– Rain: Week 3 back at the farm brought an accumulated rainfall of 42.6 mm (1.7 inches), of which 38 mm (1.5 inches) fell in one single day! The remainder of the week was dry or with very light drizzles.
– Temperature: Air and soil temperatures decreased this week. The minimum reached 22.8°C (73°F) and the average 25.4°C (77.8°F) – 1.3°C lower than prior week. The soil temperature reached 25.4°C (77.8°F) – 0.7°C lower than prior week. Relative humidity decreased to 72.1%, an unusually low level in the tropics! Solar radiation was highly variable with days of intense brightness and days of medium to very low intensity and high cloudiness. Specifically, Thursday and Friday were very dark and cold during the day and night.
– Observations: The announced cold front did materialize during the middle of week 3. While the onset of an NDF event is difficult to predict with certainty, we suspect that conditions during week 3 may have stressed plants with two days of the week overcast and rainy. During this period the difference between the maximum and minimum temperature was small and both the day and the night were cold. The stress level could have been enough to cause an event.