US South Braces for a Crop-Killing Freeze: Weather Watch

Below-freezing temperatures, which can possibly damage or kill crops, are on Bloomberg Green’s radar today.

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Bloomberg News

Brian K Sullivan

Published Mar 18, 2024 • 2 minute read

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A crop-killing freeze is forecast for the US South from Arkansas to central North Carolina, the National Weather Service said.

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Temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing — 32F (0C) — over a wide area and stay there in some cases for at least 24 hours, which is enough to damage or kill crops that have begun to sprout with the early onset of spring. Little Rock, Arkansas will drop to 31F overnight; Birmingham, Alabama should reach 29, and Atlanta at least 31.

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The cold, which will sink temperatures 3F to 5F below normal from the Great Lakes to Gulf of Mexico Coast, and even colder in central Canada, will add about 8.5 to the heating degree days tally, meaning the chill will fire heating demand across the US, the Commodity Weather Group said.

While the calendar marks Tuesday as the first day of spring, in many areas warmer temperatures have already had plants greening out and flowers blooming, according to the National Phenology Network, which tracks such things. The green sprouts arrived record early across parts of the Midwest. This means the danger to crops should continue through the rest of March across the Great Plains and parts of the Midwest that are forecast to be colder than normal through April 1, Commodity Weather Group said.

This early onset of spring has been the trend for years, said Theresa Crimmins, director of the National Phenology Network.

“Many, many studies show clear trends toward warmer temps and earlier starts to springtime activity over the longer term,” she said. “The strength of the trend varies by location – we see the strongest trends for increasing temps and advancing springtime activity in northern latitudes, as well as in the Southwest.”

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Crimmins added that winter is changing — and fast. “Winter is the fastest warming season — the months during which we are seeing the greatest increases in temperature,” she said. “This has the direct effect of advancing activity in plants and animals in the spring, and evidence of this abounds.”

It’s also having an impact on tourism seasons. Cherry blossom blooms, which are are a big tourist draw in Japan and the US, are starting earlier as climate change makes winters warmer.

In other weather news:

Australia: The country’s far north is being lashed by destructive winds and heavy rainfall after Severe Tropical Cyclone Megan made landfall in a sparsely populated area.

—With assistance from Shoko Oda, Zahra Hirji and Keira Wright.

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