Crickets are chirping at dusk, and frogs are singing throughout the day, showing signs of Spring have arrived in the Fountain City.
But perennial bushes such as blueberries, which rely on cooler days for several more months, are beginning to open their buds. That’s putting one of Georgia’s biggest agriculture products and blueberry growers at risk for the 2025 season.
The first 10 days of February and two days in January all had highs at or above 70 degrees in Columbus. On Saturday, the high hit 80, almost breaking the record of 81. The city tied a record set in 1927 on Feb. 4.
“You guys have been baking down there,” said Dylan Lusk, senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Peachtree City. “It is very warm for this time of year. Columbus is about 10-12 degrees above the normal for early February.”
Columbus was not alone. Middle and southeastern Georgia hit 80-degree temperatures too.
Macon set a record high for a minimum temperature of 61 degrees on Saturday and on Feb. 5 broke a record high of 81, Lusk said. Savannah had a record high of 83 on Feb. 4.
A warm reprieve in the 70s began in Georgia right after an unusual snow storm disrupted Columbus and other parts of Georgia for several days.
Brett Anderson, senior meteorologist and climate expert at Accuweather, suggests an abrupt change to the jet stream caused these extremes.
“(In February) the jetstream cut off the supply of Arctic air and introduced warm air from Mexico to sweep across the Southeast U.S.,” he said in an email.
Two months is a short period when talking about climate change, the climate expert said. But the oceans are still running a few degrees above normal in the Gulf of Mexico, according to Anderson.
“Climate change has played a strong role in the warming of the oceans, which enhanced some of the warmth experienced this month,” he said. “Climate change means more extremes in temperatures both warm and cold.”
A group of climate scientists found that Columbus’ temperatures from Feb. 4 to 8 were more likely because of climate change. And in central and southern Georgia, the temperatures were two to four times more likely.
Climate Central uses 22 climate models to analyze the frequency of daily temperatures in the last 30 years and compare how temperatures would be with and without the added greenhouse gases.
These unusually warm “false springs,” as some in the agriculture community like to call it, are becoming more frequent.
Jeff Cook, a University of Georgia agriculture extension coordinator who focuses on peaches in Peach County, said these warm February months have been consistent the last few years.
“A warm February is good for nothing as far as agriculture goes,” he said. “All of our fruit needs this cold. False spring has been consistent, popping up more frequently.”
Further Southeast, another UGA extension researcher and blueberry breeder, Ye (Juliet) Chu is working on creating more resilient blueberries so Georgia growers can grow year round.
“I’m very concerned about this weather,” Chu, told the Ledger-Enquirer. “This false spring promotes blueberry buds to come out of dormancy and move forward with blooming. The Blueberry industry is threatened because of this fast bloom.”
Blueberries are one of Georgia’s top three valued fruits and nuts, next in line to peaches and pecans. In fact, in 2023, Georgia grew four times more blueberries than peaches. And a 2022 report by Georgia Farm Gate said the state’s blueberries were worth $450 million.
Chu researches blueberries in Bacon County, in south-central Georgia, which has over 8,000 acres of blueberry fields, she said. That accounts for 38% of total blueberry acreage in Georgia.
“Blueberry (growth) is a one way track. Once they are initiated to bloom, they move forward,” Chu explained.
If the bud becomes wet and juices too early, it’s as if it loses a shield of protection when it’s this warm already. That makes it easier for the berries to freeze back.
“Once the buds begin to swell and open, which are in early stages of the blueberry lifecycle, they are more susceptible to freeze and in danger.”
The plants that Chu is monitoring in her field at Alapaha, Georgia are already in stage 4 and 5 of the lifecycle. She said this time of the year they should be in stage 1.
“Some of the flowers are reaching full bloom at stage 5,” she said.
This Sunday, low temperatures are expected to return to 30 degrees, according to Lyon at the NWS.
“If there is a dip in temperature the flower gets killed back and there is no yield from these,” Chu said. “How severe the loss depends on how severe the cold weather is.”
Chu emphasized most of Georgia growers have overhead phrase protection for the earlier blueberry variety which will mitigate the loss. She is adding wind machines to her research farm today.
“Georgia blueberries are at risk,” Chu said. “They respond to the environment, they use environmental cues.”
Prior to this warming, her colleagues at UGA suggested 2025 to be a promising year for blueberries and “lead the fruit and nut industry”.
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.
