July Monthly Weather Summary

July 2025 ended up fairly average, with the exception of one observation: Degree Days Below 15.5°C were lower than the LTA and far below those of the last three years. That means the daily temperature didn't fluctuate as much as in prior years. Could that be the reason the grapes are maturing so much earlier?

Storm Floris which brought us more than 15 mm of rain all told, pushed us over the LTA for rainfall. Our mean temperature was average but soil temperature was higher than previous years. 

I also discovered a cool new resource from Met Eireann. The Weather Observations Website (WOW) https://wow.met.ie/ provides real-time weather reporting. 

View of the vineyard beyond donkeys grooming.

Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 08-aug-2025

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2025	105.0	112.4	59.3	102.8	88.2	153.8	130.0	29.4					780.9
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
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
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
2025	6.0	7.1	8.9	11.6	14.0	14.9	16.5	15.7					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
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
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
2025	5.1	6.0	8.1	10.9	15.4	16.3	17.8	n/a					11.4
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
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
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
2025	7308	11955	25430	44615	64505	45465	47402	10487					257167
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
2022	6311	10756	33399	40555	51569	47246	48439	51169	n/a	15988	7869	6167	319468
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
2025	12.9	22.0	39.5	70.1	100.3	76.4	80.3	18.4					419.9
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
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
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
2025	17.1	30.5	55.3	97.0	139.0	107.8	110.6	26.7					584.0
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
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
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	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
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

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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.
To view the Weather Events for Public Works Contracts data, select a station first, then click the link just below the map.

Second batch of mead

 

We bottled the plain batch and then the raspberry-flavoured batch. Alex added some frozen raspberries from our garden to the fermentation jugs of half the mead. It made the most beautifully coloured liquid.  It smells delicious, but the flavour is somewhat delicate. I have a feeling it grows on you. 

It was much clearer than the plain mead, which had more particulate matter that hadn't settled. I wonder if somehow the raspberries help clarify it. 

It took us about an hour to process 69 bottles of raspberry mead. Not bad. Now what are we going to do with it all?  I guess we'll just have to tipple. 

Bottling the mead

The automatic bottling machine

Fermentation had ceased a couple of weeks ago, so we decided to have a go at bottling the mead. We started with the plain mead, four giant fermentation bottles. Alex had washed and disinfected all the bottles in advance. 

I am fascinated by our automatic bottling machine. It siphons liquid from the big bottles into the little bottles while siphoning off the foam and stops at just the right level automatically. Such an ingenious device made it possible to fill 71 bottles in under 1.5 hours. The mead is very mild in flavour but quite pleasant. I bottled while Alex corked. Alex designed the labels. Lots of friends are getting mead as gifts!

Storm Floris has passed

Our vineyard canopy

Alex spent all day yesterday tying up the vines so they wouldn't whip in the summer storm that passed through last night. He took a picture of the vineyard canopy from the top of the ladder when he was taking down the kites. He even had to tie up the baby Rondos because they had grown so much in the last week. Most of them have perfect grape clusters.

Baby Rondo vine

Our highest gusts occurred at approximately 4 am and reached 64.8 knots (~120 kph). A number of boats ended up on the shore at the sailing club in Rosmoney. The worst of the storm is hitting Scotland at the moment, with the CCA cruise fleet dispersed in various safe harbours. Gusts of 168 kph have been reported north of Tobermory. I'm glad we missed the worst of it. 

The wind is expected to continue steadily at approximately 40 kph out of the East for the next 16 hours here, after which we can anticipate a beautiful day tomorrow. Hurray! 

Meanwhile, there's an insane jet streak passing over us. This portion of the jet stream is moving at 315 kph, or an astonishing 195 mph, unheard of for August. It is directly fueling Storm Floris’ rapid intensification as it passes over Scotland today — where wind gusts on the surface could reach Category 1 hurricane intensity. The videos from Tobermory are scary, and our friends, the Sprucettes, are in their boat on a mooring in the harbour there. 

Scotland is taking a direct hit. Gusts of 50 to 70 mph are expected, even inland. Exposed coasts, hills and bridges could see gusts of 80 to 90mph, and some bridges have already been closed, trains and ferries cancelled. Some models have even suggested 100mph gusts, which were last seen during Storm Éowyn in January.