Agrometeorology: early stone fruits are threatened by the cooling and frost coming next week

By: STA Date: 2024. 02. 29. 10:00

In recent weeks, heat records have been broken one after the other, the plants have started to develop, feeling the spring, but in the middle of next week, cooling and frost will predictably arrive, which will endanger the early stone fruits – HungaroMet Zrt wrote in its agrometeorological analysis on Thursday.

(Photo: Pixabay)

According to the analysis, the temperature was 5-8 degrees Celsius higher than usual at this time, and there was practically no frost during the last 6-7 days, only in the frost corners. The average temperature of the last 30 days was also unusually high, about 5-8 degrees above the usual value. During the past week, significant precipitation fell only in the northern part of the country, but the precipitation amount of the past ninety days, with the exception of the southern part of the country, still exceeds the long-term average by 10-70 millimeters. The deeper layers of the soil were already saturated with moisture in December, and have maintained this state ever since, but the upper half-meter layer also contains plenty of moisture. However, with the exception of the northern areas, the near-surface layer has lost a lot of its moisture content, despite this, the extent of inland water spots is only slowly decreasing in the Great Plain.

In the non-inland water areas, the autumn sowing has already started to develop in the spring in the mild weather

The sap circulation of the fruit trees has also started, the early drupes are already about to bloom in the northern part of the country, and the early varieties are blooming in the south. Apricots during the flowering phase are already damaged by frosts stronger than minus 2 or minus 3 degrees Celsius in the evening, and it is still very early for there to be no more frost – they wrote, noting that in 2021 and 2022, for example, minus 10 degrees in mid-March around frosts occurred throughout the country. Buds have also popped on pears and quinces. According to the forecast, spring weather will remain much milder than average until Tuesday, the nights will be frost-free, and during the day the air will mostly warm between 14 and 19 degrees. At the beginning of next week, however, the flow is expected to turn to the northeast, which means a marked cooling from Wednesday, and night frosts will appear from Thursday.

MTI