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Climate and vineyard site selection
Home > weather > climate and vineyard site slection
Climate is an important factor in choosing a site for vineyard development. To guide in site selection, maps of several important agroclimatological factors were created based on 50 years of weather data. Daily weather data were collected from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Summary of the Day series (NOAA, 1952-2001) from 83 sites across the state of Michigan. Continuous spatial estimates of the variables were interpolated using the spline method, which assumes a minimum curvature between nearby points.

Please, note that most of the weather stations in the analysis are not located in sites considered suitable for a vineyard and that the micro- and mesoclimate of a specific vineyard site can be important factors in its success or failure. There may be suitable sites in areas generally noted as unfavorable; for these sites, local topographic factors are even more critical. These maps are for general planning purposes and should not be interpreted as a guarantee of suitability.

For maps with data about:
Growing season length
Growing season heat accumulation
Winter injury

Here are some of the non-climatic factors you'll want to consider in selecting a site:
Local relief (topography)
Current land use
Tourism

View or print a pdf file with all of the maps.

Frost damage
Frost damage is evident on grape buds.

Additional information

  • View more weather and climate information from Michigan State University.
 

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Funding for this web site provided by Project GREEEN, American Farmland Trust, EPA Region 5's Strategic Agricultural Initiative program, The National Foundation for IPM Education, the Center for Agricultural Partnerships and the MSU Integrated Pest Management Program
in collaboration with MSU Extension and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station.
Updated 12/05/07 Contact: J.N. Landis.