Temperatures this summer are expected to be higher than average, according to the National Weather Service.
There is a 40 percent chance of warmer than average temperatures across Western Pennsylvania this summer. But they may not seem as doom and gloom as expected. Grant Gulibon, Regulatory Affairs Specialist from the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, thinks it may help farmers fight against diseases, including the avian flu.
“The higher heat in the summer will suppress the spread of the virus. It will give our badly overworked lab technicians, producers, and other professionals who have been responding to HPAI a bit of a breather,” Gulibon said. “It’ll give them an opportunity to learn and incorporate the lessons of the last year of so.”
But no matter what, Gulibon believes farmers can withstand anything that comes their way.
“Farmers are the frontline environmentalists in the Commonwealth. We’ll be out there working and making sure to keep nutrients and sediments on our land, and out of our local waterways,” Guilbon said. “We keep those clean so that all of the industries and all of the recreation that depends on those are going to be protected.”
Forecasters can make these predictions based off of ocean temperatures and the average sea surface temperatures off the east coast.
