the first part of september 2011 was very close to normal. rainfall was consistent, but intensity and amounts were a couple of notches below our extremely wet august. temperatures were exactly on par. during the 14th to the 16th of the month, our first strong upper-level storm system swept in from the west and northwest. we received very heavy rain which ended abruptly on the night of the 16th. although lots of low-level moisture remained, that was pretty much the end of genuine monsoon conditions here in himachal pradesh. deep tropical moisture was pushed all the way southeast to near the uttar pradesh border during that event.
however... the second half of the month didn't live up to expectations. despite the retreat of the monsoon, an unusal amount of moisture remained trapped in the valleys and along the front ranges of the mountains, from kashmir and himachal into uttarakhand. we managed to get four dry days in a row, and 10 days (between 17-26 sep) with less than one inch of total rainfall... but the fog and clouds continued to dominate the afternoon and evening hours. then, more heavy rain and thundershowers took over the final four days.
we closed out the month still soggy, still craving more sunshine, and wondering whether there might be any hope for october... stats here:
high temp: 76.1F (24.5C) on the 11th.
low temp: 54.0F (12.2C) on the 27th.
total rainfall: 21.03" (53.4cm).
heaviest one-day rainfall: 2.83" (7.2cm) on the 16th.
heaviest two-day rainfall: 5.64" (13.3cm) on the 15th-16th.
most sunshine: 21st and 28th.
however... the second half of the month didn't live up to expectations. despite the retreat of the monsoon, an unusal amount of moisture remained trapped in the valleys and along the front ranges of the mountains, from kashmir and himachal into uttarakhand. we managed to get four dry days in a row, and 10 days (between 17-26 sep) with less than one inch of total rainfall... but the fog and clouds continued to dominate the afternoon and evening hours. then, more heavy rain and thundershowers took over the final four days.
we closed out the month still soggy, still craving more sunshine, and wondering whether there might be any hope for october... stats here:
high temp: 76.1F (24.5C) on the 11th.
low temp: 54.0F (12.2C) on the 27th.
total rainfall: 21.03" (53.4cm).
heaviest one-day rainfall: 2.83" (7.2cm) on the 16th.
heaviest two-day rainfall: 5.64" (13.3cm) on the 15th-16th.
most sunshine: 21st and 28th.
