25C and sunny

 

It's hot and sunny with a gentle breeze. 25C is about 77F, but it feels more like 80s in the sun. We are the warmest spot in the country. No rain in the forecast until Friday. The vines are fine so far, but everything else needs watering daily. Several places have alerts for water conservation, but not us yet. 

We went to our second 'Heard it through the Grapevine' session with Andrew, the gardener at Turlough House. It was beneficial, and we learned a lot about this stage of pruning. We cut back tendrils, removed weak and non-productive branches, and shortened the length of new growth to several leaves after the bunches of grapes. On some of the grape bunches, we removed the shoulder batch -- the last batch at the top of the bunch, which is always behind the rest in development. It's a survival mechanism. They hold back development in case some catastrophe befalls the main bunch. There will then still be some fruit produced later than normal. Removing that batch strengthens the rest and makes them grow bigger. 

Old vine before pruning

Old vine after pruning

All in all, it's been a fun pastime.

25-26C in our neck of the woods

No clouds, no rain, more of the same

 

The new gates are up, the hedgerow is planted and watered, and the fence is in place. Alex has started reducing the number of bunches and nipping the buds. I'm just wandering around. We have our next session of the pruning workshop at Turlough House on Saturday. 

Still no rain and there's no rain, no clouds, no wind in the forecast for at least the next week. Looks like it's time to get the kayak in the water. 

Warm and sunny again

 

According to Met Éireann's climate report, we've had only 0.8 mm of rain in May so far. The temperature, at an average of 12.8°c, has been higher than the long-term average but lower than the prior two years, despite feeling hotter. Shorts, T-shirts and sandals are the deal this week. 

We walked the vineyard and the land with Cormac and Louise, our nephew and his partner, yesterday and explained a lot of what's going on. They are very interested in helping with the vineyard work. They've just returned from a sabbatical trip around the world. They'll be away for another 6 weeks in Spain and France and then back to work. It's nice to know they have an interest. 

The sloe hedge is planted and the new fence and gates erected. Another fruit to add to the collection. 

More fine weather

 

Today was a perfect day. Not too hot, not too cold, not too sunny, not too wet, not too windy, not too anything. Just right! Alex spent the day rehanging gates and finishing the planting of the new blackthorn hedge. I hope we have lots of sloes for sloe gin. Another concoction to add to our collection. So far we have white wine, red wine, apple cider, mead, and now sloes. I also made elderflower cordial and apple juice for the nonalcoholic crowd. 

The vineyard is coming along great despite the lack of rain. As Alex was digging, six inches down was moist. We are fortunate in that regard. The groundwater table is quite high here. 

I spent the day pulling weeds, cutting back the NZ flax, and transporting and watering plants in between doing laundry, which I do every Monday. I also took the time to walk the land with Mini and Ghostie in tow. Mini talked the entire time and Ghostie had the zoomies all the way. I'm so glad those two have forged an unusual May-Sep kitty bond. 

Our 'fine' weather continues

 

It's the 9th of May and we still have 0.0 mm of rain to date with none forecast for days to come. At least today we have some clouds, and Met Éireann said some places in the Northwest may get showers. So far, nada. 

The vines look good despite the lack of rain, and the inflorescence is progressing, but the buds have not yet flowered. In contrast, Vanessa in the polytunnel already has grapes forming. It has been in the 40s in the polytunnel and very hard to work in there. 

Paeder and Liam, our new donkey boys, pals for Bruce, arrived today. They were abandoned and found with hooves that had curled up dramatically, but likely not abused. They are said to have very gentle demeanour. They are smaller than Ursula, which is great. It will take time for everyone to get used to each other, us included. The family is now complete. 

And we have a new Pope. Pope Leo, an Augustinian born in Chicago and lived in Peru for many years of which he is a citizen as well, is the first American Pope. The Conclave lasted only two days. There is hope in the world again. We'll make wine in his honour this year. But it's hard to accept that I am older than the Pope, as traditionally they have been ancient. 

Monthly data for April

Met Eireann's monthly summary for Newport Furnace, our closest weather station, shows that, despite our prolonged period with lack of rain in April, we ended the month just ahead of the long term average (LTA). Now here we are on the 5th of May with absolutely no rain so far (0.0 mm) and no rain in the forseeable forecast. Are we still in Ireland or have we been transported to some exotic land of sun?

Our mean air temperature was a degree lower than the LTA but our soil temperature was a degree higher, presumably as a result of the sun's warming effect. Solar radiation was way up there and our degree days below 15.5 was way down. So what does this mean for the vines? Are they confused?  

It seems everything is blooming profusely all at once. Naturally, allergies are off the charts. What does this change of pattern mean?  Will it stay with us or keep changing every year?

 Monthly Data - Newport Furnace

Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 04-may-2025

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2025	105.0	112.4	59.3	102.8	0.0								379.5
2024	125.7	197.5	152.5	119.4	48.8	80.7	80.8	257.5	44.1	150.7	143.3	173.7	1574.7
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
LTA	166.4	146.6	129.0	98.0	99.2	93.5	111.6	133.0	131.8	153.9	180.9	190.7	1634.6

Mean temperature in degrees Celsius for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2025	6.0	7.1	8.9	11.6	11.3								8.5
2024	6.1	7.9	7.9	9.9	13.1	12.9	14.9	14.9	13.6	11.8	9.2	8.2	10.9
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
LTA	6.3	6.4	7.5	9.5	12.0	14.2	15.5	15.5	13.8	11.1	8.5	6.7	10.6

Mean 10cm soil temperature for NEWPORT at 0900 UTC

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2025	5.1	6.0	8.1	10.9	n/a								7.5
2024	4.2	6.5	6.5	9.5	13.6	14.4	15.8	15.4	13.7	11.2	8.9	7.2	10.6
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
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
2025	7308	11955	25430	44615	8558								97866
2024	7248	12401	23032	39685	47333	50366	49632	38203	31451	16628	6586	4121	326686
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
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
2025	12.9	22.0	39.5	70.1	11.5								156.0
2024	15.4	18.2	36.0	56.9	74.7	76.7	80.9	60.8	49.0	27.6	14.2	15.6	526.0
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
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
2025	17.1	30.5	55.3	97.0	16.4								216.3
2024	20.2	25.4	51.9	83.7	104.9	109.8	112.6	88.3	67.8	37.5	18.4	20.0	740.5
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
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
2025	294	235	205	132	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2024	293	221	234	169	91	89	45	41	77	117	191	228	1796
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

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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.

Open data