It was the coldest night ever recorded for July 8, but farmers assessing the damage Wednesday say they escaped the brunt of frost damage.
"It hit 2.8ºC on our deck but it wasn't enough to hurt the crop,'' said Peter Penny, a strawberry grower in the Belfast area, east of Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island). "We didn't have any real damage from it."
A chilly arctic high pressure system which settled over the region Tuesday (July 7), along with calm wind conditions, resulted in the right conditions for the risk of frost early Wednesday.
Early July can be a sensitive time for potatoes as well, but New London potato grower Leslie MacKay said while it dipped to 3ºC on his scale, his potatoes around the Summerside area survived the threat.
"I've never heard of it this cold for this time of year,'' said MacKay before joking, "but don't worry… they say summer is coming."
Mike Nabuurs of the PEI Federation of Agriculture said despite the cold and rainy weather, the crop outlook is still pretty good.
"We need some heat and some sun and we've had enough moisture to cause some early blight in the potatoes," he said. "Also there is a larger soybean acreage in the ground this year and it needs heat."
There's been a wealth of gloomy overcast days, but farmers say the crop is doing well in spite of the weather.
Environment Canada says it was one of the coldest on record Tuesday night and Wednesday night wasn't going to be much better, posing a threat to strawberry growers, blueberries and other crops, plus sensitive tomato plants and other vegetables for home gardeners.
The high temperature Tuesday was only 14.7ºC. The average high for date is 22.7º while the average low is 13.2ºC.
"We've very fortunate,'' said Penny. "We've got a very good crop this year."
MacKay agrees and says the potato crop is looking excellent and crop development is doing well.
"I'm really impressed what I see so far this year,'' said the veteran grower. "If this keeps up, it will be a tremendous crop."
Highs and lows:
Highs and lows Charlottetown Airport averages and extremes for July 8:
Average maximum temperature, 22.7°C;
Average minimum temperature, 13.2°C;
Frequency of precipitation, 40 per cent
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Highest temperature (1943-2008), 31.1°C, 1952;
Lowest temperature (1943-2008), 5.1°C, 2005;
Greatest precipitation (1943-2008), 24.6 mm, 1958;
Greatest rainfall (1943-2008), 24.6 mm, 1958
The Guardian
