Wind damage has driven down Washington’s apple crop estimate while smoky Northwest skies have delayed harvest, industry officials said.

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Several growers in the Wapato, Washington, area are beginning to harvest their Buckeye Gala apples on August 25, 2017. (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower)on August 25, 2017. (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower) Washington apple growers expect another 134 million box crop

Weather conditions have cut the expected apple volume, first estimated at 134 million 40-pound boxes in early August, by 5 percent to 10 percent, the Washington Apple Commission said in a news release Sept. 15.

Tree fruit crop estimates routinely fluctuate as the harvest season progresses anyway. This year, a severe windstorm over Labor Day weekend knocked apples off their branches and damaged trellis systems, while wind-fueled wildfires throughout the Pacific Northwest have delayed harvest in some areas.

Washington produces about 65 percent of the nation’s fresh apples.

—by Ross Courtney