Storm Floris has passed

Our vineyard canopy

Alex spent all day yesterday tying up the vines so they wouldn't whip in the summer storm that passed through last night. He took a picture of the vineyard canopy from the top of the ladder when he was taking down the kites. He even had to tie up the baby Rondos because they had grown so much in the last week. Most of them have perfect grape clusters.

Baby Rondo vine

Our highest gusts occurred at approximately 4 am and reached 64.8 knots (~120 kph). A number of boats ended up on the shore at the sailing club in Rosmoney. The worst of the storm is hitting Scotland at the moment, with the CCA cruise fleet dispersed in various safe harbours. Gusts of 168 kph have been reported north of Tobermory. I'm glad we missed the worst of it. 

The wind is expected to continue steadily at approximately 40 kph out of the East for the next 16 hours here, after which we can anticipate a beautiful day tomorrow. Hurray! 

Meanwhile, there's an insane jet streak passing over us. This portion of the jet stream is moving at 315 kph, or an astonishing 195 mph, unheard of for August. It is directly fueling Storm Floris’ rapid intensification as it passes over Scotland today — where wind gusts on the surface could reach Category 1 hurricane intensity. The videos from Tobermory are scary, and our friends, the Sprucettes, are in their boat on a mooring in the harbour there. 

Scotland is taking a direct hit. Gusts of 50 to 70 mph are expected, even inland. Exposed coasts, hills and bridges could see gusts of 80 to 90mph, and some bridges have already been closed, trains and ferries cancelled. Some models have even suggested 100mph gusts, which were last seen during Storm Éowyn in January.