SUNBURY — A strong cold front from Canada Saturday morning could lead to near-freezing temperatures tonight, according to an AccuWeather official.
"While it's not too bad out now, it will get progressively colder," said meteorologist Tom Kine, in State College.
The record low for Selinsgrove on May 10 is 27 degrees, but Valley farmers are hoping it doesn't get that cold. If it does, it may make for a difficult crop season, according to Ken Dries, owner of Dries Orchards, which has about 200 acres of fruit crops outside of Sunbury.
Twenty-eight degrees — the temperature at which plant tissue freezes — is the "critical temperature," Dries said.
"If it gets lower, we could start to suffer damage on our fruit crops ... They might not get killed, but have damage on the surface such as scarring, cracking and things like that."
While lower temperatures are not unusual for early May, "The fact that temperatures are getting close to freezing is getting toward the unusual side of things," Kine said. "We're getting close to that time where we shouldn't have to worry about frost, but unfortunately, we do have to worry about it."
Dries, who grows apples, nectarines and strawberries, said crops should be fine if the wind that reached 40 mph on Saturday stays strong into tonight.
The wind, he said, stirs the air, mixing warm with cold and keeps the initial temperature higher.
However, if the wind quiets, he has a large propeller on a 30-foot tower, driven by a large Chevy engine, that he will use when it gets to critical temperature.
"This keeps it from falling to a damaging level," Dries said.
Dries also uses a large LP propane burner equipped with a large fan that's hooked onto a large tractor.
"We drive a certain route through the orchard and come back to the beginning point," he said.
However, these items are used only when the temperature is the lowest and will cover only about 32 acres.
"We have no protection on the other acres of land," Dries said, "but they are higher and less prone to frost."
John Esslinger, a horticulturist with the Penn State Cooperative Extension in Montour County, who works with farmers growing fruits and vegetables, said the cold front will probably not affect all crops harshly, but it could.
"It depends a lot of what crop you're growing," Esslinger said. "Most tree fruits are done blooming, which is when most of the damage would have occurred."
However, a 32-degree freeze would kill garden crops, he said.
Esslinger recommends covering garden crops with an old sheet to protect them from the frost.
"A lot of people think plastic will work, but (wind) will go right through it," Esslinger said.
Doris Wynn, of Schwalm's Greenhouse, near Sunbury, has already taken precautions to prepare for the weather.
"We're putting some (plants) under the porch or under the fence," she said. "We're bringing in things like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, all those things that are tender in case it would get down to freezing."
Growers can also place 5-gallon buckets over their plants, Wynn said.
Some crop and garden growers, however, do not have the means to cover their supply.
Karl Schlegel, owner of Schlegel's Fruit Farm in Dalmatia, said the only thing he can really do to prepare is "pray."
The ripening process is about two weeks ahead of schedule, making his crops less vulnerable to damage.
"I think with the fruit, it will take a little more than frost to ruin the crop," he said.
Schlegel manages about 30 acres and said it is possible that the frost could give them a "rust ring," which can misshape the fruit, and damage its appearance, but not the taste.
"If it gets into the mid or upper 20s," Schlegel said, "we will see more damage and fruit loss."
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Farmers brace for possible freeze
Temps tonight near 32, meteorologist warns growers
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