By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor
As you probably saw earlier this morning, most of the post-Irene reports coming out of wine country are positive. I have yet to hear if any of the rain that fell on the vineyards had high levels of saltwater or not, which could cause further damage.
But, probably the most fascinating pictures come from Paumanok Vineyards, where it seems a small tornado damaged 100 sauvignon blanc vines.
As you can see in the picture at the top, the damage is very isolated within the vineyard and when you get closer (at right), the damage obviously isn't the result of wind blowing in a single direction.
According to winemaker Kareem Massoud, only one of the 100 vines was killed, however.
Special thanks to Kareem for the photos and for this short video, which offers a bit more perspective on the damage.
Hate to see that. In general, how bad were all the vineyards hit on LI? Spared here in the FLX, but one full day of rain added to what was already a wet summer.
Posted by: Joeshico | August 30, 2011 at 11:02 AM
I have watched this like ten times and still can't get over it. That's crazy, thing must have touched down just for a second or two and then gone right back up into the clouds!
Posted by: 1WineDude | August 31, 2011 at 09:18 AM
Tornado? It looks like basic trellis collapse from high wind to me -- it's hard to see any evidence of rotational wind damage or uprooting in the pictures or video. I would expect a tornado to strip a lot more leaves as well. Also, I don't see that any tornado warning bulletin was issued by the NWS for that area. Even small tornadoes or rotation aloft produces a signature in the radar processing algorithms that trigger an upgraded alert from the generic tornado watch that is issued with almost every hurricane at landfall.
But call the National Weather Service -- they may send someone out to investigate and provide a definitive answer.
Posted by: John Sperr | August 31, 2011 at 11:53 AM
John: Charles told me in an email that there is a circular pattern to it, but he wasn't sure that the pictures captured that. I haven't seen it myself.
Posted by: Lenn Thompson | August 31, 2011 at 12:45 PM
I guess the video may not show it as well. What it does show is that a few rows fell to the west and a few row fell to the east and as the videao pans up it shows the beginning of the circle.
Since then we have pretty much reset all the vines up. Only one vine was lost. But we had to replace about 35 posts. On the ground it was easy to see the pattern. To reproduce it on video would have required a helicopter to see it from above.
Posted by: Charles Massoud | August 31, 2011 at 01:53 PM
Looks like an alien landing to me.
Posted by: David Page, Shinn Estate Vineyards | September 01, 2011 at 07:56 AM
Perhaps it was a microburst -- that could explain the trellis knock down in both directions as well as the circular pattern of disturbance. Though more common during supercell thunderstorm events, they are known to occur on occasion during hurricanes.
Posted by: John Sperr | September 01, 2011 at 09:04 AM
I agree with John Sperr it may have been a microburst - downward rushing of air in a concentrated blast. We appeared to have had some in the Bayview section of Southold during Irene as well.
I saw the results of microbursts in Broward County during Hurricane Andrew as well...
Posted by: Dan McGurn | September 01, 2011 at 10:07 AM