Wednesday, February 12, 2020

The Big Wet

An intense East Coast Low worked its way down the coast over the weekend, dumping hundreds of millimeters of rain on fire grounds on the coast and on parched drought stricken country inland.
In many areas there was flash flooding and strong winds brought down trees and power lines. Huge surf caused damaging beach erosion.















Thankfully for us the rain wasn't too torrential and the fire ravaged ground was able to soak up the 200mm+ with minimal erosion.
Our creek, after 9 months being dry, began to flow again, dams and tanks filled and brown pasture and lawns seem to turn green overnight.

Now a tropical cyclone (hurricane) is gathering strength in the Coral Sea is moving towards Australia.
Cyclone Uesi is currently a category 3 storm located just to the north of New Caledonia.
It could enter Australian waters as early as tomorrow.
But cyclones usually don’t drift as far south as New South Wales as their fuel is warm water and  the further south they go the cooler the water gets, reducing the storm’s strength.














However, the path of cyclones is notoriously hard to predict. They tend to have a mind of their own.
The most likely scenario, according to the experts, is the system will stay just far enough offshore so heavy rain and gales remain off the coast.
But if the system was to be just a little closer it could bring further flooding as the coastal land is now pretty much saturated.
Update:13th February.
The category 2 tropical storm is heading for beautiful Lord Howe Island which is around 500km off the coast of NSW.
The are bunkering down for winds of 95-135km/hr.













But the island is well used to foul weather and is fully prepared.
This island is a tourist mecca which limits the number of visitors to 400, the same number as the permanent population. It is serviced by QANTAS with small aircraft eg.Dash 8 as the runway is a very short 886m. Getting to and leaving the island is always fraught with potential weather delays.

Monday, February 10, 2020

The Currowan Fire / Final Update

As of yesterday, after causing havoc for 74 days and burning through half a million hectares, the Currowan fire is officially out and has been removed from the Fires Near Me app.
This is thanks to an intense East Coast Low weather system that has dumped hundreds of millimeters of rain over the fire ground in the last few days.
Hopefully the fires that it spawned to its south and west will meet a similar fate.






















The fire took a number of lives, destroyed 312 and damaged 173 homes and destroyed innumerable out buildings and infrastructure.
On the upside 1,889 homes, including ours, were saved by the tireless work of the Rural Fire Service volunteers.
And we shouldn't forget those who came from overseas to help fight the fires, the state's Fire and Rescue, Police, Ambulance, SES, state and federal government emergency workers at the evacuation centers who all did their part. Also a special shout out to the local communities and businesses who rose to the occasion with numerous acts of kindness and charity.
















Now as our creek, previously dry for 9 months, breaks its banks and floods across our lower paddock filling our dams after 200mm of rain in 48 hours, we look forward to putting the trauma behind us, getting the fire damage cleaned up and our farm shed rebuilt, receiving the insurance payout and completing the repair of the final length of fencing.

Sunday, February 09, 2020

Australian Vintage 2020 / Smoke Taint

The major wine producing areas of Australia lie on the south eastern part of the continent.





















Many vineyards in these regions have been affected by the recent bush fires directly and indirectly.
Although a winery may have suffered no fire damage, the blanket of smoke that was its legacy has caused nightmares for many in the wine industry, thanks to what is known as “smoke taint”.
Vignerons watched the smoke linger over their ripening fruit for many days and even weeks.
The entire 2020 crop has been lost in some parts of Hunter Valley and Adelaide Hills wine regions, while many growers are picking only a fraction of their fruit.
Bush fire smoke can taint wine as a result of the chemicals released into the atmosphere when woody material like trees burn. These chemicals that can damage wine grapes are known as volatile phenols. They are released in a gaseous form and travel with the smoke.
These volatile phenols can be absorbed by the grape berries.
When fresh, heavy smoke lands on the outside of the grape, the phenol compounds get into the skin but not the flesh.
However it’s a one-season thing. Next season the vines are fine.













Samples of wine grapes as well as the resultant wine (bench ferment) made from them can be tested for taint.
The berries are put through a 12-stage process during testing. Early on they are blended to be "homogenised" before they are subject to complex scientific testing.
The taint compounds are extracted out of the samples and subjected the two separate chemical analyses.
One analysis measures volatile phenols and the other measures sugar-bound compounds in the samples. All up, 13 compounds are quantified, some of which occur naturally in grapes, and these measurements are then compared to normal background levels of the compounds in grapes.
The results of these tests provide a guide to the grower and the winery whether to harvest or not.
What with the drought and the bush fire in our area this season it appears that I made a good decision to cease my wine growing activities.