather the first week."
For AL MVP Justin Morneau, it's all relative. Spending the weekend with the Twins in Chicago wasn't nearly as frosty as some games in the minors.
"Portland, Maine, was real cold," he said. "At Rochester, I remember we played one game at Syracuse to open the season and the turf was still frozen, so we were slipping around. It was like a skating rink out there."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
Every cloud has a silver lining
