|
Even heroes get cold: Someone draped warming scarves around the necks of the two motorcycle figures depicted in “The Warning” statute honoring those lost, survivors and heroes of the 1928 St. Francis Dam Disaster. The statue, located at the corner of North 10th and East Santa Barbara streets, is a popular attraction that greets travelers. |
Local growers escape the frosty bullet of mid-week freeze
January 01, 2016
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Although a slight warming trend was expected later in the week the National Weather Service Tuesday night issued a hard freeze warning for areas of Santa Paula, Fillmore, Piru and Ojai, but it seems local growers escaped the frosty bullet.
Several growers said Sunday into Monday remained the coldest of the week with temperatures dipping below 30 degrees while Tuesday into Wednesday stayed solidly in the lower 30-degree range.
“By real farmers’ standards my property isn’t a ranch at all,” laughed Scott Dunbar of his Foothill Road residents, “it’s a home landscaped with avocados…”
But still he was on freeze watch particularly earlier this week when temperatures fell the farthest.
“It was down to 27 degrees,” Sunday into Monday when Dunbar said his freeze alarm activated at about 3 a.m.
The alarm “goes off at about 32 degrees…I’m not sure how long the duration was, three or four hours below freezing you can tolerate that,” if you are prepared.
Some growers with larger ranches use wind machines to ward off freezing weather while others burn wood in large barrels to keep temperatures at bay.
Captain John Harber of the Santa Paula Fire Department said there had been several reports starting at about 6 a.m. Tuesday of smoke coming from an area on South Mountain directly across from the Santa Paula Airport.
When firefighters investigated it was found that the smoke was from “A grower burning wood in a 55-gallon steel drum,” to help protect his orchard said Harber.
Dunbar said he turns on the sprinklers to protect his fruit: “It’s usually coldest right before the dawn,” but he took precautions well in advance resulting in minimal damage.
Orchards west of Santa Paula particularly on Santa Paula Street west of Peck Road showed minor frost damage — known as tip burn — to leaves and soft shoots.
“Nothing serious from what I’ve seen,” and heard from growers that Dunbar said do not expect “any fruit loss at this point…”
Dunbar has about 120 avocado trees and “some home use citrus. I do have some tropical stuff growing out there just for fun…the bananas look a little droopy,” due to the extreme weather.
“I have four big bunches of bananas but I can’t tell yet if they’re damaged, they’re not ready to pick yet.”
And obviously not a fruit that is often exposed to cold temperatures: “Oh, they’re definitely tropical,” said Dunbar, “not used to freezes! But it seems for farmers in general we’re surviving things at this point.
|
Santa Paula growers apparently have dodged a frosted bullet with the recent low temperatures that brought on orchard protecting wind machines, burning barrels of wood to raise temperatures and (above) sprinklers. |
