Figs - timing of maturing fruit

Until this year my figs have developed over a month or two in spring and early summer. Once they became nearly full size, all it would take to kick them into a rapid ripening mode was a bit of rain. This year, however, my trees are loaded with mostly full size figs that have virtually shut down and have shown no signs of thinking of ripening. I have little doubt that they will finish maturing and ripen sooner or later, but I'd be interested in why we have this strange difference. Could it be that our record setting rainfall so far this year is the culprit? That would make no sense to me, but it is the only difference I can think of
Any thoughts?

I don't know if it is the rain, we picked figs two days ago, and I see a lot of other folks doing the same. Record setting rains here, seems like yesterday was one of the few days in a long time it did not rain, raining again today!

Well..... The figs literally exploded into ripeness overnight about 2 date ago!

We have two fig trees, a store bought one and one that I started a few years ago from a cultivar that has been in these parts for generations, Miss Nell. She’s the main girl; the other is still a tyro.

Neither is acting the way they usually act. Both are loaded with green sizable fruit that seems to be waiting on a signal to go ahead and ripen.

It’s been an odd fruit year. First jump out of the chute, a late freeze got the plum and peach crops and Miss Nell’s first crop. She usually produces two crops per year, an early crop with a large less tasty fruit, though good enough, and a late crop with a smaller, but big enough, very sweet fruit. Foliage on both looks healthy. Miss Nell is presently bearing a fruit load heavier than I’ve ever seen her bear before.

I hope that what happened at Cym’s place happens here. We’re forecasted to have some serious heat for the next few days. Maybe that’ll jump-start it.

Even the jaybirds have a puzzled look.

This is a REALLY interesting thread to me. I left my NC home, the one with 6 or 7 bearing fig trees on July 7th and drove to my 2nd home in FL. All the trees had more [green] figs than ever before. I will return to the NC home on Aug. 11 and expect to have all the ripe figs my dog and I can possibly eat.

I guess I'd better look up recipes to make fig preserves before I go back.

Paul