Sunday, April 21, 2013

sunday drama... (am.21.apr.13)>

*Update @ 2:08pm... Off-and-on showers since early this morning have been very light -- only an additonal 0.07" (2mm) since about 730am.  We're not getting a break as far as these clouds are concerned, and the latest satellite pics continue to show nothing more than perhaps just a few fleeting glimpses of sunshine for the remainder of the afternoon and into the evening.  That means temperatures are making very little upward progress... it turns out our high temp for the day occurred just after midnight (71.6F/22.0C)!  Currently: 58.1F (14.5C).

*Update @ 9:27am... The sky is trying really hard to brighten up a bit, after another period of light showers during the past half hour or so.  Satellite pics show a lot of mid- and high cloudiness to our south and west, but there are a few breaks in the overcast appearing as well.  Current temp: 57.4F (14.1C), humidity: 70%.

*Update @ 7:39am... This round of thundershowers seems to be tapering off rapidly now -- leaving a total of 1.02" (2.6cm) in my rain gauge since 4:30am.  The rain-chilled air is also moderating fairly quickly -- current temp: 56.7F (13.7C).  Now that we've had some much-needed rainfall, hopefully we'll be able to salvage some nicer weather later today.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
What a thermodynamic explosion we've had since about 4:30am!  I have 0.87" (2.2cm) in the rain gauge as of 6:40am, and the temperature has dropped as low as 49.6F (9.8C) during the past hour.  That rainfall amount is more than we had received during the entire month of April up to this morning -- and the low temp is the coldest I've recorded for April, which follows on the heels of yesterday's high temp (76.8F/24.9C) which matched the warmest of the month and the year so far.  How's that for some weather drama on this Sunday morning?

A surge of moisture-laden air has moved in from the south, as the first in a series of upper-level disturbances drifts in from the west.  This is the main cause of the extreme instability that has erupted during the early morning hours, and a sign of the more active weather pattern we've been anticipating.  I don't expect the rain to continue all day, but we're going to be dealing with a good chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms all the way until at least the middle of the week, thanks to a consistently disturbed atmosphere.

At the same time, there should still be some nice periods of sunshine during the coming several days -- and when that occurs, temperatures will quickly rebound to where they should be for late April.

Check the CURRENT FORECAST tab above for the latest 5-day outlook, and watch for updates on this page throughout the day.