Cranberry Weather Summaries Archive

Format: 2025

2006

September

September had near average temperatures and just above normal sunshine. The temperature averaged 61.9 degrees, 1.1 degrees per day below normal. Maximum temperature was 81.0 degrees on the 17 th; a minimum temperature of 39.0 degrees was recorded on the 30 th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 71.5 degrees, 0.1 degrees above the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 52.3 degrees, 2.2 degrees above the norm.

Sunshine totaled 58% of the possible sunshine hours, 2 points above the norm. We had 13 mostly clear days, 12 days with no sunshine, and 2 days with morning fog in East Wareham

Precipitation totaled 4.89 inches, 0.99 inches above normal. The first two-thirds of the month had 3 rain events totaling 4.65 inches of rain; only 0.24 inches of rain fell in the last 10 days. There were only 8 days with measurable precipitation. The remains of Hurricane Florence passed by well offshore on the 12 th. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 2.92 inches on the 20 th. Year-to-date rainfall for 2006 is 40.95 inches, 6.15 inches above average for East Wareham and 0.74 inches above the 2005 total rainfall at the same time last year.

August

August was cool and sunny with slightly below average rainfall for the month. The temperature averaged 70.0 degrees, 0.7 degrees per day below normal. Maximum temperature was 100.0 degrees on the 2 nd and a minimum temperature of 49.0 degrees was recorded on the 13 th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 79.6 degrees, 2.4 degrees below last year and 1.2 degrees below the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 60.0 degrees, 5.0 degrees below last year and 2.9 degrees below the norm.

Sunshine totaled 61% of the possible sunshine hours, 3 points above the norm. We had 7 mostly clear days, only 2 days with no sunshine and 3 days with fog in East Wareham .

Precipitation totaled 3.05 inches. This is 0.85 inches below normal. We had measurable precipitation on 11 days. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 1.55 inches on the 28 th. Year-to-date rainfall for 2006 is 36.06 inches, 2.68 inches above last year at this time and 5.16 inches above the average year to date for East Wareham .

Official Summer Season

The official summer (June, July and August) averaged out to be warm and wet with low sunshine. Overall rainfall was 6.41 inches above normal (due to the very wet June). Temperatures average 1.8 degrees above the norm and the sunshine was 53%, 4 points below normal. We had a maximum temperature of 100 degrees on the August 2 nd. Typically, our region averages 4 days of 90 degrees or higher, and we tallied four 90+ days during the official summer season. After the heavy rains in June, rainfall came evenly throughout July and August. This was the wettest June in the 80 years of record keeping in East Wareham , surpassing the record set in 1938 of 9.65 inches. We had 5 rain events with over 0.10 inches of rain in July and 7 in August.

2006 Crop Forecast

New England Agricultural Statistic Service gave the United States forecast for the 2006 cranberry crop on August 22 nd in Rochester , MA . This year’s forecast is the production of 6.64 million barrels, up 6 percent from 2005. Massachusetts ’ cranberry crop is forecasted to reach 1.75 million barrels, up 23 percent from 2005. New Jersey ’s forecast is for 490,000 barrels (up from 2005), Oregon : 485,000 barrels (down from 2005), Washington : 160,000 barrels (down from 2005), and Wisconsin : 3.75 million barrels (up from 2005). The 2005-2006 winters was mild with low vine damage and very little winter kill. May and June were very wet limiting bee activity. The bloom was above average, and fruit sizing will be a big factor determining the total crop yield for Massachusetts.

Personnel

Dr. Hilary Sandler traveled to Winchester, VA to attend the Regional Cooperative Extension Wine Grape In-Service Training short course on August 16–17, 2006.

July

July’s weather had average temperatures just above normal, very little rainfall, and lots of fog and high humidity. The temperature averaged 74.0 degrees, 2.1 degrees above average. Maximum temperature was 92.0 degrees on the 29 th and a minimum temperature of 57.0 degrees was recorded on the 1 st. Daytime high temperatures averaged 82.0 degrees, 2.4 degrees above the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 65.0 degrees, 0.9 degrees above the norm.

Sunshine totaled 57% of the possible sunshine hours, just about normal for July. We did however have 4 days with dense fog here in East Wareham .

Precipitation totaled 1.50 inches; this is 1.73 inches below normal. Rainfall was recorded on 10 days, and only five of these days had measurable precipitation over 0.10 inches, the largest 24-hour rainfall of 0.54 inches on the 6 th. Year-to-date rainfall for 2006 is 33.01 inches, 6.01 inches above average for East Wareham . The previous two months however, have been very wet totaling 19.39 inches of rain, 12.29 inches above normal.

Personnel

Dr. Vanden Heuvel traveled to Rochester , NY to attend the Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Division of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture from July 9th to July 12th. Dr. Vanden Heuvel and Dr. Sandler attended the Grape Growers Twilight Meeting in Little Compton, RI on July 13th. Dr. DeMoranville and Dr. Vanden Heuvel traveled to New Orleans , LA to attend the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Horticultural Science Annual International Conference, from July 26th to July 31st.

Dr. Frank Caruso traveled to Quebec City , Quebec to attend the American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting, from July 28th to Aug. 3rd. Dr. Hilary Sandler traveled July 31st-August 3rd, first to Newark, DE to attend the Northeastern Weed Science Society Weed Contest and then on to Elkton, MD to attend the NEWSS Executive Committee Meeting.

June

June was extremely wet, with average temperatures and well below average sunshine. The temperature averaged 66.0 degrees, 0.4 degrees per day above normal. Maximum temperature was 82.0 degrees on the 17 th and 30 th; a minimum temperature of 50.0 degrees was recorded on the 11 th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 72.4 degrees, 1.2 degrees below the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 58.7 degrees, 1.2 degrees above the norm. The first half of the month was cool and damp, while the second half was warm and humid.

Sunshine totaled 39% of the possible sunshine hours, 16 points below the norm. We had 2 days with 90% sunshine and 3 days with dense fog in East Wareham.

Precipitation totaled 12.25 inches, which is 8.99 inches above normal. We had measurable precipitation on 17 days and a trace on one other day. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 5.73 inches on the 7 th. Year-to-date rainfall for 2006 is 31.31 inches, 7.88 inches above average for East Wareham. This is the wettest June in the past 80 years for East Wareham, surpassing the record set in 1938 of 9.65 inches.

May

May was very wet with average temperature and below average sunshine. The month of May was the fourth wettest in our 79 years of records in East Wareham. The temperatures for May averaged 56.5 degrees, 0.2 degrees per day above normal and 6.4 degrees warmer than last year. The maximum temperature was 80.0 degrees on the 27 th and a minimum temperature of 39.0 degrees was recorded on the 8 th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 64.5 degrees, 0.3 degrees below the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 48.5 degrees, 0.8 degrees above the norm.

Sunshine totaled 43% of the possible sunshine hours, 9 points below the norm. We had 12 days with no sunshine at all and 7 days with dense fog in East Wareham.

Precipitation totaled 7.14 inches. As noted above, this was the fourth wettest May on record, measuring 3.69 inches above normal. This rainfall total is surpassed only three times; in 2005 with 8.41 inches, 1967 with 8.68 inches and 9.18 inches in 1948. We had 10 days with measurable precipitation of 0.10 inches or greater and 4 days with a trace to 0.10 inches. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 3.00 inches on the 13 th - 14 th with a total of 4.05 inches over the 3-day nor’easter. Due to the very dry March and April, our total year to date rainfall is 1.11 inches below the average in East Wareham.

The official spring (March-May) was warm and dry. Temperatures averaged 2.6 degrees above normal, with 2.78 inches below-average rainfall and 2.2 inches above average snowfall for this period. Sunshine was also above normal, with a sunny March and April and a very cloudy May.

April

April was mild, dry and quite sunny. The temperature averaged 47.2 degrees, 1.3 degrees above normal. The maximum temperature was 69.0 degrees on the 19 th and a minimum temperature of 28.0 degrees was recorded on the 9 th and 10 th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 57.3 degrees, 3.1 degrees above the norm. Evening low temperatures averaged 36.9 degrees, 0.6 degrees below the norm.

Sunshine totaled 56% of the possible sunshine hours, 7 points above the norm. We had 7 days with over 90% sunshine and only 1 day with dense fog in East Wareham.

Precipitation totaled 2.13 inches, which is 2.26 inches below normal. We had measurable precipitation on 12 days, with only 4 days measuring over 0.10 inches. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 0.67 inches on the 8 th. Year-to-date rainfall for 2006 stands at 12.12 inches; this is 4.6 inches below normal and 6.71 inches below the year to date rainfall at this point in 2005.

In the past 10 years, we averaged 37.93 inches of snowfall during the winter season. The winter season of 2005-2006 snowfall recorded in East Wareham is 34.08 inches, just 3.85 inches short of the average. Please note that if we were to remove the record snowfall of 2004-2005 (104.13 inches), our 2004-2005 snowfall of 34.08 inches would be 5.89 inches above the current 10-year average of 28.19 inches and 2.68 inches above the 30-year average of 31.40 inches.

March

March roared in like a lion and went out like a lamb when it came to temperatures this year. On the whole, March was very sunny and extremely dry. The temperatures averaged 37.5 degrees, 4.5 degrees per day above last year. Maximum temperature was only 64.0 degrees on the 30th and a minimum temperature of 17.0 degrees was recorded on the 4th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 47.0 degrees, 1.8 degrees above the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 28.0 degrees, 1.2 degrees below the norm.

Sunshine totaled 60% of the possible sunshine hours, 12 points above the norm. Three days had no sunshine, yet six days had over 95% sunshine. Sunshine data are from the Blue Hill Observatory.

Precipitation totaled 0.59 inches. This is 4.21 inches below normal. This is also an all time record for the driest March in the 80 years of data collecting here at the East Wareham . The past record was 1.12 inches of rainfall in March of 1962. We had measurable precipitation of 0.10 or greater rainfall on two days. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 0.42 inches on the 3 rd. We have received 9.99 inches of rainfall year to date, totaling 2.65 inches below average for the year to date in East Wareham . The only recorded snowfall for the month was 8.0 inches on March 2 nd. Year-to-date snowfall recorded in East Wareham is now at 34.08 inches.

Personnel

Dr. Justine Vanden Heuvel traveled to Davis, CA to attend the Review Panel Meeting on March 4 th. Dr. Hilary Sandler traveled to San Antonio , TX to attend the National Viticulture Extension Leadership Conference, March 28-30th. Dr. Frank Caruso traveled to Philadelphia , PA to meet with other researchers to discuss PMAP projects on March 30-31.

February

February was dry and windy, with above average sunshine and temperatures. The temperatures averaged 31.3 degrees, 1.3 degrees per day above normal. Maximum temperature was 56 degrees on the 5th and a minimum temperature of 9.0 degrees was recorded on the 28 th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 39.6 degrees, 1.4 degrees above the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 23.0 degrees, 1.3 degrees above the norm. Temperatures for February 2006 were almost the same as February 2004 and 2005. Sustained winds of 10mph or better were recorded on 9 days. There were wind gusts above 20 mph every day. Wind gusts above 50 mph were recorded on six days, topping out at 75 mph winds on the 12 th.

Sunshine totaled 64% of the possible sunshine hours, 14 points over the norm. Sunshine was above the norm, very much like the 15 points above normal in February 2004.

Precipitation totaled 2.38 inches. This is1.34 inches below normal. We had measurable precipitation on 8 days. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 0.68 inches on the 5 th. There were 3 days with measurable snowfall totaling 12.50 inches, 3.1 inches above normal. The greatest snowfall for one storm came on the 12 th with 12.0 inches. Year-to-date snowfall recorded in East Wareham is now 26.08 inches.

The official winter in East Wareham (Dec. 2005 - Feb. 2006) averaged 33.9 degrees, 3.0 degrees above normal. This is 2.7 degrees warmer than last season. The low mark was 9.0 degrees on Feb. 28 th and the high mark was 59 degrees on Jan. 18 th. The coldest daily high was a bitter 24.0 degrees on Feb. 27 th. Sunshine was 52%, 5 points above normal. Precipitation totaled 12.60 inches, 0.56 inches above average. Snowfall totaled 24.93 inches, 0.53 inches above normal.

Personnel

Dr. Frank Caruso traveled to Oregon as a guest speaker at the Oregon and Washington Cranberry Growers Association Meeting, February 4 -10 th. Dr. Frank Caruso, Dr. Hilary Sandler and Marty Sylvia traveled to Phoenix AZ to attend the 2006 IR-4 National Training Conference, Feb. 28 – March 2.

January

January averaged out to be a warm and wet month. The temperature average out at 37.5 degrees, 8.8 degrees above average. The maximum temperature was 59 degrees on January 18 th, just 6 degrees below last year’s high of 65 degrees. A minimum temperature of 11.0 degrees was recorded on the 26 th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 45.0 degrees, 8.0 degrees above the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 30.0 degrees, 9.7 degrees above the norm. There was only one days with day-time high temperatures below 32 degrees. Evening temperatures were below 32 degrees for only 18 nights. There were only 2 nights in the teens and no single digit or below zero temperatures recorded this month.

Precipitation totaled 7.02 inches. This is 2.48 inches above normal. We had measurable precipitation on 17 days; 7 of those days were less than 0.10 inches. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 2.58 inches on the 14 th -15 th. We had measurable snowfall of 0.10 inches or greater on 4 days of the month totaling 3.68 inches, 6.52 inches below average. All snow cover lasted for less than 24 hours. The largest 24-hour snowfall was 1.6 inches on the 23 rd of January.

Sunshine totaled 39% of the possible sunshine hours, 7 points below the norm.

Personnel

Dr. Sandler traveled to Providence RI to attend the Northeastern Weed Science Society 60 th Annual Meeting, from January 3rd to January 6th. Dr. DeMoranville and Dr. Vanden Heuvel traveled to Ithaca NY to attend the 2006 Northeast Region American Society for Horticultural Science Annual Meeting, from January 5th to January 7th. Dr. DeMoranville traveled to Wisconsin to attend the Wisconsin Cranberry Growers’ School as a guest speaker, from January 24th to January 25th. Dr. Caruso traveled to New Jersey to attend the American Cranberry Growers’ Association Meeting as a guest speaker, from January 24th to January 26th.

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