Farmers fear a 'deja vu' freeze

Fruit farmer Thad Rowley hopes this week will pass without a disastrous deja vu.

Rowley's South Ridge Farms, near Santaquin, lost nearly all its crop last year from a hard freeze during the second week of May.

Forecasters say temperatures will dip to dangerous levels when the clouds, now holding in the heat, move past the state Saturday night.

"We are worried," Rowley said. "It's our livelihood at stake for the second year in a row."

Mike Conger, National Weather Service lead forecaster, said Rowley should not be overly concerned about the chance of freezing.

Santaquin's nighttime temperatures should stay slightly above freezing through the weekend.

"Freezing potential is more likely in areas like Cache Valley and Park City — the higher valley regions," Conger said.

The news was welcomed by Rowley and others in Utah County, where temperatures dropped to 22 degrees last May.

Warmer temperatures will allow farmers in the region to grow healthy crops of tart cherries, sweet cherries, apples, peaches, pears and nectarines.

But just in case, a watchman will closely monitor the temperature at most farms each night. If it drops near freezing, farmhands will activate fans and heaters capable of increasing the temperature by 5 degrees.

Sean Steele, a mechanic at McMullin Orchards in Payson, will be on call for the next few nights. If the fans are needed, he will be in charge of making sure they function properly. "Last year everybody lost most of their fruit in the southern part of Utah County," he said. "It has made people especially worried this year."

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E-mail: jparkinson@desnews.com