Indiana’s winters are warming more than many other states. According to the independent researching and reporting collaboration Climate Central, the state’s average winter temperatures have risen by more than 5 degrees since 1970.
Indiana joins several other Great Lakes states and most of the Northeast in having the most winter warming in the country.
Warmer winters can shorten the chilling time apple and peach trees need to produce fruit for the next season. Erin Sterling and her family own Anderson Orchard in Mooresville. She said while they haven’t noticed that, there’s another reason they’re losing apples.
“We’ve had those cold snaps right after bloom — or when we’re in bloom — and that kills the apple flowers, apple blossoms, apple buds. And that’s happened three years in a row," Sterling said.
Warmer winters can cause fruit trees to bloom early, so they’re more vulnerable to spring frosts.