*Update @ 7:34am... I still have a light northerly breeze, but things have calmed down a lot during the past hour. No rain at the moment, but my total since midnight is up to 0.08" (2mm). The humidity reading is 51% -- and there is excellent visibility to the south and east from my vantage point, since the low clouds and fog have been completely swept away. As the clouds break up just a bit, I am seeing a significant amount of fresh snow up on the Dhauladhar peaks.
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We have overcast skies at sunrise this Saturday morning, with a light rain shower in progress, and very gusty north winds. The strong winds kicked in sometime around 3:00am, and the light showers have been occurring on and off since around that time as well. I've measured just 0.04" (1mm) of rain since last evening's report, but that puts us at 1.04" (2.6cm) during the past 24 hours. The temperature is 59.5F (15.3C), but it feels cooler than that due to wind. Another big story of the morning is the humidity -- it stands at 57%, as those north winds deliver a nice dose of drier air.
There is so much happening right now, I hardly know where to begin. The main event is the radical shift in the overall weather pattern which is happening across the western Himalayas at this moment. The westerly flow of air in the mid- and upper-levels of the atmosphere which has been stuck well to our north this autumn season so far is finally nudging its way southward. As it does so, it is having an interesting interaction with all of the stagnant, lingering tropical moisture which has been so stubborn to move out of here this year. As evidenced by the north winds and the big drop in humidity during the past several hours, it is clear that a new drier air mass is trying desperately to take over. However, there may still be a bit of back-and-forth this weekend before our atmospheric character totally converts to something more typical for mid-October.
I'm concerned about a few more showers and possibly a thundershower or two roaming the landscape today, with a lingering shower possible on Sunday as well. BUT -- a major drop in the moisture content of this air mass will become more and more evident as the new week unfolds, bringing us increasing amounts of sunshine, much lower humidity, and maybe (just maybe) putting an end to our almost daily fog visitations.
Check the CURRENT FORECAST details on the tab above.
*By the way... Tropical Cyclone Phailin is making international news as it approaches the Odisha coastline today. It has a very well-defined eye, and maximum sustained winds in excess of 160mph/260kph, making it the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane (by the US system). Devastating flooding rains will occur over a wide area of the east-central Indian coastline during the next 48 hour or more after it makes landfall (this evening) and eventually weakens and drifts to the north. There is obviously a tremendous amount of traffic on the IMD website, which makes it hard to get satellite pics lately... but if you are interested (and patient), try this link for the latest sat pics to follow the progress of the cyclone. Remember that the time stamp on the satellite images is for GMT, so the time shown is 5.5hrs earlier than IST.
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We have overcast skies at sunrise this Saturday morning, with a light rain shower in progress, and very gusty north winds. The strong winds kicked in sometime around 3:00am, and the light showers have been occurring on and off since around that time as well. I've measured just 0.04" (1mm) of rain since last evening's report, but that puts us at 1.04" (2.6cm) during the past 24 hours. The temperature is 59.5F (15.3C), but it feels cooler than that due to wind. Another big story of the morning is the humidity -- it stands at 57%, as those north winds deliver a nice dose of drier air.
There is so much happening right now, I hardly know where to begin. The main event is the radical shift in the overall weather pattern which is happening across the western Himalayas at this moment. The westerly flow of air in the mid- and upper-levels of the atmosphere which has been stuck well to our north this autumn season so far is finally nudging its way southward. As it does so, it is having an interesting interaction with all of the stagnant, lingering tropical moisture which has been so stubborn to move out of here this year. As evidenced by the north winds and the big drop in humidity during the past several hours, it is clear that a new drier air mass is trying desperately to take over. However, there may still be a bit of back-and-forth this weekend before our atmospheric character totally converts to something more typical for mid-October.
I'm concerned about a few more showers and possibly a thundershower or two roaming the landscape today, with a lingering shower possible on Sunday as well. BUT -- a major drop in the moisture content of this air mass will become more and more evident as the new week unfolds, bringing us increasing amounts of sunshine, much lower humidity, and maybe (just maybe) putting an end to our almost daily fog visitations.
Check the CURRENT FORECAST details on the tab above.
*By the way... Tropical Cyclone Phailin is making international news as it approaches the Odisha coastline today. It has a very well-defined eye, and maximum sustained winds in excess of 160mph/260kph, making it the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane (by the US system). Devastating flooding rains will occur over a wide area of the east-central Indian coastline during the next 48 hour or more after it makes landfall (this evening) and eventually weakens and drifts to the north. There is obviously a tremendous amount of traffic on the IMD website, which makes it hard to get satellite pics lately... but if you are interested (and patient), try this link for the latest sat pics to follow the progress of the cyclone. Remember that the time stamp on the satellite images is for GMT, so the time shown is 5.5hrs earlier than IST.
