Wacky weather - dry and hot!

We have had the most extraordinary weather throughout the month of May and now well into June that we have ever experienced here in Ireland. The figures for Newport show a very low figure for rainfall for Newport, the closest town to our location. There were at least two weeks straight with no rainfall at all. Extraordinary. We were watering the vegetable and flower gardens but not the vineyard. Grape vines are supposed to like dry and hot.



The hotter than normal temperatures, averaging 2 degrees above average but taking us well into the 20's on many days was also extraordinary. We had very little wind too. The solar radiation in May was what we'd normally experience in June and the soil temperature was almost 5 degrees higher than last year.

All of this seems to have been good for our grapes. The vines are growing like weeds, and the weeds are massive. It's hard to keep up. The trees seem to have doubled in size but then the leaves started dropping. Thankfully, we finally had rain, a heavy steady rain, for about 6 hours two days ago, and more last night. We haven't watered for the first time in weeks.

Last year was particularly bad weather wise, and this year's first half seems too good to be true. But yesterday, NOAA proclaimed that el Nino is dead and La Nina hasn't yet started but is expected to be here in the Fall. What that will mean, nobody knows for certain. But I surely hope this weather lasts until at least the end of summer. Our grapes seem to love it.

Monthly values for Newport up to 11-jun-2016 
Total rainfall in millimetres for Newport

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2016	192.6	237.6	142.2	103.4	60.2	22.5							758.5
2015	270.8	145.6	160.0	122.7	154.1	59.2	158.1	128.0	150.4	90.9	321.1	317.9	2078.8
2014	286.4	238.8	120.7	53.5	134.0	79.6	86.8	119.2	15.4	160.1	134.9	285.6	1715.0
2013	190.5	85.7	53.6	126.2	158.2	61.3	95.5	101.7	92.7	112.7	117.1	193.4	1388.6
mean	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
2016	6.2	5.7	7.4	7.8	12.6	17.2							8.6
2015	5.7	5.7	7.0	9.3	10.0	13.0	13.9	14.1	12.8	11.1	9.2	8.2	10.0
2014	6.0	5.8	7.7	10.8	11.9	14.8	16.3	14.2	14.6	11.3	7.9	6.7	10.7
2013	5.9	5.6	4.7	7.8	10.1	14.2	17.8	15.4	14.1	12.3	7.8	7.7	10.3
mean	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
2016	5.1	4.2	6.1	7.6	12.6	18.2							7.9
2015	4.0	3.9	5.2	8.5	10.3	13.7	14.5	14.1	12.3	10.0	8.3	6.9	9.3
2014	4.6	4.2	6.0	9.7	12.1	16.0	17.0	14.8	13.9	10.3	6.4	5.3	10.1
2013	4.6	4.1	3.7	6.9	10.6	15.1	18.8	16.2	13.5	11.4	6.5	6.1	9.8
mean	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
2016	5162	12069	25075	40612	53430	23585							159933
2015	5993	10428	24692	46940	42941	50809	41673	36932	27219	16513	6410	3220	313770
2014	6652	11807	22945	38809	42959	53357	44832	39756	28660	15280	7602	4282	316941
2013	5452	11362	19899	39911	47502	52477	59895	42308	24830	17416	8361	3808	333221
mean	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
2016	15.9	21.1	37.9	55.5	84.1	n/a							214.5
2015	17.8	16.8	37.2	62.6	62.4	77.4	69.0	60.2	44.3	28.1	20.6	21.0	517.4
2014	13.9	20.6	35.0	60.1	63.8	86.0	75.5	64.7	45.9	26.9	10.7	14.6	517.7
2013	11.7	20.6	32.5	56.9	63.7	84.8	100.4	67.8	44.5	30.2	16.2	20.8	550.1
mean	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
2016	20.9	29.7	54.5	83.4	120.4	n/a							308.9
2015	24.3	24.3	55.6	91.5	96.6	114.0	98.8	85.6	61.8	37.7	26.8	27.0	744.0
2014	18.7	29.2	51.2	86.2	95.1	120.9	105.1	91.7	62.4	37.3	14.4	19.0	731.2
2013	15.8	29.1	47.9	87.4	101.4	120.2	137.3	96.5	61.7	40.2	21.0	26.3	784.8
mean	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
2016	288	284	251	231	109	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2015	303	276	264	193	171	89	65	60	86	137	188	225	2057
2014	294	270	243	145	119	52	28	57	50	132	228	272	1891
2013	298	277	336	N/A	168	66	23	N/A	61	111	232	243	N/A

Note: Evaporation and PE data are calculated using Penman/Monteith formulae.All means are for the period 1981-2010. Data updated daily at Mid-day.

The donkeys are visitors for the summer. They like when I visit them and are always curious about the vineyard. It was so hot that they've been shedding their coats in big chunks. I love these guys. 

We'll see how the grapes manage through the rest of the season.