Area vineyards spared damage from hailstorm

The brief hailstorm that washed over parts of Sonoma County Tuesday does not appear to have harmed spring growth at area vineyards.

Grapegrowers in the Russian River, Dry Creek and Sonoma valleys said their vines escaped any damage from the pea-sized hail which came down for about 10 minutes around 4:30 p.m.

“I was out in the vineyard this morning and didn't see anything (of concern),” said Mike Brunson, vice president and winemaker at Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate in Dry Creek Valley.

Storms longer than 20 minutes or hail the size of marbles can cause leaf damage or knock new shoots off of vines, said Nick Frey, president of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission

“But I haven't heard of any grower that experienced that,” he said.

Tuesday's hailstorm was caused by the collision of a cold storm front moving down from the Gulf of Alaska and warm springtime ground temperatures, said Steve Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey.

In the Midwest, such weather patterns can cause thunderstorms with golf-ball sized hail and tornados, he said.

Typically, pea-sized hail “is about all we get out here on the West Coast,” Anderson said.

Along with the hail, parts of Sonoma County received between a half inch to one inch of rain Tuesday, Anderson said.