Upcoming series of storms causes concern for Valley farmers.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019
A series of storms that will impact the Central Valley during the next several days are causing concern for farmers.
Spring sunshine will soon give way to cloudy skies with rain and thunderstorms for the Central Valley.

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Spring sunshine will soon give way to cloudy skies with rain and thunderstorms for the Central Valley.

Rain is usually a welcome sight for crops in the winter but not in the middle of spring.

"The timing of rain here in the San Joaquin Valley is so critical because of the type of crops that we grow here. They are very perishable. So when you look across the board, peaches, plums and nectarines will really come into harvest over the course of the next two weeks," said Ryan Jacobsen, Fresno County Farm Bureau.

He said this is also a sensitive time for cherries and blueberries in the Central Valley.

Right now cherries are still on trees and will be in harvest over the next few days.

Heavy rain and hail from thunderstorms could turn the sweet crop sour almost instantly.

"Hail can absolutely be very devastating in a very short time frame. So when you see a cold storm coming in with a little bit of heat here on the ground that is very conducive to some significant hail storms here," said Jacobsen.

The middle of May is the tail end of strawberry harvest in the Central Valley.

Projections of half an inch to a full inch of rain could cause strawberries on the ground to rot.

While growers are worried about rain on the Valley floor, snow in the Sierra is welcome news for the snowpack in the high country.

"Up in the Sierra Nevada up there it is absolutely great to continue to get some storms up there. It just helps to benefit the local irrigation districts when it comes to the seasons this year," said Jacobsen.