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Here’s something to ‘wine’ about: climate change could affect Virginia’s wineries

(Copyright 2021 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.)

Happy Monday and welcome to another edition of Beyond The Forecast!

It’s no secret that wine is big business in the Commonwealth. In fact, Virginia ranks sixth in number of wineries and tasting rooms nationwide, according to American Winery Guide. Many of those wineries are right here in our area!

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(Copyright 2021 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.)

What do Virginia wineries need to create all of their tasty beverages? Grapes, which are one of the most sensitive crops to climate change.

We will be mainly focusing on changes in temperature in this newsletter, but floods and wildfire smoke can also be detrimental to the health of wine grapes.

(Copyright 2021 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.)

The growing season for wine grapes is defined as April through October.

The United States has seen the average temperature during those months increase by two degrees Fahrenheit since 1970, per Climate Central. The change is slightly higher in Virginia, between two and three degrees.

(Copyright 2021 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.)

A couple of degrees doesn’t sound like much, but growing wine grapes requires such a precise range in growing season temperatures that any change can be magnified.

Below, you’ll see the temperatures needed to grow grapes for certain types of wine.

(Copyright 2021 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.)

Some types of wine like rieslings and table wines can be grown at a variety of temperatures, while pinot gris and pinot noir require smaller ranges.

Climate Central says warming temperatures may force winemakers to move to cooler climates, either at elevation or further north in the United States. This would be bad news for the winemakers themselves and also the average consumer looking for a weekend wine getaway!

You can read Climate Central’s full report on the effects of climate change on wine here.

Switching gears to your local forecast, clouds and cooler temperatures are taking over for the first full week in October. We’re likely to have some rain at times, too! I broke down what you can expect with the weather in our daily forecast article.

You can always get specific forecast details for your zone, whether it’s the Roanoke Valley, Southside, the Highlands or elsewhere around Southwest and Central Virginia, anytime at WSLS.com/weather. Know your zone!

In case you missed it, we’re posting great weather and science content on WSLS.com. Here are a few links from the past week to check out:

If you prefer your weather information delivered by social media, you can follow Your Local Weather Authority on Facebook and Twitter.

You can also keep up with me on social media. I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, follow along!

-- Justin McKee