Drought in Ireland

 

The five-year-old Rondo vines are loaded with clusters

Weather prediction is about to become more accurate in Ireland, just at a time when there's little weather to report. We have not had any rain in ages and have been watering daily, but not in the vineyard. I hope the vines can survive the drought we are experiencing.

The three-year-old Solaris vines are looking good. 

The earth is parched and the leaves that blew off the trees in the last storm are so dry that everywhere you take a step outdoors is crunchy underfoot. The cats are actually scaring themselves with the noise. This is a truly unusual situation for us. Midday is silent as the cats take siestas in the shade of the trees, birds stop flying and even the insects settle down somewhere. There are many more insects this year than last -- all different kinds including many butterflies flitting about. Everyone is coming to the oasis to drink and bathe but the water level is way down.

It's looking pretty good for no rain in weeks. 

The hottest day of the year so far was yesterday and reported in Furnace, Newport just a few miles from here at 26.9C. Irish Water is about to restrict watering and there's little respite in the forecast. So all we can do is pray and go paddling around Clew Bay. It's gorgeous out there and much cooler on the water. See you later.

Croagh Patrick, the Holy mountain

Nephin range with Ross in the foreground

The head of the inlet 

Our house in the centre

Our village of Ross

Croagh Patrick as clouds arrive

Beautiful but no rain

Strong gales passing through

Vineyard looks okay today. 

Well, we got a little bit of rain and with it a lot of wind. It was a low pressure that passed gently over the Azores and built quickly before arriving in Ireland and veering up to Scotland. It blew heavily all day yesterday and through the night.

The vines looked okay today. I'll have to check again tomorrow after they've had a chance to think about it.

The trees have not done so well, especially the ash. They are the last to leaf and so their leaves were tender and almost completely burnt by the wind. So sad to see. Yesterday, full of life. Today charred and dead.

Except for the amazing lilies in front of the garage which got decimated, most of the flowers seemed okay. We've created a sheltered haven here. The orchard seems fine too, and it protects the vineyard.

We did lose two massive branches from chestnut trees. Their leaves are so big, they are wind umbrellas.

So not too terribly bad. And the donkeys are all fine as are the cats, but all are dazed and complaining. Kept our minds off Covid-19 for one day.

Yesterday mid-day. 

Charred ash

Poor kiwi

Veg garden not too bad, but the tree tops are decimated

Donkeys fine but stunned and still hunkering down. 

It's raining

We woke up to a gentle light pittter patter on the windows. It was raining ever so slowly, but I could feel the earth sighing a breath of relief.  It stopped for a time, but restarted in the evening, gentle as ever. The best kind of rain. Quenching the earth without disturbing the parched plants. Hallelujah.

It had rained a bit yesterday afternoon, too, yet nothing had been forecast. If what they say is right, on Friday we'll have a gale with lots of rain and wind. I hope the fruit sets beforehand. Until then, we'll take the gentle soaking and replenishing of the barrels and pond.

A tropical storm, the first of the 2020 season has formed off the Florida coast and is heading for North Carolina, then Bermuda. I hope it stays away from all the small boats returning from the Caribbean in this crazy coronavirus-infested time. I've spent much time on the phone and internet with reporters and documentary makers after being interviewed by the BBC and quoted in the Guardian. Hopefully, I've done my small part in helping people stay safe on their small yachts on that big ocean. Fair winds to all, including us. An island is, after all, not unlike a boat when a storm hits.

Once again, we dance and pray for rain

Another beautiful morning in Mayo. 

MONTHLY VALUES FOR NEWPORT UP TO 12-MAY-2020

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2020	139.5	342.8	178.2	25.5	12.2								698.2
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
2017	94.3	151.0	216.2	31.1	64.2	108.3	164.0	197.6	153.3	190.1	203.0	179.7	1752.8
mean	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

We are watering our gardens daily now. No rain since the last report of rain on this blog. It continues sunny but this week is cold. Last week was warm. Next week to be warm. Truly bizarre. After the soggiest February when I thought all the plants would drown, we had the driest April, and May continues the trend. Oh, and there's tropical depression forming off the Bahamas. 

The fine weather continues but the drought has broken

Last night, we finally had some rain. More than a centimetre of rain fell overnight, and we've had drizzle for much of the day. Halleluja.

The vines seem okay and all have survived thus far. The first ten are leafing nicely and Alex was able to mow the main row with our lawnmower after strimming it first.

And the donkeys returned yesterday having completed their annual migration down the road and up the hill without a hitch. They seemed happy to be back and loved the new driveway -- no more slipping on the smooth cement.

Met Eireann has not identified our area as having a drought, even though we've had little rain.
https://www.met.ie/climatological-droughts-and-dry-spells-2020

Drought!

I was wondering when we last had rain so I looked it up on Met Eireann.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DROUGHTS AND DRY SPELLS 2020
A partial drought is ongoing at Dublin Airport. The length of this dry period is now at 35 days long with 5.8 mm of rain falling since Wednesday 18 March 2020. Between Wednesday 18 March to Wednesday 1 April 2020, there was 0.0 mm of rainfall recorded every day at that station. Meanwhile new dry spells are ongoing at three stations: 16 days at Claremorris, Co Mayo and 15 days at each of Markree, Co Sligo and Knock Airport, Co Mayo.

We are in County Mayo. We've had to water the garden every day, and it looks like several more days before we get any drops out of the sky. At least the solar-powered fountain has been working well. I hope the vineyard survives this. The rest of the garden is looking pretty fine.

Here's is the full drought statement to date. It's also been quite hot - shorts, T-shirts and flip flops weather. Lots of butterflies and bumblebees. But no honey bees. 

https://www.met.ie/cms/assets/uploads/2020/04/20200421_drought.pdf

Mowing the grass

My lovely little vineyard is getting a much needed sprucing up. Alex is strumming, something he postponed last year. The grass is really thick up there, suggesting that the soil is fairly rich in that parcel of land which has never been tilled as far as we can tell. That means the soil structure has never been disturbed, an interesting thing in this region of farmland managed by the rules that often disturb the natural order of biodiversity.

We had a forecast for rain on Friday evening but the forecast is now showing gorgeous weather for the foreseeable future -- and no rain. Not a drop. Who has ever heard of such a thing out here? Are the vines going to survive without water?  We don't have irrigation set up. Several years ago, you couldn't even buy a sprinkler in Ireland. Things have changed in a hurry.

Alex said over breakfast this morning that he was tired of all the sunshine. He can't allow himself to be inside when it's sunny. That's the hazard of growing up in Ireland. I can't get anything done...if I have to be inside to do it.

Apples getting ready

My new pond