Overview Prince Edward County Appellation 215 Growing Season Summary The 215 growing season in the Prince Edward County appellation ended with above normal heat units. Daytime temperatures typically averaged above normal, while overnight lows were often below normal. June recorded significantly above normal rainfall, while the months before and after recorded significantly below normal precipitation. All of these attributes are examined in the following report. The 3-year normal s, used for comparisons in this report, were taken from Environment Canada s Picton location. The locations of stations referred to in this report are shown in the following map:
GDD Temperature and Growing Degree Days Close to normal April daytime high temperatures and below normal overnight low temperatures resulted in a below normal accumulation of base 1 C growing degree days to start the growing season. Above normal daytime highs continued throughout the season while overnight lows remained below normal over the season. The months of May and September recorded higher than normal growing degree days. Hillier recorded seven days above 3 C and Cherry Valley recorded two days above 3 C, near the normal value for the area. The stations recorded more days above 3 C than the 214 growing season but lower than the 213 season. The following graphs illustrate these temperature attributes: 14 215 Accumulated Base 1 C Growing Degree Days Compared to 213, 214 and Normal 12 1 8 6 4 2 Hillier 213 Cherry Valley 213 Hillier 214 Cherry Valley 214 Hillier 215 Cherry Valley 215 Normal Accumulation (Picton EC)
Number of Days GDD Seasonal Accumulation of Base 1 C Growing Degree Days (Apr 1 - Oct 31) 135 13 125 12 115 1297 1265 1266 11 15 1161 1111 1188 1 Hillier 213 214 215 Normal Cherry Valley The Number of Days from Apr-Oct Where Tmax was Greater Than 3 C 12 1 8 6 11 4 2 7 6 2 Hillier Cherry Valley 213 214 215 Normal (Picton EC) 2
PEC: Average Daily Maximums Compared to Normal (215) Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Normal (Picton EC) 1.8 17.7 22.3 25.4 24.4 2. 13.4 Hillier 12.7 22.9 22.5 26.7 25.7 24.4 14 Cherry Valley 1.5 2.6 21.2 24.9 24.9 23.7 13.6 Normal Above-normal Below-normal PEC: Average Daily Minimums Compared to Normal (215) Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Normal (Picton EC) 2. 8.2 12.7 16.1 15.9 11.8 5.5 Hillier. 6.2 9.8 13.3 14.7 13.2 3.8 Cherry Valley.9 7.9 11.3 15.1 15.9 13.9 4.7 Normal Above-normal Below-normal
Rainfall (mm) Precipitation The 215 growing season can be summarized as having above normal precipitation from April through October, with the exception of May and July having below normal rainfall. Overall, the growing season precipitation averaged 121 % of normal at Cherry Valley and 129 % Hillier. April precipitation averaged 115 % of normal across Prince Edward County. Below normal rainfall occurred in May with Hillier at only 51 % of normal rainfall, while Cherry Valley received 62 % of normal rainfall. The month of June was the wettest with Hillier receiving 294 % of normal and Cherry Valley receiving 266 % of normal precipitation. The month of July was similar to May with Prince Edward County receiving 64 % of normal precipitation on average. August rainfall was slightly above normal at both locations. Cherry Valley recorded 19 % of normal rainfall during August, while Hillier received 11 % of normal during the month. September was fairly wet across the appellation as 118 % of normal precipitation fell across the region. October rainfall was also above normal values with Hillier recording 16 % of normal and Cherry Valley recording 113 % of normal. Season Rainfall Deviation from the 3-Year Normal (Apr 1 - Oct 31) 16 14 12 1 139 148 12 17 8 6 214 215 4 2 Hillier Cherry Valley
Rainfall (mm) PEC: Total Accumulated Rainfall in October 215 Compared to Growing Season Monthly Normals 8 7 6 5 4 October September August July 3 June 2 May 1 April Hillier Cherry Valley Normal (Picton EC) Disease Pressure The Prince Edward County appellation experienced contrasting seasonal disease pressure at the two locations, as compared to 214 s disease pressure. Hillier was below the 214 average and Cherry Valley was above, although their fluctuations generally matched throughout the season. The graph below shows that the beginning of the season was the most critical period for keeping a tight spray schedule to reduce the chances of infection on the fruit. These periods had a high accumulation of disease severity values. In particular, June 5 to 11 and July 3 to 9, especially at Cherry Valley, show notably higher disease pressure as compared to the same periods in 214. The end of the season however, had noticeably lower disease pressure than 214, in particular the weeks of July 31 to August 6, August 21 to 27, and September 4 to 1 for both locations. Hillier was also considerably lower than 214, from July 24 to 3.
7-Day DSV Average 7-Day Disease Pressures for PEC in 215 and 214 6 Critical period for preventing fungal infection on grapes 5 4 3 2 1 Hillier 214 Hillier 215 Cherry Vallery 214 Cherry Valley 215 Conclusion The 215 growing season accumulated above normal heat units with above normal daytime high temperatures and below normal overnight low temperatures. Stations recorded below normal precipitation during May and July, but made up for it in June with excess rainfall. Above normal precipitation was also recorded during April, and August through October. Above normal daytime high temperatures occurred at both stations during May, and August through October. Overnight low temperatures remained below normal at both locations throughout the season; with the exceptions being above normal in September and Cherry Valley recorded normal August overnight low temperatures. Contact Us (WIN) Email: info@weatherinnovations.com Phone: 519-352-3554