Showing posts with label temperature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label temperature. Show all posts

Tuesday 2 November 2021

Hotter, wetter and more extremes

Pinot Noir year 2 looking good

How climate change is forecast to impact Ireland ...

Senior Met Eireann climatologist Keith Lambkin told the Irish Times that the average temperature in the State has increased by about one degree C over the last 120 years. By 2050, we are to get slightly more rain but in patterns that differ from today. Honestly, they already differ from when I first started coming here 20+ years ago. We are to get wetter Autumn and Winter and drier summers. Moreover, the rain will fall in heavier amounts rather than in the showers alternating with sunshine that we used to get. It's why we're associated with so many rainbows. 

There always have been severe weather events and always will be. But the UN's WMO issued a report in concert with COP 26 which indicates that the events are becoming more extreme and are clearly associated with man's actions. To better predict these events the WMO is launching the Global Basic Observation Network, strategically placed in areas that do not currently have extensive meteorological observation capacity. 

Today, the cold arrived and it is certainly wet up in the field. The donkeys were complaining so I brought them carrots. They complained even more loudly. What a difference a day makes. The leaves have started dropping quickly. Autumn is clearly here.  The days are getting noticeably shorter. And daylight savings time has confused my sleep-wake cycle. Now I count the days until December 21. 

We worked in the vineyard again, tying up vines, clearing grass and removing plastic ties. I got the Pinot Noir row done. The vines are looking really good for the most part. A few are weaker, some are more robust, but overall they are doing great, much better than the Albarino planted at the same time.


Yesterday I made grape juice from the remaining white grapes at Ross House. It's delicious without even adding sugar, the grapes were so sweet. Our wine continues to bubble away, so I am hopeful. 

And just for the heck of it, yesterday's delicious chicken pot pie with oyster mushrooms I grew in a mail-order kit. It's always something.




Monday 1 November 2021

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

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
2021225.6147.6141.145.6113.564.159.7155.6137.0265.7n/a1355.5
2020139.5342.8178.225.554.7164.5187.9137.9153.4228.0206.6232.72051.7
2019146.8115.0228.5100.7112.576.682.7228.9175.5160.7148.1220.61796.6
2018274.6155.686.294.370.465.958.6179.1148.3140.9172.6201.01647.5
LTA166.7126.5141.296.894.789.7100.9132.5131.5176.0170.4180.21607.1

Mean temperature in degrees Celsius for NEWPORT

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
20215.06.77.99.010.413.317.516.415.211.9n/a11.4
20207.26.06.611.012.813.814.416.013.810.59.16.110.6
20196.98.47.910.211.713.116.315.513.710.37.17.110.7
20185.94.65.59.113.116.116.115.012.410.98.38.110.5
LTA6.16.17.39.011.513.815.415.413.510.88.36.510.3

Mean 10cm soil temperature for NEWPORT at 0900 UTC

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
20213.65.06.88.210.914.317.916.315.211.3n/a11.0
20205.74.75.49.713.014.814.916.313.79.58.05.110.1
20196.16.16.88.912.213.816.715.713.59.46.25.610.1
20184.42.94.08.213.117.418.415.112.19.66.66.69.9
LTAn/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a

Sunday 4 July 2021

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

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
2021225.6147.6141.145.6113.564.19.0746.5
2020139.5342.8178.225.554.7164.5187.9137.9153.4228.0206.6232.72051.7
2019146.8115.0228.5100.7112.576.682.7228.9175.5160.7148.1220.61796.6
2018274.6155.686.294.370.465.958.6179.1148.3140.9172.6201.01647.5
LTA166.7126.5141.296.894.789.7100.9132.5131.5176.0170.4180.21607.1

Mean temperature in degrees Celsius for NEWPORT

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
20215.06.77.99.010.413.315.48.8
20207.26.06.611.012.813.814.416.013.810.59.16.110.6
20196.98.47.910.211.713.116.315.513.710.37.17.110.7
20185.94.65.59.113.116.116.115.012.410.98.38.110.5
LTA6.16.17.39.011.513.815.415.413.510.88.36.510.3


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.