Winter Injury

This post is an update on grapevine winter injury following an historic cold temperature streak in January 2026. 

By: Amaya Atucha, Professor, University of Wisconsin Madison

As we enter the winter season, many growers are once again thinking about the risk of cold injury to grapevines. With increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, including warm spells followed by abrupt cold snaps, it often feels like we are always on alert for potential damage. During the dormant season, freeze injury to buds remains the number one concern, as even the hardiest cultivars can be vulnerable when temperatures fall below their level of cold hardiness.

By: Maria Smith, HCS-OSU

While we anticipate yet another round of arctic air here in Ohio this coming week, we are forecast to be well-above the temperatures we achieved just a few weeks ago (>0F) and not expecting compounding injury from January.

By: Maria Smith and Imed Dami, HCS-OSU

It is no surprise to anyone who has been out in the vineyard pruning that hydraulic pressurization and sap flow (“bleeding”) from pruning wounds has been seen earlier than normal due to the above average temperatures over March (Fig 1, photo).

By: Imed Dami, Diane Kinney, and Megan Soehnlen, HCS-OSU