By Clint Thompson
A La Niña winter is expected to bring warm and dry conditions to the Southeast. It would have major ramifications for fruit producers, especially peach growers, who require chilling hours to produce a viable crop the following year. It would also affect farmers who must manage whitefly populations, as cold and wet conditions will help control the whitefly populations during the winter.
“La Niña winters, in general in Georgia, the jet stream gets shifted to the north, so they get more rain and clouds over the Ohio River Valley; and in the Southeast, we tend to be warmer and drier than usual. In a weak La Niña, that’s going to be more true for the southern half of Georgia and along the coast. Northern Georgia in a weak La Niña can vary quite a bit,” said Pam Knox, University of Georgia Extension agricultural climatologist. “The strongest signal is going to be southern Georgia, southern Alabama and in Florida; they would be most likely to experience the warmer and drier conditions than usual.”
Contrast to Last Year
Last year’s wet winter conditions contrast to what growers are likely to experience this year.
“We were in an El Niño then, and that’s the opposite of a La Niña. Whatever we had last year is probably not going to happen this year,” Knox said.
Weather forecasts indicate a weaker La Niña weather pattern that will be short-lived for the Southeast. Knox elaborates on what that means for specialty crop producers, especially during the upcoming winter months.
“It will probably only stay around for the winter, and then by spring, it will probably be gone again. Part of that is the ocean is just so warm, and the La Niña is fighting against that. You have both of those that are acting against each other. That’s one of the reasons that I think the La Niña is not going to be around very long,” Knox said.