We were finally able to move back into our house in December. All new windows and doors, new paint inside and covings installed. It's lovely. The rugs were taken out for cleaning and returned on the 30th. As of today, New Year's Day, it's liveable. Finally. Cleaning the dust was a formidable task and will undoubtedly continue for a long time to come as the dust settles.
Naturally, December proved to be a crazy, busy time. We had the last of the grapevine workshops at Turlough House on the 6th. We had the ICC Christmas lunch in Sligo on the 13th. We both had eye exams that week. Alex's WhyNot Christmas gathering was on the 18th, the AGM for the Quay Village was on the 19th, and we were flying out to Germany on the 21st. We'd be gone for 8 days until the 28th. Naturally, nothing was done in the vineyard or gardens since September, when the upheaval began.
We booked our first Airbnb over the New Year -- a family with a toddler and baby. The cleaner decided it would cost €2000 to deep clean 55 Fairways, so I took it on myself. One room a day for 9 days. Toothbrush in hand and cleaners galore. I finished before we left for Germany. The renters are thrilled and have asked to stay an extra day. Phew, Airbnb challenge aced. We have two more bookings already. One in January and one in April. Woohoo.
Meanwhile, we moved our stuff back to Ross from 22 Quay Village and settled into our renewed home. There were a few details to tackle still, like the library and rugs. Wreaths for three houses, and fake Christmas trees were distributed, one for each house. Packing for a road trip through Germany at the same time.
We were to visit Angela and Illiana Dingle-Padberg first at the Forest House, then we'd drive to east of Hamburg to Florian and Celine's country home, and last, we'd visit Axel and Svenya near Bremen. Sadly, Axel passed away that Monday. We stopped in to see Svenya and the boys, which was important. Christmas was lovely with Celine, Florian and their daughters -- Ciara, Josepha, and Emma.
Luckily, our flights were all good. When we got to Dublin, we had to slow charge Selkie, which had 14% left on her battery. While we had lunch, we learned that Alex's stepsister, Aileen, had fallen, cracked her skull, and had 4 brain bleeds. No visit to Aileen and Sheila in Dun Laoghaire as had been planned for the return trip. We found a fast charger at an Applegreen in the suburbs of the airport after a harrowing experience trying to find the chargers at the Mall. (Note to self: avoid malls after Christmas, especially if you're looking for chargers.) We stopped in Kinnegad (will never stop anywhere else en route to Dublin) to top up.
Needless to say, we haven't done anything in the vineyard in ages, but are prepared to start pruning later this month. The workshop on winter pruning helped. The weather has finally found a stable pattern for this week. The flu is making its rounds, but we've managed to avoid it all so far. Thank God.
Despite the start, December ended much drier than normal and somewhat cooler than recent years. The soil temperature was, however, warmer than the LTA and prior years. Curious. This week is supposed to be cold and frosty, but we'll see. Alex is off to Achill with his buddies this weekend. So, where do I want to spend my Saturday night? So many choices. Will probably end up turning over the rental property. I need to get a life.
Welcome 2026. That sounds so science fiction. No way am I living in 2026.
Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 31-dec-2025
Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -999 | n/a | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 105.0 | 112.4 | 59.3 | 102.8 | 88.2 | 153.8 | 130.0 | 148.2 | 214.9 | 186.4 | 207.8 | 164.2 | 1673.0 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -999 | n/a | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 6.0 | 7.1 | 8.9 | 11.6 | 14.0 | 14.9 | 16.5 | 16.7 | 13.3 | 11.7 | 8.8 | 7.6 | 11.5 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | n/a | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 5.1 | 6.0 | 8.1 | 10.9 | 15.4 | 16.3 | 17.8 | 17.5 | 13.9 | 12.1 | 8.9 | 6.9 | 11.6 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -999 | n/a | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 7308 | 11955 | 25430 | 44615 | 64505 | 45465 | 47402 | 38468 | 29164 | 11727 | 7736 | 4441 | 338216 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -999 | n/a | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 12.9 | 22.0 | 39.5 | 70.1 | 100.3 | 76.4 | 80.3 | 68.6 | 45.4 | 28.0 | 13.9 | 15.1 | 572.5 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -999 | n/a | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 17.1 | 30.5 | 55.3 | 97.0 | 139.0 | 107.8 | 110.6 | 94.7 | 64.1 | 37.1 | 18.2 | 18.6 | 790.0 |
| 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 |
| 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 | 82 | 49 | 23 | 21 | 76 | 121 | 201 | 246 | 1685 |
| 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 |
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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