It was 105 by 1:00 today. The oddest thing is that it is partly overcast - no direct sun beating down. It was hot overnight and not cold this morning - this is a real heat wave. I keep a heavy canopy in my vineyard and never pull leaves - just the way I manage this particular vineyard. Let’s see what day after day of extreme heat does.
New highest ever recorded temp in Baghdad, plus new record of 5 days in a row of over 120*
Is there a link or a reference for that? A lot of wine folks in Napa have been thinking about this future, but this is the first I’ve heard a claim that Napa is “toast” in “10 years”.
I haven’t heard anything recently, but several years ago the prediction was that northern coastal California would stay about the same, maybe even cool slightly on average for high temps (low temps probably increase). Winter and spring probably warmer, which will influence bud break, flowering, harvest, etc.
Here’s a plot I did of monthly average temps for August. It’s from Napa airport, which is moderated by being closer to the Bay, so maybe it’s different up valley:
For people who might be concerned about this, don’t worry, they have giant fans there to keep the grapes comfortable.
Old style…
The newer style…
And these really big ones at the south end of the valley for blowing cooler air northward to Napa…
I hope this brings people some comfort so they don’t worry too much about this vintage.
Did science ever settle on the hypothesis of heat and civil unrest/violence/war being correlated?
So the sun came out fully and the temperature is now 106 degrees.
Man, maybe I should plant a vineyard in Chico!
Here’s my day…
Nothing worse than hot wine.
Yikes!
The Central Coast got hit by some heavy rain yesterday (I got it good between King City and Paso) then it hit 108 here in Paso today. Supposed to be hotter through the weekend. Tablas Creek closed their tasting room through the weekend due to heat concerns.
This was a part of Roger Bohmrich’s presentation on climate change. Also showed that Italy won’t be viable a whole lot longer either.He is a master of wine and an expert on wine and climate change. His presentation did not look good. And the heat in Napa right now is a good example.
There seems to be a lot of head in the sand thinking by wine growers in more southern regions of California. Climate is changing rapidly not slowly and many of these vineyards are in places that just won’t survive global warming no matter what we do of do not believe. Needs to be some reality here.
“ PG&E on Friday (Aug. 14) was directed by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to turn off power to about 200,000 to 250,000 customers at a time in rotating power outages given the strain on the power grid during the statewide heatwave. Other power utilities in the state are being directed to take similar actions.
The power will be turned off in rotating blocks until about 11 p.m. Power could be out for about one hour for each block.
Californians are being urged to continue to conserve power until 11 p.m. tonight to reduce power usage as supplies run tight during the peak period today.
Rotating outages are not Public Safety Power Shutoffs, which are conducted during specific high fire threat conditions.
Due to the emergency, PG&E will be unable to notify customers in advance of the power shutoffs, which could occur anywhere within PG&E’s service area.”
Awesome.
Calistoga is not Cabernet country, it’s more like the southern Rhone. Grenache and Petite Sirah would do so well there.
Is there some reason for this post? Your crude, rude, insulting behavior is uncalled for. Sadly, it’s not the first time, and I doubt it will be the last. I would think that someone who needs to cultivate business in the industry would try harder to hide his misogyny.
And, btw, I suspect Chateau Montelena, and a few dozen other Calistoga producers would not agree with you.
But, Merrill is such an accomplished winemaker.
Oh, wait…
LOL … you folks in Napa … can’t scare me
I live in Phoenix … we call your “heat wave” … normal weather here …
104° here at the homestead today then PG&E shuts off the power. Unannounced. Rolling blackout. Glad I invested in a. Generator back in ‘17 when the fires and evacuations started. Power went off while we were cooking dinner and I had it back up and running 5 minutes after we finished eating.