Warm weekend weather to aid soybean, corn crops

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Students and area residents have been given a brief respite from the coming winter during the past few days because late-summer-like temperatures.

The unseasonably warm weather began when the Saturday temperature peaked at 66 degrees. The trend continued Sunday, with the temperature ultimately reaching 70 degrees — one degree below that day’s record high, WLNS Chief Meteorologist David Young said.

“I don’t want to say (the temperatures) are uncharacteristic,” Young said. “Last year, we had warm weather for the last few days of November. But the temperatures are way above our normal highs of 48 degrees.”

The warmer weather — a result of an active storm track and persistent north-westerly winds during October — will help dry out mature crops, associate professor of geography Jeff Andresen said.

“The corn and soybean crops are way behind schedule because of the cool summer and recent poor weather,” Andresen said. “The warm weather will be beneficial to their maturation.”

But he said there could be problems with tissue damage in perennial crops such as tree fruits if the temperature cools too quickly.

“We would rather see a gradual cooling off; crops do not like extreme shocks,” Andresen said. “(Extreme changes) could damage flower buds. No buds, no crops.”

He said that would be an extreme situation, noting most fruit trees have more buds than they need.

Those on campus have taken advantage of the opportunities the balmy weather has afforded them.

English Language Center teacher Carol Wilson-Duffy said she no longer is worried about escaping to Florida to experience nice weather. Wilson-Duffy said she and her husband have been able to winterize their boat and get their yard in shape.

“Usually nothing like that is done until Thanksgiving, and so we’re a few weeks ahead,” she said. “I’ve been outside a lot more. It’s much easier to rake my leaves — I’m not so depressed about raking my leaves when the weather is nice like this.”

English sophomore Talya Tavor said the weather was a nice change of pace from Michigan’s typically volatile weather.

“I love it; it’s awesome,” Tavor said. “Yesterday I was walking around in shorts and I didn’t think that was possible.”

She said she found time to hang out with her friends and smoke a hookah in the great outdoors.

“I’m from Chicago, so it’s a little bit different here, a little bit weirder,” Tavor said. “Last year it was like negative 21 degrees one day and then 40 the next.”

Young said the rest of the week and the weekend will be cooler — he projected low 50s to high 40s — but it still will be three to four degrees above the normal average.

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