Driven by climate change, the average arrival of Fall’s first frost has been shifting in communities across the country, with some particularly dramatic swings in our region.
In Reno, fall’s first freeze now comes 41 days later than it did in the early 1970s. That was the largest shift nationwide in the a analysis from the group Climate Central. Other Western cities also saw big changes: 27 days in Boise, and 17 in Albuquerque. Eleven days was the average of the 170 communities analyzed.
You can see if your city was included in the analysis here.
Climate Central says these trends come with many consequences, including lengthening allergy seasons and more opportunities for mosquitoes to spread disease. Lauren Parker is an agricultural climatologist, and the managing director of the Secure Water Future at the University of California, Merced.
“First fall freeze happening more than a month later, that also means that your snow season is starting later,” said Lauren Parker, an agricultural climatologist and the director of the Secure Water Future at the University of California, Merced.
Coupled with warmer springs, she said mountain snowpacks have less time to build, with serious implications for farmers across the region.
Additionally, many crops - like perennial orchards - also rely on sustained periods of cool temperatures, and later freezes also mean more time for crop pests to birth new generations, according to Parker.
She did note that there could be some opportunities in a lengthening growing season, and ways for the industry to address climate change.
“It's a bit of hubris to say that there won't be some struggles, but I don't think that all hope is lost,” she said. “We have a number of tools in the toolbox now to help agricultural systems be more resilient, increase their adaptive capacity. Even agricultural systems can play a role in mitigating climate change through increasing soil carbon sequestration and the like.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misidentified Lauren Parker's title. She is the managing director of the Secure Water Future at the University of California, Merced.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
