Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 20, 1994 TAG: 9405200056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By ERIKA BOLSTAD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The old low of 42 degrees for May 19 was set in 1956. The temperature for this month so far is an average of 10 degrees lower than for May last year, said Donato Cacciapaglia at the National Weather Service at the Roanoke Airport.
The cool weather had midday shoppers in downtown Roanoke looking for ways to warm up.
Elizabeth Offermann and her mother, Dot Hardy, who came to the City Market to buy plants for their gardens, grabbed a cup of hot coffee in Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea.
``I was ready to hit the garden, but it's so chilly we decided to come in and warm up,'' Offermann said. ``I still have to go plant everything.''
So what's behind the unseasonably cool weather, causing Roanoke Valley residents to bring out their winter coats and postpone work in the garden?
An upper-level low pressure system is sitting above Virginia, causing the cool temperatures, according to the National Weather Service. Cacciapaglia called it a ``stationary'' system, but added it's busy, turning ``like spokes on a wheel.''
This weather system is blowing clouds in and out and bringing cool winds from northern Canada, Cacciapaglia said.
``This weekend should bring more of the same, until the low-pressure system decides to pull away,'' he said.
Warm temperatures in the central United States should move in next week as the low-pressure system heads east.
Not everyone was unhappy with the cool, windy weather.
``Come July, you'll be saying, `Gosh, it was nice in May,''' said Jerry Stenger at the state climatologist's office.
Down on the City Market, the cool weather slowed business for farmers.
``There's not as much business as when it's pretty. If it was warm and pretty, the customers would just go for this lettuce,'' said Galen Flora, a farmer from Boones Mill.
Few customers were buying bedding plants, either.
``People are still a little bit leery of planting,'' said Betty Guthrie, from Guthrie's Farm in Franklin County. ``They're not buying the bedding plants and flowers.''
Kent Agnew at Agnew's Seeds said the business was having a good spring, but that gardeners were disappointed with the slow growth.
``The cold weather is affecting what has come up,'' Agnew said. ``Some of your crops don't like cold weather. When the soil cools off, it slows down or kills germination.''
Dr. Ron Morse, a horticulture professor at Virginia Tech, where the mercury dropped to 35 degrees Thursday, explained how the cold affects the soil.
``The problem with cold soil means you have delayed germination of seeds planted and slow growth of any transplant,'' Morse said. ``Lots of farmers and gardeners can't get crops in because it's cold.''
Roanoke Extension Agent John Arbogast had some tips for local gardeners to avoid stunted or late growth and rotted seeds.
``People worried about summer crops can wait to plant, and those who were late with spring crops are in luck,'' Arbogast said.
He also suggested not planting seeds at the full depth, because the soil is so cold. Don't mulch unless you cover beds with black plastic, which will keep the soil warm, he said.
by CNB