Pretty Darn Good Harvest Weather

I have a few "modern varieties" of grapes still hanging, but have harvested seven varieties already (they ripen earlier than vinifera do, as a general rule). But I think most vinifera grapes are still out there on the vines. Their growers are glad to see a later-than-average start to our famous Fall rains.

The 15-day forecast shows 100% chance of of our first heavy rain on Oct 15, so that is a target date for some growers who will want to pick before it hits. But other growers who need a touch more ripening may wait through that cycle (they'll rightly say that their grapes needed a quick freshening from some rain; they may even rightly say that a bit of rain can push more carbohydrates (sugars) into the fruit, which at first seems counterintuitive). Too early to tell, yet, when the next rain will come, after the first wave hits. There is typically a following period of regained nice weather, after the first rain.

But usually the first Fall rains come in late Sept or early Oct.

We've had a very unusual drought this year--only 0.25" of rain in the July 1-Sep 30 quarter! That's the least in EIGHTY YEARS! And we always get rain until July 4-5 or so, so this is quite unusual.

Wed, Oct 3		Sunny. Mild.	68°F	48°F	16 mph / NE	22%	66°F	Low	4%
Thu, Oct 4		Sunny. Mild.	69°F	41°F	11 mph / NE	24%	66°F	Low	5%
Fri, Oct 5		Passing clouds. Mild.	69°F	43°F	11 mph / ENE	22%	67°F	Low	5%
Sat, Oct 6		Passing clouds. Mild.	71°F	39°F	10 mph / NE	23%	67°F	Low	8%
Sun, Oct 7		More sun than clouds. Mild.	74°F	37°F	5 mph / ENE	23%	69°F	Low	13%
Mon, Oct 8		Scattered clouds. Mild.	72°F	39°F	4 mph / W	27%	69°F	Low	19%
Tue, Oct 9		Scattered clouds. Mild.	71°F	39°F	6 mph / NW	33%	68°F	Low	27%
Wed, Oct 10		Sunny. Mild.	69°F	35°F	4 mph / NNE	45%	69°F	Low	0%
Thu, Oct 11		Sprinkles late. Mostly cloudy. Mild.	72°F	35°F	7 mph / SSE	73%	74°F	Minimal	26%	0.08"
Fri, Oct 12		More sun than clouds. Mild.	69°F	35°F	1 mph / NE	69%	69°F	Low	10%
Sat, Oct 13		Mostly sunny. Mild.	70°F	36°F	7 mph / NE	50%	70°F	Low	0%
Sun, Oct 14		Light rain late. Partly sunny. Mild.	72°F	39°F	9 mph / S	70%	74°F	Minimal	37%	0.09"
Mon, Oct 15		Rain late. Mostly cloudy. Mild.	70°F	39°F	14 mph / SW	83%	70°F	Minimal	100%	0.71"
Tue, Oct 16		Scattered showers. Mostly cloudy. Mild.	68°F	36°F	11 mph / SW	76%	68°F	Minimal	63%	0.24"
Wed, Oct 17		Light rain late. More sun than clouds. Mild.	64°F	32°F	6 mph / SSE	79%	64°F	Low	20%	0.11"

(above forecast info is taken from myforecast.com)