Trees losing leaves early? Blame it on (lack of) rain
High temperatures and little rainfall have Calgary looking brown, with wilting trees, falling leaves and aphid-ridden flowers.
According to Kirk Torneby, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, southern Alberta has been exceptionally dry, especially over the past three months.
“It’s been anywhere between 25 to 50 per cent below normal in terms of precipitation in many areas,” said Torneby.
Torneby said in June, Calgary had only 41.2 millimetres of precipitation, while the 30-year average is typically 94 mm. July was the wettest month with 67.7 mm of precipitation, slightly above the average of 65.5 mm.
“On July 11, there was 41.4 mm that fell that day, so that was the bulk of your summer rain all in one day, almost a third of it,” said Torneby.
So far for August, Calgary has only seen 26.6 mm of rain — well below the 57 mm average.
Torneby said Calgary’s average summer precipitation is 216.5 mm, however, to date we’ve only seen 136.5 mm, which is “obviously on the dry side.”
“Looking at the map itself for how dry it’s been across southern Alberta, I expected the numbers to be drier than they were,” said Torneby.
“It was surprising to see they’re so moderated. It definitely has been dry but it hasn’t been recordlevel dry.”
The City of Calgary’s Parks and Water division told Postmedia in a statement that because of the heat and low precipitation, they’ve seen a 12-per-cent higher water demand than the same period last year, between May 1 and Aug. 21.
Businesses have also been noticing the effects of the dry weather. Elbow Springs Golf Course has had to work harder to keep their lawns green for golfers, irrigating and hand-watering the grass longer and more often.
The golf course doesn’t have to worry about water bills because of a well on site, however, electricity use has increased because of the pumps used for the irrigation system.
“We’re very fortunate, we just turn the irrigation on, have it longer at night and the only additional cost is electricity to run the pumps,” said an employee at the golf course.
Dennis Vroomen, disease treatment specialist with Royal Dutch Tree Services, said trees in Calgary have been also been feeling the effects of the dry weather.
“We’ve got a lot of premature leaf drop very early in the season, so like the mountain ash and the birch trees,” said Vroomen, adding trees normally lose their leaves around October.
Vroomen also said they’ve seen an increase in calls about people concerned about their trees being sick, especially aspens.
“It’s getting a little better now, but at the height of the summer you would see the whole top wilting,” said Vroomen.
“We’re (also) seeing a lot less growth, especially on the pine trees and on the birch trees, we’re seeing a lot more die-off than usual.”
Vroomen added there’s also been an increase in aphids and insects because of the dry heat.
However, being this dry doesn’t doesn’t mean it’s all bad news. Kath Smyth with the Calgary Horticultural Society said although it may be brown out there, it’s been a good year for fruit and vegetable crops.
“I have an apple tree that ordinarily isn’t ready for harvest until about now, but it decided to throw all its apples off about 10 days ago and I was caught a little off guard,” said Smyth.
“My squash, I’ve never had so many squash as I’ve had this year, and my tomatoes are a bumper crop.”
Looking at the map itself for how dry it’s been across southern Alberta, I expected the numbers to be drier than they were.