By GLENDA ANDERSON THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 4:41 a.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 5:26 a.m. A record cold snap in Mendocino County over the weekend caused little damage to wine grapes but chilled the hearts of farmers who already have suffered huge losses this year.
"It's just one more thing on top of one more thing. You kind of hold your breath," said Potter Valley wine grape grower Bill Pauli.
Temperatures dropped to 31 degrees in the Ukiah Valley on Saturday night and early Sunday morning, the coldest Oct. 12 morning since record keeping began in Ukiah in 1893, said Troy Nicolini, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Eureka. The previous record was 34 degrees in 1916.
Temperatures were milder in Sonoma County, and there were no reports of frost-related problems, county officials said.
Farmers in Redwood Valley and other cooler regions in Mendocino County reported temperatures as low as 27 degrees.
An estimated 30 percent to 50 percent of that county's wine grape crop had yet to be harvested when the frost hit, killing the tops of unprotected vines and effectively freezing the ripening process.
Most unprotected wine grape crops already had adequate sugar content, so they were unharmed, said Mendocino County Agricultural Commissioner Dave Bengston.
Farmers either sprayed water or turned on wind machines for crops that were not quite ready to harvest, said Redwood Valley farmer Peter Johnson. He said he took frost-protection measures for his cabernet and merlot grapes and expects the return of sunny weather to bump up their sugar content over the next week or two.
Mendocino County wine-grape growers were fearful because they already had lost an estimated 30 percent of their crop to frost in the early spring. The crop also was hit by an early rain that threatened to cause rot, and the region endured a wildfire-choked summer that had the potential to cause smoke damage.
"It'll be nice to get this one put in the barn and put behind us," Pauli said.
Despite the hazardous conditions, Mendocino County's wine-grape crop is looking good, said Paige Poulos, president of the Mendocino Winegrape and Wine Commission.
"We had wonderful fruit, just not enough of it," she said.
Area grape growers are expect to finish harvesting in the next two weeks, sooner if the weather turns cold again.
You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or [email protected].
The East Oregonian
Monday, October 13, 2008
Cold temperatures set several new record lows this weekend, including a low of 22 Saturday in downtown Pendleton that broke a 118 year-old record of 24.
Record lows started falling Thursday with a new low of 20 for Meacham, four degrees cooler than the previous record from 2006, according to information from the Web site for the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Pendleton.
Heppner and Long Creek then set new low temperatures Friday. Heppner hit 29, the coldest that date has seen since 1960 when it was 30; and Long Creek was 21, besting the 1987 record by four degrees.
Saturday set multiple new lows, including the record 22 in downtown Pendleton. John Day dropped to 21, breaking the 1990 record of 23; Meacham's 15 broke the previous low of 20 from 2002; and Mitchell set a record with 21, five degrees cooler than the 2002 record.
Additionally, the top of Airport Hill in Pendleton set a new low of 25; the previous record was 33. And the agricultural experimental station north of Pendleton recorded a low of 18, five degrees cooler than the previous record from 1990.
The cold continued to set records Sunday. Meacham, for the third time in four days, set a record with a low of 15, one degree cooler than the 2002 record. Long Creek and Mitchell again set new records as well Long Creek's low of 21 broke with 1969 record of 25, and Mitchell's 21 broke the 1949 record of 24.
