Bitter cold

 

The bitter cold continues. Northern counties got snow. We got a dusting. Croagh Patrick has a white cap. The south is preparing for a major snowfall tonight but we are expected to be fine. The cold is to continue through Friday. Saturday and Sunday and into Monday we are expecting a gale with 50 knot gusts but it will warm up a tad. 

Today, I released two robins from the polytunnel. The poor birds had been there since Monday, when Alex left the door open for ventilation. Lucky for them there are plenty of slugs in the soil and they crawl out at night to eat my lettuce. Hopefully, they will have taken care of a few in their two days of captivity. 

Fun fact: Humans invented alcohol long before they invented the wheel. Although alcohol comes in multiple forms, only ethanol can be safely consumed. 

Arctic blast

We went from 8.0-11.8C on Saturday to 1.2-8.0C degrees yesterday. Today, it's been 2C all day. It's frigid and raw, but the sun came out in the afternoon. The Nephin range was topped with snow mid-day but Croagh Patrick has just a dusting. They say it is snowing properly in Laois and in the North. Maybe because it's such a sudden transition, but it feels colder than we've had in years. Big reset for the environment.

The last of the mild weather

 

The Pinot Noir did not mature. As today is the last of the mild weather, the crop is a failure. The roses are still magnificent and grew about 10 feet tall. The cats are being loving and cuddly as we walk the fields inspecting.

The hay shed for the donkeys is almost done. The digger for the donkey shed is coming this week. It's about time. They are not going to like the coming weather. 

Arctic blast on its way

We've had very mild weather through the first two weeks of November, and only 5.6 mm rain. But that's about to change. A low pressure system will be coming through Monday and it will be very wet, pretty windy, and followed by a cold snap for the rest of the week. It's already cold today compared with what it has been. Through the 15th of November, our average temperature has been 11.8C, exactly what it averaged in October. It was a dark couple of weeks and our solar radiation was very low, producing little electricity from the sunlight.  I have not checked the Pinot Noir vines this week. I'll go up tomorrow and see if there's been any progress, but I doubt it. Not enough light to complement the warmth. 

We're in that time of year when we get beautiful sunsets and we're awake to see them at 4:30 pm. Today we also have the Super Beaver Moon causing astronomically high tides. It was too dark to go out and see as the moon had not risen yet. But we'll have the same in the morning. 

It's a good thing that it will get cold this week as the wasps have still been active and attacking the beehives. Lots of other insects milling about so I am hoping to get a bit of a correction there. Met Eireann is predicting snow and sleet in the hills of the North. I wonder if we'll see a white Croagh Patrick this week. I don't think we saw one day of that last year.

The darkness seems more abrupt and more disturbing this year. 

New US dietary guidelines due in 2025

As we await the release of the revised U.S. dietary guidelines early in 2025, Dr. Laura Catena, vintner and medical doctor, argues recent anti-alcohol messaging is informed by inconclusive science and prohibitionist ideology. In fact, some of the newer studies upon which the WHO proclamation that "no amount of alcohol consumption is safe" were based, were later shown to be conducted by conservative scientists backed by conservative sponsors. 

With the US Republican victory and highly conservative stance on many issues, increased scrutiny of alcohol guidelines is likely, especially given that repeat president Trump is a teetotaler. 

Dr Catena has created an online resource to debunk the misinformation about alcohol with emphasis on wine called In defence of wine. Dr. Catena is a Harvard- and Stanford-trained biologist and physician, author, fourth-generation vintner, and the founder of the Catena Institute of Wine. Dr. Catena was a practising emergency physician in California for 27 years and is now managing director of her family winery in Mendoza, Argentina. She is one of my heroes. 

Migrant workers are key to food and wine security

Donald Trump won a second presidential term and has vowed to deport all illegal migrants. But he doesn't realise that they are essential to the production of food and especially for the harvest of grapes. We know the US has a flawed immigration system. Inside that flawed immigration system are millions of undocumented workers and a verification program that few use. 

A computer-based federal program called E-Verify enables prospective employers to spot and reject unauthorized immigrants seeking jobs. Yet, few use it according to the LA Times. In California, only about 16% of employer establishments are enrolled in E-Verify, which is lower than the national figure of 27%. The program’s low use reflects the reality that many businesses rely on undocumented immigrants. The broader economy will suffer without them, as unemployment is so low that there just aren't enough willing to do the lowest-paying jobs. 

October did not feel normal

The figures are in for October, except for being a degree warmer than the LTA, everything else was pretty average. The total rainfall was reportedly less than the LTA but it certainly didn't feel that way. We had our first named storm of the winter while hurricanes are still forming in the Atlantic. Subtropical Storm Patty formed 400 miles west of the Azores and passed over those islands before heading to the Iberian peninsula, which suffered catastrophic flooding with weird weather events. 

We finally got a weather window this week to bring our boat to Kilrush. She rode out Storm Ashley on her mooring. When we saw several days of settled weather, we took the plunge to get her to safety for the winter. With stops in Bofin and Kilronan, we rode the tides into the Shannon in weird calm, foggy, drizzly, mild conditions. And that pattern is to continue now for at least another week. It is so dark and dreary and the clock change didn't help. I never noticed before how dramatically the Global Solar Radiation drops off from September to October, from 31451 Joules/cm2 to 16628. Wow. It's why we needed 3 days for the trip to Kilrush. There's not enough daylight to do it in two without arriving after dark. 

The pattern for degree days below 15.5C is weird, too. Our summer was much cooler overall than previous years which could help explain the poor harvest. Well our solar panels are certainly not producing much electricity right now. 

Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 02-nov-2024

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2024	125.7	197.5	152.5	119.4	48.8	80.7	80.8	257.5	44.1	150.7	0.0		1257.7
2023	183.2	91.6	188.4	121.1	48.5	77.9	206.8	139.8	142.4	144.7	209.6	293.8	1847.8
2022	98.8	260.4	67.8	84.0	107.0	148.0	59.2	104.1	97.3	233.9	187.5	154.6	1602.6
2021	225.6	147.6	141.1	45.6	113.5	64.1	59.7	155.6	137.0	265.7	183.3	186.6	1725.4
LTA	166.7	126.5	141.2	96.8	94.7	89.7	100.9	132.5	131.5	176.0	170.4	180.2	1607.1

Mean temperature in degrees Celsius for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2024	6.1	7.9	7.9	9.9	13.1	12.9	14.9	14.9	13.6	11.8	12.1		11.3
2023	6.6	8.0	7.6	9.9	13.3	17.4	14.9	15.8	15.2	11.9	8.7	7.9	11.4
2022	7.2	7.1	8.0	9.9	12.6	13.8	15.9	16.2	n/a	12.2	9.4	5.2	10.7
2021	5.0	6.7	7.9	9.0	10.4	13.3	17.5	16.4	15.2	11.9	9.3	7.6	10.9
LTA	6.1	6.1	7.3	9.0	11.5	13.8	15.4	15.4	13.5	10.8	8.3	6.5	10.3

Mean 10cm soil temperature for NEWPORT at 0900 UTC

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2024	4.2	6.5	6.5	9.5	13.6	14.4	15.8	15.4	13.7	11.2	n/a		11.1
2023	5.2	6.8	6.6	9.1	13.7	18.6	16.3	16.3	14.7	11.1	7.6	6.7	11.1
2022	6.2	6.2	6.3	9.3	13.2	14.8	16.8	16.6	n/a	11.5	8.4	4.4	10.4
2021	3.6	5.0	6.8	8.2	10.9	14.3	17.9	16.3	15.2	11.3	8.6	6.6	10.4
LTA	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Global Solar Radiation in Joules/cm2 for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2024	7248	12401	23032	39685	47333	50366	49632	38203	31451	16628	339		316318
2023	6245	10639	21429	37277	55732	58473	41797	36857	29338	16225	8326	4411	326749
2022	6311	10756	33399	40555	51569	47246	48439	51169	n/a	15988	7869	6167	319468
2021	6620	13347	20370	45694	55690	45488	49455	40490	22413	16358	7235	3780	326940
LTA	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Potential Evapotranspiration (mm) for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2024	15.4	18.2	36.0	56.9	74.7	76.7	80.9	60.8	49.0	27.6	1.3		497.5
2023	14.3	20.9	33.0	56.4	83.3	100.6	70.1	64.4	50.1	26.1	14.2	14.7	548.1
2022	13.7	23.0	47.2	60.6	77.7	76.0	80.4	82.0	n/a	27.2	17.2	9.2	514.2
2021	7.6	22.9	30.7	62.9	76.3	70.7	87.8	67.5	38.3	25.1	14.1	14.6	518.5
LTA	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Evaporation (mm) for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2024	20.2	25.4	51.9	83.7	104.9	109.8	112.6	88.3	67.8	37.5	1.6		703.7
2023	18.8	28.2	47.6	81.6	118.2	137.1	99.5	89.1	67.8	35.5	18.4	19.0	760.8
2022	17.9	32.4	66.5	86.8	114.5	109.2	111.1	113.2	n/a	37.0	22.0	11.4	722.0
2021	10.9	32.1	45.4	89.9	111.2	102.0	117.2	93.5	52.1	34.7	18.6	19.1	726.7
LTA	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Degree Days Below 15.5 Degree Celsius for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2024	293	221	234	169	91	89	45	41	77	117	N/A	N/A	N/A
2023	275	210	246	171	85	18	39	26	53	118	203	237	1681
2022	256	234	235	171	97	63	30	28	N/A	103	185	320	N/A
2021	325	247	236	200	167	79	20	23	40	114	187	245	1883

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Notes on the Data

Evaporation and PE data are calculated using Penman/Monteith formulae.
The ‘LTA’ (referred to within a table) is average for the climatological long-term-average (LTA) reference period 1981-2010.
Data updated daily at Mid-day.
To view the Weather Events for Public Works Contracts data, select a station first, then click the link just below the map.