Vermont's Rise in Spring Temperatures
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- Created on Sunday, 02 May 2021 16:17
- Written by Nate Rubin
Vermont - In the last 40 years, Vermont has seen an increase in the average spring time temperatures. Although this number isn't too big, the effects it has in our yearly climate can already be seen. Everything from droughts, to flooding, to even shortened maple sugaring seasons.
According to Climate Central, the average spring time temperature in Vermont has risen 2.8°F since 1970 and Vermont is avergaing about 14 days of above average temperatures during the spring. But, what exactly will this mean for the state as a whole? According to Dr. Janel Hanrahan Atmospheric Science professor at NVU-Lyndon, if you were to ask a person on the street about a rise in temperatures either 1 or 2° degrees most people wouldnt care. If you were to add 1 or 2° every year it can start to have an affect on agriculture and wild life in the state. One point that Dr. Hanrahan did note is "the way it's hapenning is not uniform. What's hapenning is that you have these extremely warm days but, you also have extremely cold days". For example this year in early April we already had days that hit 75°F which was well over 20 degrees above average. Few days following that we went back down to below freezing temperatures. Heat waves in the late spring can also be problematic for people in Vermont because you could have days with temperatures above 90°F which for most people in the south that wouldn't be such a problem considering they mostly have air conditioning. But, in Vermont most people don't have air conditioning and thats when it can become a health problem.
In the agriculture sector these extreme swings in temperatures can impact farms whether it is an apple orchard or peach trees. When you have multiple days in a row where temperatures exceed 70°F trees will start to bloom thinking its later in the spring and its time to fruit. Then, when temperatures drop back down into the freezing mark and it starts to snow, it can really damage these trees. The flowers will die and not be able to bear fruit. Dr. Hanrahan explained "I have this big tree in my backyard that bloomed all these big beautiful flowers and then we got six inches of snow and now I have a tree with dead flowers and this is not a big deal for this tree in my backyard but it can be if you have lets say an apple orachard".
The last thing that can get affected is extreme weather. This year we are already dealing with moderate drought conditions according to the drought monitor provided by the University of Nebraska. Droughts and floods are two extremes that can happen either in separate years or in the same year. We could have one year with above average snowfall and once spring time comes around with the snowmelt, rivers can rise and if you combine that with heavy rainfall can be a perect disaster which was the case back in the spring of 2019. You can also have an abnormally dry year with little snowfall and once spring time comes around a drought develops, the ground hardens and cracks from lack of rainfall. It could take one storm with rainfall over an inch to start having flooding concerns. Since the ground is hard and cracked, it could take a while before the soil becomes saturated enough for the water to seep down so, the water just sits on top and if you have heavy rainfall that will start to pool. Vermont's climate is changing every year and we are already starting to see the affects of climate change.
