Monday 17 October 2022

1.34C warmer already

 


Statista Infographics published a chart that illustrates global warming over the last century. It shows that earth is already 1.34C warmer than it was in the 1880s. It's scary how quickly it is heating up. Have we passed the tipping point and do we now have a runaway uncontrollable process?

Sunday 9 October 2022

Autumn in the vineyard

 

Leaves turning yellow and dropping

Autumn has arrived in the vineyard and elsewhere. Surprisingly the Albarino vines suddenly shot up, many reaching the tops of the posts. I'm very happy to see that. We lost vines but those we can replace. 

The Pinot Noir vines are really vigorous so keeping them trimmed and tidy next year will be a major effort. The grapes are still small and hard as marbles, as are the Chardonnay grapes. The Solaris, however, are finally nearing ready to harvest and very tasty. There aren't many so there won't be wine this year and the growth is very vigorous, so this year's pruning will be severe and significant. 

Chardonnay not ready yet

Tasty ripe Solaris grape

Solaris bunch ready to harvest

Pinot Noir still hard as rocks

I set to tie up the vines as Alex tensioned the support wires. With the windy season upon us, I didn't want to risk more damage to vines whipping around in the upcoming gales. The tool we bought last year proved problematic in that it didn't work more often than it did. So I bought a new improved model and it is. It still wastes a bit of material and doesn't always work, but it works most of the time and I was able to tie up all but the last two short rows of Solaris in just a couple of hours yesterday. Progress!

Tool on the left much improved over tool on the right.

Mushroom season has begun.


Thursday 6 October 2022

Climate report for September 2022

As it appears that Newport was off-station last month, that means I won't have climate data for September. The closest station otherwise is Belmullet although it is further out to sea than us so won;t be entirely representative. I'll say that overall it was mild. The month started out very dry here but then got more showery. It wasn't until October that we got a good drenching. September was also quite still, with little wind on most days. Quite pleasant actually. October has started out with a bang, with gale after gale, which also took out one row of young Solaris posts.

Monthly values for BELMULLET up to 05-oct-2022

Total rainfall in millimetres for BELMULLET

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
202256.5151.353.966.678.9100.940.251.598.251.3749.3
2021157.3108.7111.742.495.654.457.6108.699.4222.496.6108.11262.8
2020120.1241.9111.023.635.782.7133.3121.7122.1191.8156.2172.61512.7
201992.7120.2151.384.757.586.6101.0160.8104.8117.1139.4150.31366.4
LTA134.097.199.272.070.472.179.0101.9101.8145.9134.0137.41244.8

Mean temperature in degrees Celsius for BELMULLET

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
20227.87.48.19.712.113.515.015.814.413.111.6
20215.56.67.98.49.712.616.315.614.712.110.07.710.6
20207.56.36.99.912.113.013.615.613.210.49.26.710.4
20197.38.68.110.211.112.715.515.213.510.47.27.210.6
LTA6.36.47.58.911.113.114.814.813.410.98.46.710.2

Mean 10cm soil temperature for BELMULLET at 0900 UTC

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
20226.96.96.99.513.115.016.616.714.9n/a11.9
20214.65.47.38.511.514.017.716.615.212.19.57.010.8
20206.45.46.19.713.214.915.116.313.69.88.55.810.4
20197.37.17.69.612.714.216.916.013.710.16.96.210.7
LTA5.35.36.69.012.314.916.215.813.710.77.95.910.3

Global Solar Radiation in Joules/cm2 for BELMULLET

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
2022616611332340414006854907524704786151546308073098332296
2021652313922225464718961096453525164244831244441674677704745346806
2020583211396255634659059654453204545042566276611906167214974340788
2019560310672244503941356303557574901841827290681836279644865343302
LTA633712293246424042854132529784961141744295411667075344732340640

Potential Evapotranspiration (mm) for BELMULLET

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
202219.626.647.156.774.473.572.577.150.66.2504.3
202112.423.933.261.577.467.784.168.041.129.321.915.0535.5
202023.627.739.163.185.569.666.567.443.432.218.318.4554.8
201916.023.339.458.778.079.376.768.145.533.416.518.6553.5
LTA17.823.233.751.769.474.270.361.045.528.818.315.0508.9

Evaporation (mm) for BELMULLET

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
202225.338.768.484.3119.6115.4104.9113.469.78.7748.4
202116.335.151.591.9119.4104.0115.998.657.940.527.419.2777.7
202032.240.859.693.8129.5106.5101.097.963.544.624.023.5816.9
201920.833.360.088.5115.8122.4112.5100.465.646.020.824.2810.3
LTA24.734.352.982.0109.2115.6107.691.367.341.024.419.8770.1

Degree Days Below 15.5 Degree Celsius for BELMULLET

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
202224022623117810868392952N/AN/AN/AN/A
2021310250237215182912528431081652431899
2020247266265171126816630811581902741957
2019255193230165142943235681592492561876
Mean286258248200144824645751432122742013

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.

Cumulative Rainfall Graphs



Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 05-oct-2022

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
202298.8260.467.884.0107.0148.059.2104.1n/a51.9981.2
2021225.6147.6141.145.6113.564.159.7155.6137.0265.7183.3186.61725.4
2020139.5342.8178.225.554.7164.5187.9137.9153.4228.0206.6232.72051.7
2019146.8115.0228.5100.7112.576.682.7228.9175.5160.7148.1220.61796.6
LTA166.7126.5141.296.894.789.7100.9132.5131.5176.0170.4180.21607.1

Mean temperature in degrees Celsius for NEWPORT

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
20227.27.18.09.912.613.815.916.2n/a13.311.4
20215.06.77.99.010.413.317.516.415.211.99.37.610.9
20207.26.06.611.012.813.814.416.013.810.59.16.110.6
20196.98.47.910.211.713.116.315.513.710.37.17.110.7
LTA6.16.17.39.011.513.815.415.413.510.88.36.510.3

Mean 10cm soil temperature for NEWPORT at 0900 UTC


YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
20226.26.26.39.313.214.816.816.6n/an/a11.2
20213.65.06.88.210.914.317.916.315.211.38.66.610.4
20205.74.75.49.713.014.814.916.313.79.58.05.110.1
20196.16.16.88.912.213.816.715.713.59.46.25.610.1
LTAn/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a