Weather

Weather

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prepare for spring planting.

Rappahannock’s agricultural Extension agent, Tommy Williams, echoes the warning against rushing this year’s planting. “The weather has been so crazy this year, you can never tell what it might do next,” he said, advising against planting even the earliest crops of peas and hardy greens, like cabbage or broccoli.

“The absolute last frost in Rappahannock is May 15," Mr. Williams said, adding that the real possibility of temperatures in the 20s, as happened for several nights earlier this month, even peas could freeze. “Onions and potatoes could survive the cold," but his advice as a veteran gardener himself is to wait on planting this year.

The “crazy weather” Mr. Williams alluded to included balmy days in January when the thermometer rose to 60 degrees and higher on many afternoons.

“This is one of the mildest Januarys I’ve ever seen," the Rappahannock native said.

While regional recorded temperatures for the year to date have been five degrees below normal, the state climatologist’s office shows precipitation levels to be 5.9 inches below normal for the winter.

Mr. Stenger cautioned against becoming too alarmed by the figures, since temperature and precipitation levels will usually measure above or below the norm at some time. “We just experienced several years of below average winter temperatures,” he noted.

This year’s milder temperatures may have another, unwelcome effect: more garden pests.

Mr. Williams warned that alfalfa producers may see an increase in the populations of alfalfa weevils. “Because it was not cold enough to kill either the larvae or eggs, we may see many insects overwintering,” he explained.

Even below normal spring temperatures or a late frost will not reverse the effect of those warm winter days and nights, he said.

“Overall, this March is three degrees cooler than last year,” said