Climate madness

NOAA has predicted an active North Atlantic hurricane season ten days before its official start. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov 30. The current outlook predicts a 60% chance of an "above-normal" hurricane season, with between 13 to 19 named storms. Six to 10 of those are expected to strengthen into hurricanes, and three to five could become major hurricanes, according to the forecasters. They estimated a 30% chance of a "near-normal" season and a 10% chance of a "below-normal" season. They held their news conference in New Orleans to commemorate the 20 year anniversary of Katrina's landfall there.

Continued ENSO-neutral conditions, warmer than average ocean temperatures, forecasts for weak wind shear, and the potential for higher activity from the West African Monsoon, a primary starting point for Atlantic hurricanes, all tend to favour tropical storm formation. And we are getting very close ... the two-year running average for the global surface temperature anomaly is now 1.599°C above the 1850-1900 baseline. Sea ice is tracking at the same level as last year. 

Rain, finally!

A gentle rain has started to quench the parched earth. You can sense a collective sigh of relief by all living things. It's a nice steady rain that will have a chance to soak in. The best kind. 

The dust, cobwebs and pollen are washing away. The moss will soon be turning green again. Perhaps the flowers on the vines will open and the wind due tomorrow will help them get pollinated. I've loved the sun, but I love the rain as well. The all-powerful water without which nothing can survive. The poor hedgehog was out searching for it the other day. I hope she's okay. Alex gave her a dish of water.

Furnace has had 2.5 mm of rain this month through yesterday. We didn't have that much even. We'll see after the next three days how far we catch up. In the meantime, I had a glass of our White Seahorse Solaris last night with my fish pie. It's very pleasant. 

Alex's Vevor distillation machine arrived today. Another project awaits in the winery. He also bought an apple crusher that takes a bushel of whole apples and chops them up. No more hand chopping, or so they say. 

Another beautiful day in paradise

 

Another beautiful day in the west of Ireland. No rain. Sunshine. Not too hot. Goldilocks weather. We spent the night in Westport, had dinner at Arno's and saw a play at the Town Hall Theatre, both exquisite. This morning we rode ebikes around the Quay and through Westport Estate where a transformation is underway. By midday we were home and tending to the critters and gardens. Our slice of paradise. 

Still no rain

 

It's the 21st of May, and we have blue sky with a few puffball clouds floating by.  It's very warm and I am watering every day, but not the vineyard. It's holding up well, given that we haven't had more than a few drops of rain all month. We're forecast to get plenty of rain on Saturday and high winds with more rain on Sunday, so it looks like this is the last of the fine weather. 

25C and sunny

 

It's hot and sunny with a gentle breeze. 25C is about 77F, but it feels more like 80s in the sun. We are the warmest spot in the country. No rain in the forecast until Friday. The vines are fine so far, but everything else needs watering daily. Several places have alerts for water conservation, but not us yet. 

We went to our second 'Heard it through the Grapevine' session with Andrew, the gardener at Turlough House. It was beneficial, and we learned a lot about this stage of pruning. We cut back tendrils, removed weak and non-productive branches, and shortened the length of new growth to several leaves after the bunches of grapes. On some of the grape bunches, we removed the shoulder batch -- the last batch at the top of the bunch, which is always behind the rest in development. It's a survival mechanism. They hold back development in case some catastrophe befalls the main bunch. There will then still be some fruit produced later than normal. Removing that batch strengthens the rest and makes them grow bigger. 

Old vine before pruning

Old vine after pruning

All in all, it's been a fun pastime.

25-26C in our neck of the woods

No clouds, no rain, more of the same

 

The new gates are up, the hedgerow is planted and watered, and the fence is in place. Alex has started reducing the number of bunches and nipping the buds. I'm just wandering around. We have our next session of the pruning workshop at Turlough House on Saturday. 

Still no rain and there's no rain, no clouds, no wind in the forecast for at least the next week. Looks like it's time to get the kayak in the water. 

Warm and sunny again

 

According to Met Éireann's climate report, we've had only 0.8 mm of rain in May so far. The temperature, at an average of 12.8°c, has been higher than the long-term average but lower than the prior two years, despite feeling hotter. Shorts, T-shirts and sandals are the deal this week. 

We walked the vineyard and the land with Cormac and Louise, our nephew and his partner, yesterday and explained a lot of what's going on. They are very interested in helping with the vineyard work. They've just returned from a sabbatical trip around the world. They'll be away for another 6 weeks in Spain and France and then back to work. It's nice to know they have an interest. 

The sloe hedge is planted and the new fence and gates erected. Another fruit to add to the collection.