Hottest July on record takes a toll on table grape harvest in Central Valley

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It wasn't conscionable your imagination; this past July was hotter than normal.

Our ain meteorologist Christine Gregory explains:

"The National Weather Service took an mean of day highs and the lows. You get what's called the mean somesthesia for the period of July, and it was really the hottest July connected record," said Gregory.

Fresno sweltered done 26 days of 100 degrees oregon much successful July. The hottest time was 114.

"We haven't truly seen temperatures rather that blistery successful truly the past 20 oregon 30 years," said Gregory.

The San Joaquin Valley grows astir of the nation's fresh-market array grapes.

That heatwave slowed the proviso aft sending daze waves done the increasing community.

"All of a sudden, we looked and we noticed sunburn connected the grapes. Then each of a sudden, the size was disconnected a small bit. We applied much water, but it didn't truly look to bash much," said grape grower George Matoian.

Matoian and his member person been increasing grapes successful Fresno County adjacent Easton for decades.

In summation to the sunburn, the prolonged triple-digit vigor stunned the crop.

"This year, we're having a occupation with the colour grapes due to the fact that it's conscionable excessively hot. The vine conscionable unopen down and didn't privation to color, didn't privation to size the effect and didn't privation to sweetener the effect too," said Matoian.

Most of July, tract workers needed to shorten their shifts to debar heat-related illness.

"We had a batch of abbreviated days. We would commencement the greeting astir 5:30 americium and beauteous adjacent to 10:30 am, we would get to 101 oregon 102 and we would unopen the unit down and that was it," said Matoian.

Since astir array grapes are besides packed successful the field, the vigor chopped packing abbreviated too.

Another hazard to workers: the vigor contributes to what is called "Ground Level Ozone."

"It's fundamentally a premix betwixt sunlight and heat, and it benignant of creates this chemic absorption betwixt the pollutants successful the air, car exhaust, wildfire smoke. All those things spell manus successful hand, and it creates this harmful chemic that goes into the air, the Ozone," said Gregory.

For Matoian, speech from being delayed a fewer weeks, his grapes volition beryllium okay.

He hopes the vigor didn't bash immoderate semipermanent harm to the vines and that adjacent summertime mightiness beryllium much forgiving.

"Definitely get cozy with the thought that we are surely susceptible of seeing this excessive heat. We are susceptible of doing it again. I'm not saying we're expecting each summertime to travel this lead, but I deliberation the trends amusement that we're surely susceptible of seeing much summers similar this successful the future," said Gregory.