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> Hi Chris & All, June 6, 2008
<snip>
>
> My nephews do a lot of irrigation for frost and may have some good
> records so I will ask about this.
>
> Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
>
Hi All, June 7, 2008
I sent the following to my nephew Greg Webster
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A topic has come up on Naturens that Webster Farms experience may be
able to shed some light on. As a kid, there being no weather forcasts to
speak of, we used full moon as a guide to frost hazard; i.e. other
things being favourable (no clouds or wind) a full or near full moon
before June 10 or after Sept 10 was a flag to be wary of frost. Or
conversely, if we could get past a full moon in early June we considered
frost hazard to be past and avoiding frost during an early Sept full
moon would indicate another month of frost-free weather.
There is a possible rational explanation for such an effect [low
tide and least radiant energy from the Minas Basin and Bay of Fundy near
dawn] but if this were the mechanism then new moons should be equally
indicative of frost hazard and I don't recall that we were wary of new
moon times.
In the course of maintaining frost records have you looked for any
association between frost hazard and moon phase and if so what did you
find ? In more general terms, if tidal action were involved, then the
probability of frost in a specific period such as 2-nd week of June
should be slightly greater when a new of full moon falls within the period.
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And I received the following reply.
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We pay close attention to the moon phases, although we have never tried to
validate the cause and effect relationship. We never feel clear of frost
until after the June full moon which this year is the 18th. We have not had
any hard frosts this spring although there have been several for short
duration that may or may not have caused damage if we had not run water.
Our policy is pumps are running at 0 to -1 field air temperature at ground
level and stay on until ice is melted or air temperature away from the field
is backup to +2 and rising with no further risk if lowering.
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Comment:
The cultivated area is now more than 50 times as large as it was 60
some years ago. This and the fact that irrigation is an option accounts
for the later June date I think, i.e. there is now low-lying land under
cultivation that we would have not dreamed of breaking.
Yt, DW
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