October stats are in

Met Eireann has reported the complete figures for Newport through 31 Oct 2021. We got more rain in October than in any of the previous four years. Our air and soil temperature was warmer by far than any of the previous four years. Our annual averages are climbing steadily. We've had massive showers all day and a subtropical storm called Wanda has used up the last name of those established for the 2021 season and is wandering around the Atlantic west of the Azores.  

Today, COP 26 is underway to address the reversal of climate change. I'd say we are going to see accelerated change as we all talk about it for the 26th year in a row without doing anything about it. In fact, a new report issued by the WMA has indicated that sea-level rise has doubled in the past decade and extreme weather events can now be linked to human-induced change. 

 

MONTHLY VALUES FOR NEWPORT UP TO 31-OCT-2021

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2021	225.6	147.6	141.1	45.6	113.5	64.1	59.7	155.6	137.0	265.7	n/a		1355.5
2020	139.5	342.8	178.2	25.5	54.7	164.5	187.9	137.9	153.4	228.0	206.6	232.7	2051.7
2019	146.8	115.0	228.5	100.7	112.5	76.6	82.7	228.9	175.5	160.7	148.1	220.6	1796.6
2018	274.6	155.6	86.2	94.3	70.4	65.9	58.6	179.1	148.3	140.9	172.6	201.0	1647.5
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
2021	5.0	6.7	7.9	9.0	10.4	13.3	17.5	16.4	15.2	11.9	n/a		11.4
2020	7.2	6.0	6.6	11.0	12.8	13.8	14.4	16.0	13.8	10.5	9.1	6.1	10.6
2019	6.9	8.4	7.9	10.2	11.7	13.1	16.3	15.5	13.7	10.3	7.1	7.1	10.7
2018	5.9	4.6	5.5	9.1	13.1	16.1	16.1	15.0	12.4	10.9	8.3	8.1	10.5
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
2021	3.6	5.0	6.8	8.2	10.9	14.3	17.9	16.3	15.2	11.3	n/a		11.0
2020	5.7	4.7	5.4	9.7	13.0	14.8	14.9	16.3	13.7	9.5	8.0	5.1	10.1
2019	6.1	6.1	6.8	8.9	12.2	13.8	16.7	15.7	13.5	9.4	6.2	5.6	10.1
2018	4.4	2.9	4.0	8.2	13.1	17.4	18.4	15.1	12.1	9.6	6.6	6.6	9.9
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

Could the West coast drought be over?

https://twitter.com/i/status/1452473186012983297 

Torrential rains and high winds pummeled the west coast from Oregon to central California dumping record rainfall in an 'atmospheric river' causing flooding and massive problems. Sonoma and Santa Rosa counties had more than 7 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. Mt. Veeder had a whopping 10 inches of rain in 24 hours - most in #NapaValley according to the official tally. Record rainfall after record drought. Climate change is definitely here. The “bomb cyclone” is a rare meteorological event. 

I wonder what effect it will have on the vineyards. At least they had already harvested the grapes. 

One good thing, the #DixieFire has been declared 100% contained @ 963,309 acres.

Yosemite Falls roared back to life. 

But the drought ain't over yet. 

Happy July 4th!

Can you believe it's July? I still haven't taken out the kayak because it's been so cold. Yet the numbers show that our temperature average was, well, average. Yet I remember last year being so much warmer. The vines have grown but the flowers still have not opened. Last year, I noted bloom on July 8. We still have a few days to catch up. 

Our rainfall total for June is quite low again and significantly less than last year but similar to 2018. The truth is that the variability of our climate is increasing. Better than the record heat along the West coast of the states. 

I've noted that we have an extraordinary number of clusters so I have to learn how to reduce the number to improve the yield. It's always something. 

MONTHLY VALUES FOR NEWPORT UP TO 03-JUL-2021

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2021	225.6	147.6	141.1	45.6	113.5	64.1	9.0						746.5
2020	139.5	342.8	178.2	25.5	54.7	164.5	187.9	137.9	153.4	228.0	206.6	232.7	2051.7
2019	146.8	115.0	228.5	100.7	112.5	76.6	82.7	228.9	175.5	160.7	148.1	220.6	1796.6
2018	274.6	155.6	86.2	94.3	70.4	65.9	58.6	179.1	148.3	140.9	172.6	201.0	1647.5
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
2021	5.0	6.7	7.9	9.0	10.4	13.3	15.4						8.8
2020	7.2	6.0	6.6	11.0	12.8	13.8	14.4	16.0	13.8	10.5	9.1	6.1	10.6
2019	6.9	8.4	7.9	10.2	11.7	13.1	16.3	15.5	13.7	10.3	7.1	7.1	10.7
2018	5.9	4.6	5.5	9.1	13.1	16.1	16.1	15.0	12.4	10.9	8.3	8.1	10.5
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

Note on the orchard. The new peach tree has one set of leaves, the apples have very few apples, the cherries are shrivelling and dropping off (I think they have leaf curl fungus), one cherry is dying completely most likely due to canker and there are few crabapples and no plums. Only the pear tree is doing okay.

The peach tree in the greenhouse definitely has peach leaf curl and almost all the leaves are yellowing with a touch of red and curling before they fall off. That means Bordeaux mix treatment in the Autumn and no moving it into the polytunnel before then. Looks like the cherry trees and roses (which have had aphid infestation as well as black spot) will need Bordeaux mix as well.  

I think I should give up on gardening.