It's partly cloudy and quite pleasant early this morning. My overnight low here in the upper part of town dipped to 67.6F (19.8C), thanks to last night's rainfall. We had two distinct periods of thundershowers yesterday -- from 3:00 until about 5:15pm, and again from around 7:30 until 10:00pm or so -- which dumped 1.98" (5.0cm) of rain. That amount is greater than the total rainfall from the 1st of May up until noon yesterday... and the greatest single rainfall amount of the year.
So, now we can say that we are truly into the pre-monsoon phase, which is very late in coming this year. Actually we had an official monsoon onset declaration here in the Dharamsala area on this date (24 Jun) last year... so we're definitely behind schedule. Tropical moisture associated with the outer edges of the monsoon has been lapping at the front ranges of the mountains for a few days now. That has brought us some spikes in humidity, providing the necessary moisture to fuel afternoon instability generated by the strong heating of the sun. What we're still lacking is deep tropical moisture that extends all the way into the upper-levels of the atmosphere. The flow is still generally from the west way up there above 15,000ft, and as long as that continues, we're not likely to see the advance of genuine monsoon conditions into northwest India.
Having said that, it looks like we'll see plenty of scattered shower and thunderstorm action off-and-on during the coming several days. There will also be periods of sunshine, along with humidity levels that will be generally on the increase. In fact, the atmosphere is looking like it will be very moisture-laden as we get into the Tuesday through Thursday range. Considering how far behind we are on rainfall for the month of June, we'll need a few more heavy downpours like yesterday's to give us any hope of catching up...
So, now we can say that we are truly into the pre-monsoon phase, which is very late in coming this year. Actually we had an official monsoon onset declaration here in the Dharamsala area on this date (24 Jun) last year... so we're definitely behind schedule. Tropical moisture associated with the outer edges of the monsoon has been lapping at the front ranges of the mountains for a few days now. That has brought us some spikes in humidity, providing the necessary moisture to fuel afternoon instability generated by the strong heating of the sun. What we're still lacking is deep tropical moisture that extends all the way into the upper-levels of the atmosphere. The flow is still generally from the west way up there above 15,000ft, and as long as that continues, we're not likely to see the advance of genuine monsoon conditions into northwest India.
Having said that, it looks like we'll see plenty of scattered shower and thunderstorm action off-and-on during the coming several days. There will also be periods of sunshine, along with humidity levels that will be generally on the increase. In fact, the atmosphere is looking like it will be very moisture-laden as we get into the Tuesday through Thursday range. Considering how far behind we are on rainfall for the month of June, we'll need a few more heavy downpours like yesterday's to give us any hope of catching up...
SUNDAY:
a mix of sunshine and clouds. potential for a period of thundershowers again this afternoon.
high: 28C (83F)
SUNDAY NIGHT:
good chance of a round of showers and thundershowers, mainly prior to midnight. otherwise partly cloudy.
low: 20C (68F)
MONDAY:
partly cloudy with seasonable temps. one or two thundershowers in the area.
high: 27C (81F)
TUESDAY:
both clouds and sun... increasing humidity. good chance of a few showers/thundershowers.
morning low: 20C (68F)
daytime high: 27C (80F)
WEDNESDAY:
humid, with clouds and occasional sunny breaks. good chance of showers and thundershowers.
morning low: 21C (69F)
daytime high: 26C (79F)
THURSDAY:
humid, with a mix of clouds and some sun at times. periods of rain and thunder likely.
morning low: 21C (69F)
daytime high: 26C (79F)
