(Wines&Vines) - It’s starting out as the Mark Twain vintage in the Northwest, where reports of vineyard damage seem to be greatly exaggerated—not unlike the famed humorist’s death.

Hail-battered blooms and frost-damaged buds are low on the list of growers’ worries as the 2015 season moves toward fruit set, with the long-term forecast calling for dry weather and an above-average crop.

This isn’t to say the past two weeks of storms from Lake Chelan to the Willamette Valley haven’t set growers on edge, coming on the heels of widespread reports of frost damage in vineyards across Oregon and southern Washington state.

Clive Kaiser, extension horticulturist in Umatilla County-Milton Freewater, reported in an update issued by the Oregon Wine Research Institute that a cold snap in November 2014 had resulted in significant bud damage in the Walla Walla Valley.  

Similarly, Steve Castagnoli, Kaiser’s counterpart in Hood River, reported “spotty cold damage” in low-lying areas and among certain cultivars.

The stormy blast consequently put growers on notice, with Richard Funk of Saviah Cellars, north of Milton-Freewater on the Washington side of the state line, lending his “full attention” to the effects of a storm that blew through Eastern Washington this past weekend.

“We have had issues over the years with hail damage,” he told Wines & Vines. “Thankfully, the storm that moved through the valley (May 31) did not beat up our vineyard blocks, except a small fraction of leaves and shoots in the hardest hit area.”