It's Sure Been Windy

It's going to be a long summer and fall:

The windy spring isn't just fanning wildfires around the Sacramento Valley. It's hammering the region's farms and ranches as well.

In the past month, the weather station at Sacramento Executive Airport has recorded sustained gusts of greater than 25 mph on six days, vs. just one day in the same period last year.

This month, the average daily wind speed has been 9.9 mph, about 25 percent above the five-year average for the first 11 days of June, according to a Bee analysis of National Weather Service data.

Such wind is sapping moisture from farm fields, increasing demand for irrigation water and generally stressing most crops. Parched grazing lands are getting even drier. Ripe fruit, like the cherries now being harvested, are being windburned. Branches are breaking in walnut and almond orchards.

In fields of rice, the Valley's most widely planted crop, high winds can uproot small seedlings and stunt the growth of more mature plants. That kind of damage can lead to smaller harvests, said Don Bransford, a Colusa rice farmer.

...April 20, a freak freeze caused up to $300 million in crop damage, mainly north of the Delta, with heaviest losses to grapes, peaches and walnuts. More recently, unseasonably cool weather has delayed ripening of other local crops, including melons and tomatoes.