Mark Hunt’s Weather Assessment
25th – 31st January 2010
After the thaw of last weekend, we've had a pretty cold week with more light snowfall on Wednesday and a band of heavy rain moving across Ireland on Thursday 21st and the UK on Friday 22nd. As this clears away we are in for a settled week (at least) with an Atlantic-based high taking charge. This will bring some night frosts and coldish, dry, bright days with reasonable temperatures for the time of year though, as the week progresses, the wind will move round to the north and make things feel chillier, the further west you are, the less the effect of this chilly wind.
Feedback from emails and the Harrogate show is mixed in terms of disease levels after the thaw. In general, the healthier the greens went into the snow, the healthier they came out. However, many greenkeepers / course managers were unable to apply pre-Christmas tonics, fungicides, dew control products because of the windy, wet weather in early December and then the quick transition into cold and snow.
Snow Mold has definitely been more prevalent towards the west of the country and I wonder whether this was due to the fact that the thaw started earlier there and moisture built up under the snow allowing disease to form and spread. In the East, the thaw was quicker because the cold air from the continent held things in check until the mild rain arrived last weekend, so this didn't allow much time for a thaw under the snow carpet.
Let's hope that this spell of settled weather allows courses to dry, golfers to get out and that all important revenue starts to come in again.
Mark Hunt
Technical Director
Headland Amenity Ltd
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