Storm will bring Fresno County Blossom Trail to life

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A good storm is just what fruit trees on the Fresno County Blossom Trail need. The buds were ready to break on peach, plum and nectarine trees. In a few weeks we'll enjoy the burst of color.

Farmers had their eyes on the skies as they await the expected downpour.

Blueberry grower Mark Sorensen said, "Actually it's pretty good timing because there aren't a lot of blossoms out yet so this won't really affect those crops but as we know we can certainly use the water."

The Blossom Trail officially kicked off at Simonian Fruit Company in Fowler. After three years of drought, the Ag industry was ready for change.

Jeff Simonian of Simonian Fruit Company said, "It's tough. It's tough. This year still we're still a little nervous about what's going to take place with the water situation so we need all the rain we can get. We hope it's a big storm."

Three or four more similar storms were on the wish list of local growers. But at this point they'll take what they can get.

Fresno County Ag Commissioner Les Wright said, "It looks like it's going to hit heavier in the north. If it hits the big reservoirs it will benefit us. Hopefully we'll get some here. We've been three years in the rangeland without any green out there. It's beautiful and green out there this and we need a little more rain to keep it going."

Some very early varieties had already started to push out blossoms but the Blossom Trail won't be in full bloom until the end of the month.