A substantial snow layer has protected Ukrainian and Russian winter crops from severe frosts which came this weekend, analyst and weather forecasters said on Tuesday. Temperatures in most Ukrainian regions fell substantially to 13-20 degrees Celsius (55.4-68?F) below zero in the last four days, but at the same time, snowfalls occurred across the country.
"Temperatures at the tillering node depth did not drop to critical values because snow cover is thick enough to protect winter cereals," analyst UkrAgroConsult said in a statement, adding that the average height of snow cover ranges from 5-15 cm to 25-30 cm, depending on the region. The consultancy last week said that an expected sharp fall in temperatures could damage the country's winter grain crops because of a lack of snow cover on the fields.
In Russia's Central region the temperature fell to up to minus 39 degrees, but a snow layer of more than 50 cm (20 inches) prevented any crop damage, weather forecasters said. "So far there is no reason to say that the frost could have damaged winter crops. We believe that there were satisfactory conditions for crops," said Anna Strashnaya, head of the agricultural department at state weather forecaster Hydrometcentre.