Season Ender Oregon Update
- To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
- Subject: Season Ender Oregon Update
- From: O*@aol.com
- Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 16:53:14 EDT
In my 27 years of living I have never seen a true thunderstorm here in this
area. Last night it happened. It started off as a few lightning strikes, no
prob, I can deal, then came the rain. In the first wave we received 1.2
inches in 20 minutes. Lightning and wind not too bad, I was digging moats
around the prospects to keep the water from going underneath the fruit when
my hair stood up on end and lightning struck anly a tenth of a mile away in
the test patch. Then came a nasty gust of wind followed by the biggest hail
I have ever seen in real life. I tried to save all the fruit but I couldn't,
The shade structures blew off and that was it. I couldn't see in the dark
and I couldn't stay in the patch with lighting hitting within 500 feet of me,
I was un-nerved and had to give up, I couldn't save them.
This morning I was up at dawn to see what was left, and it wasn't a
nightmare. I videotaped the whole event up to the point when it became
obvious this wasn't just a cool storm, and now all leaves are severely
damaged, all fruit are cratered and bruised and 1999 is over. The stats are
on the storm top gust 53 MPH, 2.8 inches of rain in less than one hour, half
inch hail for roughly 5 minutes, and over 100 lightning strikes within one
mile of my home according to the local storm reporting station.
My largest fruit was on the 801.5 stelts at an estimated 276 pounds for the
record books. All but about 5% of my vines were terminated and buried, so
there is littel hope for a reprieve.
Good luck to the rest of you out there, and I'll get the hazelnuts ready.
Whats everyone planting in 2000?
Brett The Pumpkinguru Hester
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