a decisive end... (pm.22.sep.12)>

According to satellite views, there are scattered showers and thunderstorms occurring along some of the mountain ranges of Himachal Pradesh this evening... but overall, much drier air has taken hold across roughly the northwestern third of India.  Tropical moisture associated with the monsoon has been pushed well to our south and east, and it doesn't look like it will be returning this season.

The withdrawal of monsoon conditions this year has been much more more dramatic and decisive than in several recent years, which is good news for everyone.  It is likely that the India Met Department will declare official MONSOON WITHDRAWAL for large parts of north and west India during the next 2-3 days.

Be aware that afternoon and early evening thundery downpours could still occur along the south-southwest facing mountains during the coming days... but of course that can happen any time of year.  The big news is that our days of high humidity, extended fog, and long-lasting heavy rainfall appear to be gone for 2012.!!

the transition phase... (pm.18.sep.12)>

Major seasonal changes are in progress, as a rather strong disturbance in the upper-atmosphere moves through, and sweeps the deep and rich tropical moisture to our south and east.  The driest air in many weeks will be flowing into the area during the latter part of this week, allowing humidity levels to drop into the comfort zone.

Every year during these waning days of the monsoon season we get occasional heavy showers/thundershowers popping up all of a sudden, which can be frustrating.  Be aware of that possibility as we head into the weekend... but the bigger picture indicates that we're definitely into the transition phase OUT of Monsoon 2012.  This is happening only slightly behind the normal schedule this year, and quite a bit earlier than what we experienced last year.

I'm still in Cambodia, where we've had a couple of dry and semi-sunny days, after massive amounts of rain during the past couple of weeks.  I've experienced my share of heavy rain during the monsoon season in McLeod, but the volume of rain over here is incomprehensible... on the order of 5-10" (10-25cm) per day!!

positive signs... (pm.16.sep.12>)

Looking over the weather charts this evening (from the southwestern coast of Cambodia), I see that there will be a fairly strong upper-level disturbance sweeping through the area from the west during the coming 3-4 days.  In its wake, some of the driest air in the past 3 months will be moving into northwest India... by Friday and Saturday.  This is the first tangible sign of a significant retreat of tropical moisture and monsoon conditions for the Dharamsala area this season.

The India Met Department won't be declaring the demise of Monsoon 2012 during the coming several days, but it does look like we are getting close to the end....