A warm season likely for southeastern Australia.
The national outlook averaged over November 2012 to January 2013 shows that:
- warmer days are more likely over southeastern and northern Australia.
- warmer nights are more likely over most of Australia.
This outlook is mostly a result of persistent warmer than normal waters in the Indian Ocean,
with a lesser influence from warmer than normal tropical Pacific waters.
Above average night time temperatures increase the rate of vine ripening, while heatwaves have a detrimental affect on fruit quality. If a hot summer occurs be careful with management practices geared to exposing fruit in order to minimise disease pressure.
A wetter season more likely for far northern SA with only average rain around Adelaide.
The southeast Australian outlook for November 2012 to January 2013 indicates that:
- a wetter than normal season is more likely for northeast SA and parts of northern NSW.
- the chances of a wetter or drier season are roughly equal across the rest of southeast Australia.
This outlook is mostly a result of warmer than normal waters in the Indian Ocean;
warmer than normal waters in the Pacific Ocean had a lesser impact.
Vineyards in South Eastern Australia are generally dependant on supplementary irrigation . This is likely to be the case for Vintage 2013 as median rainfall is predicted for the next three months.
Comments