Lake Erie North Shore - October 2011:

The final month of the 2011 growing season brought above-normal daytime temperatures and rainfall.

The growing degree day accumulation during the month of October was slightly above normal, although

there was essentially no accumulation during the last half of October (Fig 1). Accumulated growing

degree days for the entire 2011 growing season totaled 1505 for Colchester, 1499 for Kingsville and 1403

for Cedar Springs, only slightly above the normal of 1462 for Kingsville. This is not surprising as daily

maximum and minimum temperatures tended to fluctuate between above average and below average

throughout the growing season. Average daily maximums in October were approximately 1°C above

normal in October, while daily minimums were approximately 1°C below normal (Fig 2 and 3).

Temperatures in Colchester and Kingsville first dipped below 0°C on Oct 22nd

and fell below -2°C on the

28th and 30

th of October. Temperatures in Cedar Springs came in under 0°C later, reaching -1.8°C on the

28th of October.

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200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

GD

D

2011 Accumulated Base 10°C Growing Degree DaysCompared to 2010, 2009 and the 30-Year Normal (April 1 - October 31)

Colchester 2011

Kingsville 2011

Cedar Springs 2011

Colchester 2010

Kingsville 2010

Cedar Springs 2010

Colchester 2009

Kingsville 2009

Cedar Springs 2009

Normal Accumulation (Kingsville EC)

Figure 1: Growing Degree Days

One aspect of the 2011 growing season in the Lake Erie North Shore appellation that did not fluctuate

was above-average rainfall. The month of October continued to bring an above-normal number of rain

events: 7 days above normal in Colchester, 7 in Kingsville and 9 in Cedar Springs (Fig 4). These events

resulted in highly above-normal rainfall for the month: 200% of normal for Colchester, 206% for Kingsville

and 172% for Cedar Springs (Fig 5). Approximately half of the monthly rainfall fell during an extreme

rainfall event on October 19th. All of these conditions led to a challenging 2011 harvest.

Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct

Normal (Kingsville EC) 11.8 18.9 23.8 26.5 25.5 21.6 14.9

Colchester 10.9 18.3 24.7 29.1 26.5 20.8 15.2

Kingsville 11.3 18.4 25.0 29.8 26.8 21.3 16.0

Cedar Springs 9.7 16.9 23.1 27.9 25.9 20.3 14.8

Normal

Above-normal

Below-normal

LENS: Average Daily Maximums

Compared to Normal (2011)

Figure 2: Maximum Temperatures

Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct

Normal (Kingsville EC) 2.9 9.5 15.1 17.8 16.8 12.9 6.6

Colchester 3.3 10.2 14.9 19.2 16.1 12.5 6.4

Kingsville 3.0 10.0 14.8 18.8 14.8 11.9 5.2

Cedar Springs 2.4 9.2 14.2 19.4 16.1 12.9 6.9

Normal

Above-normal

Below-normal

LENS: Average Daily Minimums

Compared to Normal (2011)

Figure 3: Minimum Temperatures

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2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Colchester Kingsville Cedar Springs

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f D

ays

LENS: Number of Days with Rain in October 2011 Compared to the 30-Year Normal

2011

Normal (Kingsville EC)

Figure 4: Days with Rainfall

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800

1000

1200

Colchester Kingsville Cedar Springs Normal (Kingsville EC)

Ra

infa

ll (m

m)

LENS: 2011 Growing Season Monthly Rainfall Compared to Normal

October

September

August

July

June

May

April

Figure 5: Monthly Rainfall