An early spring following record warmth in the Lehigh Valley is followed by unseasonably cold nights in the forecast.
Devlen Mackey knows he's a bit north to comfortably grow apricots: One out of every four of five years they get wiped out.
Fruit trees are budding in May 2013 at Mackey's Orchards in White Township. An early spring of 2016 saw some trees blooming early, even as nighttime lows were forecast to be unseasonably cold. (Lehighvalleylive.com file photo) But with freezing temperatures bearing down on his fruit trees now flowering after record warmth earlier this month, he takes comfort in knowing he and his wife, Holly, have diversified as the eighth-generation owners of Mackey's Orchards in White Township.
"I don't want to lose my fruit, but my grandfather lost everything in the early '70s and had to sell off land to stay afloat," he said, pointing to the greenhouse, ice-cream stand and bakery that share the Route 519 property with the fruit trees.
Along with the apricots, Mackey's plums were in full bloom Tuesday, he said. Early peaches were in bloom, while later varieties were just turning pink, and the apples and cherries remained in varying states of winter dormancy.
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At Lehigh Valley International Airport, the National Weather Service forecast lows of around 25 Tuesday night and again at or below freezing Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights. The normal low is 33 for March 29-30 at the airport, and a degree or two higher for the first few days of April.
The service's Philadelphia region forecast office at Mount Holly, New Jersey, did not issue a frost or freeze advisory because calendar-wise, it's before the traditional growing season, meteorologist Ray Kruzdlo said.
"Right now there's still no sense for us to put out a freeze warning or a frost advisory because first and foremost ... for Allentown for this time of year, the normal low temperature is still 33 degrees," he said. "That would yield a frost a lot and that would yield a freeze warning a lot."
Mackey's hope is that his orchard, positioned on a mountaintop, gets enough wind that the cold won't be able to settle onto the buds that are the forerunners of fruit. There's not much else he can do, he said: "Cross your fingers and hope for the best." Occasionally the New Jersey Department of Agriculture will suggest a burn to warm crops, but Mackey said it's been too dry and windy.
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The Lehigh Valley has a chance to be in the top 10 driest Marches on record, with rainfall in parts of eastern Pennsylvania running 5 to 25 percent of normal through Tuesday afternoon, the weather service says. Through the first 28 days of the month, Lehigh Valley International Airport was also running the fourth warmest on record for March and could end up third warmest.
At Franklin Hill Vineyards in Lower Mount Bethel Township, the grapes have yet to bud, "which is good" given the cold nights forecast, assistant winemaker Brianne Morgan said.
"We've actually been really blessed. It's been a mild winter," she said. "The last two years we weren't so lucky. When it's that cold it can damage the fruit where it won't come back."
Grape vines at Franklin Hill Vineyards in Lower Mount Bethel Township are seen at the height of summer in August 2007. After an early spring 2016, the vineyard was luckily not yet seeing buds growing with nighttime lows forecast in the mid-20s. (Lehighvalleylive.com file photo) Frost is always a concern but, as with an orchard, there isn't much protection to be offered for the vineyard's 15 acres, she said. In Florida, citrus growers facing a late frost might spray water on their crops as a means to protect them, she said: "That really isn't done here in Pennsylvania."
"A frost is always a concern when you have an early spring," Morgan said. "You just try to hold out and hope that the frost doesn't happen too late. We've been pretty lucky so we're currently not doing anything."
Following warm days like the 80-degree record-setter of March 9, buds on some trees "really pushed during that time," said Emelie Swackhamer, horticulture educator for the Penn State Cooperative Extension in Northampton and Lehigh counties.
Given the pairing of an early spring and cold nights, she said Tuesday her biggest concern would be for stone fruits, such as those at Mackey's Orchards.
"Hopefully people don't have any warm-season crops out yet," Swackhamer said. "It's too early for tomatoes or peppers or beans or anything like that."
Peas might be pushing through and can be covered at night with a light bed sheet, weighted down at the corners to prevent it from blowing around, she said. Any cover should be removed as soon as the sun comes up to avoid damage.
Early flower such as daffodils, winter aconite, crocuses and grape hyacinth "can tolerate temperatures down into the 20s pretty reasonably," she said.
One thing that may be short-lived this spring could is the pink glory of magnolia trees that have fully bloomed across the Lehigh Valley, according to Swackhamer.
"They're beautiful and some of them are in full flower," she said. "Usually they bloom and they're beautiful and then we get a cold night and then the flowers will brown and fall. You just have to enjoy them when they're there."
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.