A high-pressure ridge is parked over Ireland this week and we are experiencing summer, finally! It is warm and sunny, dry and calm. I hope the sun will help raise the sugar content of the grapes for this will be the latest harvest by far.
Wednesday 18 September 2024
Saturday 14 September 2024
Time off for apples
It was a rainy and blustery morning, so we processed the apples we picked earlier in the week. We used the crusher destemmer and the hydropress, then bottled the juice and pasteurized it by heating it for 30 minutes at 85C. It is delicious!
Tuesday 10 September 2024
Just about done with the bagging
We are probably only about a week away from harvest and we are desperately bagging the Solaris grapes as they mature very quickly. It's surprising how fast they've come on. Intervals of rain alternating with intervals of sunshine have produced magic. But many of the Solaris bunches have only partial fruit with a lot of duds. I have to look up what caused that. I remember reading about it. There were no birds in evidence again suggesting that the kites are working. Let's hope because bagging is a pain in the arse.
 |
| Hens and chicks caused by cool weather during flowering. |
The Chardonnay have no fruit that I could detect but almost every vine of Pinot Noir does. However, they are so far from mature that I expect it would take another month to harvest them. We have a NW wind coming tonight and it will bring cold temps. Not conducive to grape ripening. Aside from that, the vines look like they are going to sleep already. Also not conducive. Oh well. Concept disproven for now.
Monday 2 September 2024
August by the numbers
August recorded some hefty numbers for rainfall, with 257.5 mm compared with the LTA of 132.5 mm. It didn't feel like it rained that much, but the Rondo grapes certainly responded with a growth spurt. The temperature averaged at only 14.9, below the LTA of 15.4 and well below the last three years, hence the lack of maturity in all the other grape varieties. The real standout is 41 days below 15.5C close to twice the LTA.
Meanwhile, the Atlantic remains quiet with no tropical storm activity for a prolonged period that has forecasters scratching their heads.
Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 01-sep-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 | 1.4 | 1064.3 | |||
| 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 | 15.1 | 11.0 | |||
| 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 | n/a | 10.8 | |||
| 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 | 877 | 268777 | |||
| 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 | 1.5 | 421.1 | |||
| 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 | 2.1 | 598.9 | |||
| 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 | N/A | N/A | 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 |
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.
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