After a very wet winter and spring in 2023, California is experiencing another series of winter storms In the form of heavy rain and high mountain snow in early 2024. The state has been experiencing difficult conditions, especially in Southern California, where Los Angeles has seen nearly half a year's worth of rain in just a few short days.
Deaths, floods and more than 400 mudslides These were just some of the results of severe storms in California.
Already saturated ground and strained infrastructure will make pending storms even more difficult for parts of the state.
In California's wine country, rainfall was largely seen as a positive thing; Especially after 2023which is advertised as one of the best ever in areas such as Napa And Sonoma. The sign's year began with a particularly wet winter and spring.
Napa Valley
Bruce Phillips, owner and grape grower at Napa's Vine Hill Ranch, saw the rain as a net positive now and in the future. “We received approximately 53% of our average annual rainfall during the month of January 2024,” Phillips said. “In light of the El Niño pattern found off the Pacific Coast, Napa Valley expected heavy rain this season and was well prepared for its arrival despite accompanying high winds that led to widespread power outages and downed trees throughout the region.”
However, due to our well-drained soil and the fact that cover crops were well established before the heavy rains, there was no significant damage to vineyards throughout Napa County. All of this bodes well for delivering much-needed water to Napa County and for increasing snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which is critical to the balance of the state's water supply.
Sonoma Coast
“We follow a no-till path with the regenerative, organic and biodynamic principles of RAEN,” the winery owner said. Carlo Mondavi. “This means we have a lot of organic matter in our soil, which helps retain rainwater, leaving us with minimal or no runoff. This helps nourish the soil and our vines while also preventing erosion.”
“With the wet soil and high winds, we saw many beautiful old trees falling across Napa and Sonoma, including our vineyards on the Sonoma Coast,” Mondavi continued. One of the mature fir trees fell along the edge of the Royal St. Robert building, overtaking a few rows. It is difficult to determine the total extent of damage, as some chrome may have penetrated. The loss can be any chromium or a maximum of five.
“Across the AVAs we work with, the main issue has been wind,” said Julian Hosepian, winemaker at Costa Brown. “With wind gusts of 50 to 60 miles per hour knocking down trees and causing power outages.”
“Although it has been a difficult few days, the rain has been very welcome. As we head into the 2024 growing season, we have abundant groundwater at our vineyard sites in some areas, including Sta. Rita Hills, which received 8 With 9 inches of rain, we have already reached our average annual rainfall. After more than a few drought harvests in recent years, having enough water to work with would be very beneficial for our vineyards and wines.
San Luis Obispo Coast
Further south, the rains more than adequately dampened some drought-stricken areas of the state, while also creating some concern for vineyard teams.
“On the San Luis Obispo Coast, we received about five inches of rain last week, which is a good amount for our typically rain-starved region,” said Eric Johnson, director of viticulture and winemaking at Talley Vineyards. “There was no real damage other than a few fallen oak branches.” Fortunately, we have a few weeks until the buds open, so the vines and this year's crop have not suffered any damage.
“We see two downsides to rain,” Johnson explained. “First, the storm was fairly warm, so it did nothing to help the vines go dormant. Ideally, we want a cold storm to delay bud break as long as possible to avoid frost damage. Second, when it rains, we can't work in the vineyard. We desperately need to prune there before the vines wake up. Hopefully we can get some cool, dry weather so we can delay bud break and finish pruning.
Rain is a welcome location in Paso Robles. Credit: Neil Collins for Tablas Creek
Paso Robles
In nearby Paso Robles, Jason Haas Creek creeks He is thrilled with the recent rain. “The rain here has been nothing but good news,” Haas said. We've gotten about 15cm spread over the course of a week, so that pushes us to about 45cm for the year. This is about 125% of normal for this date. It was so late in the winter that the cover crops were so established, there was no erosion or any negative impacts at all.
“Overall, it was a pleasantly boring winter,” Haas continued. 'Light rain, well spaced, with sun and hail in between, but not much. Last night was very cold, and we should be seeing cold nights all weekend, which is great; The combination of all the water in the ground and cool temperatures should do a good job of keeping soil temperatures low and delaying bud break.
'This is exactly what we were hoping for. We didn't need another 50-inch winter rain, but average to slightly above average water combined with last year's reserves and cool temperatures to reduce the risk of damage from spring frosts is ideal.
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