Almond trees originally come from the hot and dry climate of the Middle East and South Asia and thrive best in a Mediterranean climate, i.e. hot summers and mild winters, like in California. They do not adapt particularly well to other climatic conditions. Characteristic of a Mediterranean climate are winter rainfalls and distinctive dryness in the summer. And then there are droughts now and again, if the winter rain hardly falls or if it doesn’t rain at all, as was the case mainly in the south of California until the beginning of 2016. In January 2016 it then rained a good 70 litres per square metre in Los Angeles, and in the meantime, the water reservoirs are full to the brim again.
This year (2018), a different weather phenomenon could impact the almond harvest: In February, temperatures of below the freezing point were registered in the entire Central Valley. The extent to which that damaged the blossoming of the almond trees cannot be said yet. However, this frost is once again bringing home to us how all agriculture is dependent on the weather – worldwide!