The 103-degree reading at Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield was the highest temperature ever recorded at that weather station.
Susan J. Kosinski, of Kosinski Farms in Agawam and Westfield, stands in front of a sprinkler system that is irrigating the farm's blueberry bushes. Unusual weather this year has been made worse by the current heat wave.Wednesday, 6:45 p.m.: Updated with video embed
Wednesday, 6:05 p.m.: Updated with more details
It should have been a warning when thermometers hit 90 degrees during the first week of April.
After a spring of record-breaking heat in the Pioneer Valley, the summer, which is barely underway, is breaking records of its own, with triple digit readings throughout the East this week.
The 103-degree reading at Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield on Tuesday was the highest temperature ever recorded at that weather station.
And, as always, farmers are trying to adapt to the conditions.
“The last couple of years have been so wet and cold that this feels outrageous because you’re just not used to it. So it’s a shock to your system,” said Elizabeth L. Adler who operates Mountain View Farms in Easthampton with her husband Ben M. Perrault.
“People are scrambling around like crazy trying to irrigate. I saw a small farm down in the meadows in Northampton where they were actually out with watering cans,” Adler said.
Indeed, it has been a year for the meteorological record books.
March was the fourth warmest on record, April was the warmest on record and May was the warmest in almost 20 years. So far this year, there have been nine days with temperatures in the 90s, with most of July and all of August yet to come.
That is in contrast to the last two years. In 2009, there were nine days all year with 90-degree readings in Greater Springfield. In 2008, there were 13 days when temperatures reached 90 degrees. A heat wave is defined as three days in a row with temperatures over 90 degrees.
However, as hot as it is, this year will have to grow even hotter to match 2004 when there were 31 days locally with temperatures in the 90s.
At Kosinski Farms in Westfield and Agawam, nearly two miles of irrigation pipes and tubing have been put into their 150 acres of fields, much of which is used to cultivate blueberries, said owner Susan J. Kosinski.
| Farms in the heat |
“We could use some rain right now. The hot weather is drying things up quickly. I wouldn’t say anything has been really hurt yet. But, if the heat stays the way it is, and especially if there’s no rain, I don’t know what things will be like in a week,” she said.
The fact that the warm weather began so early in the season has caused crops to develop early, she said.
“We’re about a week and a half ahead of ourselves as far as blueberries and corn. This is unheard of,” Kosinski said.
Despite the challenges brought on by the heat, farmers in the Pioneer Valley are having a good season, said Ruth V. Hazzard, a vegetable specialist with the University of Massachusetts Extension.
Hazzard said growers plant corn and other crops continuously through the season, so that there is always something to harvest.
“It’s not like they plant corn once. They plant a new block every week from late April to early July, so that they can harvest one block every week and then move on to the next. They won’t suffer at the end of the season just because it began early,” she said.
“Overall, it’s been a really good year,” Hazzard said. “It’s an intense situation right now, but until last Friday, no one was complaining at all.”