Jack Frost comes to visit early | News, Sports, Jobs

WINDOW SCRAPERS came out of the glove box. It stayed just long enough to frost the windshields of cars outside for the first time since last spring. It set a record low for Sept. 3, when frost covered the windows of cars this morning. The previous low was 35 degrees in 1946. Kevin Krueger was The temperature stabilized at 32 degrees at 4 a.m., an early scraper, then below freezing at 30 by 6 a.m. (Photo by Ron Grieser)

Today's morning frost in New Ulm was the earliest frost report ever, according to KNUJ records.

The earliest frost recorded in New Ulm was on September 11. The lowest temperature before that was -33 degrees Celsius on August 31, 1931.

The frost seemed to spread across the entire area and could prove to be “Killer” this inhibits plant growth whether it is ready or not. Most of the corn in the area appears to be past the danger line and ready for the freeze, but much of the canning crop, sweet corn, could be damaged by it.

The creeping cold snap caught many gardeners by surprise and tomatoes and other common late-season vegetables must be harvested and “set up” to prevent spoilage.

The silage-like smell of plant juices, which is common on the morning after the first frost, was clearly noticeable in the morning air today.

Bill Fischer, manager of New Ulm Farmers Co-op Elevator, said this morning that corn will not be harmed by the freeze, but beans will be to some extent. How much damage will be done in terms of crop yield is difficult to say, he added.

Mike Weelborg, director of the Morgan Farmers Elevator, said this morning that farmers had been coming through and reporting heavy frost in most areas.

“I know the beans are frozen,” said Weelborg,“But the question is how bad the frozen corn is.”

He said much of the corn in that area was in the dent stage and that the frost could cause the crop to end up light and friable.

The later beans would definitely suffer and yields would drop drastically, he added.

The later beans will definitely be damaged and yields will drop drastically.

“I know it's frozen solid here, but I guess we'll just have to wait a day or so and see how bad the damage is.”

Weelborg pointed out that a devastating frost could cause serious problems for farmers in the region and represent a direct turnaround given the recent boom in agriculture.

New Ulm Daily Journal

3 September 1974