hard to swallow

Global News: Recent cold snap could lead to less Okanagan wine next year

Subsidized by the BC government, Okanagan wine growers changed over from Labrusca to Vinifera vine stock in 1988. The replacement grapes make for better wine but are less hardy. The news report explains: Experts say a grapevine can generally survive temperatures of -20 and above. Anything colder, like the extremely low temperatures back in late December, can pose a problem.

The president of Wine Growers British Columbia was interviewed as part of the article and predicts up to 80% crop loss due the pre-Christmas cold snap. He adds … I think it’s indicative of climate change.

​​The December 2022 freeze, attributed to climate change, included two days with lows below the important -20 C mark (-20.6 & -22.3). Frigid as it was, historical temperatures recorded at Penticton Airport by Environment Canada place it well down the list in terms of length and intensity of winter conditions:
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1. 1949/1950              15 days < -20, including 4 days < -25, coldest -26.7
2. 1968/1969                9 days < -20, including 3 days < -25, record -27.2
3. 1956/1957                5 days < -20, coldest -22.2
4. 1942/1943                4 days < -20, coldest -23.3
5. 1964/1965                3 days < -20, coldest -24.4
6. 1990/1991                2 days < -20, including 1 day < -25, coldest -25.5
7. 2022/2023                2 days < -20, coldest -22.3

​The recent Okanagan cold spell is far from unprecedented. Efforts like this vine-damage story, trying to link cold conditions with global warming, are perhaps the most desperate attempt to keep the climate change narrative supported during a time where temperature rise is hard to find. In this case maybe reason has also gone a little cloudy as a result of rigorous product testing.