November Monthly climate figures

    

Sunset in Dublin 16:11 Friday 1 December 2023 (GMT)

At 209.6 mm our rainfall was not out of line for November, nor was our temperature. We had slightly lower soil temperature and above-average solar radiation. Nothing extraordinary though. 

We've had cold dry weather this week. It feels rather nice -- festive almost. At this time of year, the sun rises about a quarter after 8 and sets about a quarter after 4. That makes for a very short day. It will, of course, continue to get shorter until 21 Dec when it starts going the other way. I love the 22nd Dec! 

MONTHLY DATA - NEWPORT FURNACE

Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 30-nov-2023

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2023	183.2	91.6	188.4	121.1	48.5	77.9	206.8	139.8	142.4	144.7	209.6	n/a	1554.0
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
2021	225.6	147.6	141.1	45.6	113.5	64.1	59.7	155.6	137.0	265.7	183.3	186.6	1725.4
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
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
2023	6.6	8.0	7.6	9.9	13.3	17.4	14.9	15.8	15.2	11.9	8.7	n/a	11.8
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
2021	5.0	6.7	7.9	9.0	10.4	13.3	17.5	16.4	15.2	11.9	9.3	7.6	10.9
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
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
2023	5.2	6.8	6.6	9.1	13.7	18.6	16.3	16.3	14.7	11.1	7.6	n/a	11.5
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
2021	3.6	5.0	6.8	8.2	10.9	14.3	17.9	16.3	15.2	11.3	8.6	6.6	10.4
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
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
2023	6245	10639	21429	37277	55732	58473	41797	36857	29338	16225	8326	n/a	322338
2022	6311	10756	33399	40555	51569	47246	48439	51169	n/a	15988	7869	6167	319468
2021	6620	13347	20370	45694	55690	45488	49455	40490	22413	16358	7235	3780	326940
2020	6263	10808	24545	46192	58476	43537	40215	40555	25558	18487	6319	5209	326164
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
2023	14.3	20.9	33.0	56.4	83.3	100.6	70.1	64.4	50.1	26.1	14.2	n/a	533.4
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
2021	7.6	22.9	30.7	62.9	76.3	70.7	87.8	67.5	38.3	25.1	14.1	14.6	518.5
2020	17.6	21.9	35.0	70.2	91.6	72.9	66.2	66.4	42.7	28.1	13.6	10.4	536.6
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
2023	18.8	28.2	47.6	81.6	118.2	137.1	99.5	89.1	67.8	35.5	18.4	n/a	741.8
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
2021	10.9	32.1	45.4	89.9	111.2	102.0	117.2	93.5	52.1	34.7	18.6	19.1	726.7
2020	22.4	31.9	51.8	98.9	130.8	104.8	94.3	92.7	59.1	38.8	18.1	13.6	757.2
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

Degree Days Below 15.5 Degree Celsius for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2023	275	210	246	171	85	18	39	26	53	118	203	N/A	N/A
2022	256	234	235	171	97	63	30	28	N/A	103	185	320	N/A
2021	325	247	236	200	167	79	20	23	40	114	187	245	1883
2020	257	276	275	143	111	73	55	31	71	156	193	291	1935

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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.

Winter is here!

 

It's cold. Definitely cold. It's the time of year when we get awesome sunsets and sunrises if we are up to see them. The wine is settling well, the vines are asleep, and the question is, "It it winter now?" For those who wish to debate when winter is officially in place, I include a graphic shared by Carlow Weather. Going by the Celtic calendar, we have just entered Bealtaine. 

Old Vine Wines

Vintners just outside Los Angeles got together to tend an 18th century vine and return it to production. This year, they released the first wine made from its grapes harvested over the past four years. The Ramona vine, thought to be the oldest in America, is believed to have been planted in the 1770s as the Spanish Franciscans built their Mission St Gabriel. It is a hybrid of the indigenous Vitis Girdiana and the Mission brought from Spain. 

The winemakers studied old Mission records for clues as to how the monks made their wines. They decided to use the Solera system, which is used in Sherry production to blend wines across vintages. Older wines add depth and complexity, and younger must adds acidity and freshness. 

The resulting wine was named Angelica, and includes juice from the 2021, 2022, and 2023 vintages, combined with the initial wine from 2020.

But are old vines any good at producing fine wines? The oldest vine still producing wine is in Maribor in Slovenia and is believed to be 400 years old. What does it mean if you see ‘old vines’, ‘vieilles vignes’, or ‘viñas viejas’ on a wine label? 

Anecdotal evidence suggests that more established vines give a depth to wine that young vines don't. It's possible to make impressive wine with young vines, and there's a known 'virgin vintage' effect where the first crop from young vines is fantastic. The famous Stag's Leap 1973 that won the Judgement of Paris in 1976 was made from three-year-old vines. Typically, follow-on vintages are rarely so spectacular until the vine gets to be at least a decade old.

We have suffered from the same 'virgin vintage' effect. Our first two bottles of wine from the Rondo grapes were exceptional. The next two years were pitiful. We'll see what happens this year which was year 8. 

This is a great article about the age of vines and what happens to the wine. 

Last 8-hour day of the season

 

Sun in Dublin - Next 7 Days

2023	Sunrise/Sunset		Daylength		Solar Noon
Nov	Sunrise	Sunset	Length	Diff.	Time	Mil. km
28 Nov	08:12	16:13	8:01:13	−2:31	12:12 (15.4°)	147.593
29 Nov	08:13	16:12	7:58:47	−2:26	12:13 (15.2°)	147.568
30 Nov	08:15	16:11	7:56:25	−2:21	12:13 (15.1°)	147.543
1 Dec	08:16	16:10	7:54:08	−2:16	12:13 (14.9°)	147.519
2 Dec	08:18	16:10	7:51:56	−2:11	12:14 (14.8°)	147.496
3 Dec	08:19	16:09	7:49:50	−2:06	12:14 (14.6°)	147.473
4 Dec	08:21	16:08	7:47:50	−2:00	12:15 (14.5°)	147.452
* All times are local time for Dublin. They take into account refraction. Dates are based on the Gregorian calendar.