This has been a lovely autumn. It's the first time I've seen leaves turning lovely colours without being blown off the trees. The vineyard vines are all golden, the concord grape in the polytunnel has dropped its leaves, but the other vines in the polytunnel are still growing. Curious.
There is a chill in the air for this bank holiday weekend. The clocks turn back this Sunday, 26 October. Westival is on this week, so I hope we don't miss the events we signed up for on Sunday night.
This morning, we racked the white wine and pressed the red must. The white Solaris was clear and very tasty. The red was a rich red colour, but not as tasty. I have a feeling Rondo will not be worthwhile.
We still have cider to process, but that can wait.
Alex has been pressing honey. We have a good bit for ourselves, family and friends this year, and lots more left behind for the bees.
Storm Amy dumped a significant amount of seaweed on the road and then kindly washed it off with a lot of rainwater. So Alex loaded the trailer and spread the seaweed throughout the vineyard. After several loads were dispersed, he mowed the grass between the rows, which effectively mulched the seaweed. As the seaweed breaks down over the winter, it will release its essential minerals which are typically lacking in our clay soil.
So our differentiating promise for Daria's Vineyard is that we grow grapes using sustainable practices and no chemicals, herbicides or pesticides. Our South-facing vineyard soaks up the sun, is bathed by the salt-tinted winds and rain, while absorbing the mineral essence of seaweed delivered by the Atlantic to our shores. The vines translate the environmental elements into their own distinct terroir.
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| The boys are always interested in Ghost, the cat. |
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| The cat is terrified of the giant critters. |
Sheep are gaining popularity as mowers of grasslands in the US and beyond. Two vineyards in Ireland have just acquired Quessant sheep to manage vegetation. The benefits are many. Less fuel fumes in the vineyard from mechanical mowing equipment, a constantly coifed surface that may compete less with the vines, and of course sheep droppings return nutrients to the soil. Of course, it will affect the terroir, perhaps favourably.
New Zealand has been doing it for some time. With 27M sheep and 37K hectares of vines, it was inevitable to converge, especially if there were benefits both ways, and there are. NZ has studied the results and quantified the benefits. The financial benefits are substantial from the reduction of herbicides alone.
I love the way agriculture is heading. The practice is just beginning in the US, but there is hope that more care of the earth and better ecological practices will help the earth and the farmer.
Saturday, we got another 14.9 mm of rain, and wind gusts topped out at 60 knots, yet Alex finally made it home from Amsterdam. He said everyone had a story. In the first 4 days of October, we've already had 94.2 mm of rain, almost 2/3 of the LTA. Our temperature averaged 13.7°C, which is more akin to June than October.
We went to Ross this morning to feed the critters and further survey the damage. The donkeys finally came to the South side of the hill and Alex gave them treats. The vineyard looks okay. The trees are all denuded. We found a few things amiss, but it could have been much worse.
Tragically, a man died as a result of a weather-related incident in Donegal, after falling from a shed roof. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without electricity due to the damage caused by severe wind and rain. About 49,000 homes, farms and businesses remained without power around Ireland as of noon today. Those in the worst-affected areas, including Donegal, may not have power restored until early next week. An estimated 4,000 homes are without water in Donegal, according to Uisce Éireann.
Dozens of flights were cancelled in and out of the country, including multiple flights Alex was to be on, with further cancellations and delays expected on Saturday until the worst of the storm clears. It is now centred in the Baltic.
A new provisional wind speed record was set in Northern Ireland with a gust of 148km/h. On Friday night a gust of 96mph was recorded in Tiree in the Inner Hebrides, while Northern Ireland recorded its highest October gust on record, with 92mph at Magilligan, County Londonderry.
Met Office announced that Storm Amy broke records overnight - Baltasound hit 947.9 hPa, provisionally the lowest October pressure ever recorded at a UK land station, beating Muckle Flugga’s 950.9 hPa in 1988. The lowest pressure I noticed on the Mayo Sailing Club weather station was 974.
| Station | Rain | Max | Min | Sun | Wind | Gust | Soil | Global | Gmin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mm | oC | oC | hr | Kts (Km/h) | Kts (Km/h) | oC | J/cm^2 | oC | |
| Athenry | 24.0 | 18.6 | 9.2 | 14.3 (26) | 54 (100) | 13.3 | 234 | 7.2 | |
| Ballyhaise | 18.9 | 17.9 | 9.6 | 12.1 (22) | 54 (100) | 13.3 | 257 | 7.4 | |
| Belmullet | 20.2 | 17.8 | 9.8 | 0.4 | 23.6 (44) | 67 (124) | 13.7 | 320 | 8.1 |
| Casement | 9.3 | 18.6 | 9.6 | 0.1 | 20.9 (39) | 55 (102) | 13.1 | 7.7 | |
| Claremorris | 26.2 | 17.0 | 8.5 | 15.1 (28) | 55 (102) | 13.1 | 271 | 6.9 | |
| Cork Airport | 15.6 | 16.9 | 9.5 | 16.8 (31) | 51 (94) | 13.3 | 7.4 | ||
| Dublin Airport | 7.7 | 19.4 | 10.1 | 0.7 | 13.7 (25) | 48 (89) | 13.0 | 400 | 8.7 |
| Finner Camp | 18.8 | 18.5 | 10.0 | 21.0 (39) | 62 (115) | n/a | 262 | 8.8 | |
| Dunsany | 11.4 | 18.2 | 9.3 | 16.0 (30) | 53 (98) | 13.3 | 305 | 8.1 | |
| Gurteen | 15.5 | 19.1 | 9.0 | 17.1 (32) | 54 (100) | 12.9 | 351 | 7.1 | |
| Johnstown Castle | 22.0 | 17.0 | 11.0 | 0.6 | 13.2 (24) | 44 (81) | 14.4 | 133 | 9.2 |
| Knock Airport | 34.8 | 16.4 | 7.8 | 19.0 (35) | 63 (117) | 12.8 | n/a | ||
| Mace Head | 31.0 | 17.0 | 8.3 | 32.5 (60) | 66 (122) | n/a | 358 | 8.3 | |
| Malin Head | 9.2 | 18.4 | 9.9 | 28.3 (52) | 80 (148) | 13.2 | 296 | 8.4 | |
| Markree Castle | 22.6 | 18.0 | 9.4 | n/a (0) | n/a (0) | 12.9 | 312 | 6.8 | |
| Moore Park | 12.7 | 18.8 | 10.2 | 10.3 (19) | (0) | 14.0 | 404 | 7.9 | |
| Mt Dillon | 23.2 | 18.1 | 9.1 | 10.9 (20) | 50 (93) | 13.6 | 253 | 7.5 | |
| Mullingar | 16.8 | 18.4 | 8.6 | 12.4 (23) | 57 (106) | 13.3 | 249 | 7.1 | |
| Newport Furnace | 28.7 | 17.6 | 9.3 | 18.5 (34) | 64 (119) | 14.2 | 267 | 7.8 | |
| Oak Park | 12.2 | 19.4 | 9.8 | 16.0 (30) | 52 (96) | 13.7 | 384 | 7.5 | |
| Phoenix Park | 8.2 | 19.7 | 9.8 | n/a (0) | n/a (0) | 13.9 | 409 | 5.7 | |
| Roches Point | 12.7 | 17.2 | 10.8 | 21.1 (39) | 52 (96) | 14.0 | 323 | 8.0 | |
| Shannon Airport | 14.7 | 19.5 | 9.3 | 20.9 (39) | 61 (113) | 14.5 | 7.6 | ||
| Sherkin Island | 17.4 | 17.0 | 10.5 | 23.3 (43) | 55 (102) | 14.4 | 251 | 8.6 | |
| Valentia | 18.0 | 17.9 | 8.3 | 0.6 | 19.9 (37) | 52 (96) | 14.5 | 337 | 7.0 |
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Amy sounds so benign, but this one is anything but. Yesterday I drove to Galway, which may have been the epicentre of the rain event that preceded the arrival of Amy. The storm developed in the North Atlantic due to interactions between the remnants of Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda and a strong jet stream. I have never seen so much rain falling out of the sky, flooding roads and fields. Driving was pretty treacherous, but I made it to my periodontal appointment and even picked up a painting I bought at Dolan's Art Auction.
The rain stats for yesterday were as follows:
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| The diving platform in Salthill, Galway today |
Storm Amy has sparked school closures, travel disruption and the postponement of a major rugby match - while weather warnings are in place for the whole of the UK and Ireland. The first named storm of the season is forecast to batter the country well into the weekend. Residents in County Donegal have been told to "shelter in place" until 6pm.
They are now forecasting that Scotland will be badly affected. It has become a deep area of low pressure undergoing explosive cyclogenesis - that's when the central pressure drops 24mb or more over 24 hours.
Fingers crossed that Alex makes it home and things get better.
