Tuesday, February 25, 2014

sun/cloud struggles... (pm.25.feb.14)>

Tuesday's stats:

Low temp: 46.6F (8.1C)
High temp: 56.8F (13.8C)
Precipitation: none

Lingering low clouds just after sunset this evening are in the process of dissipating, which should leave us with clear skies shortly.  Today came in two very distinct parts.  Throughout the morning and early afternoon we had unrestricted sunshine which boosted my temperature in the upper part of town to its warmest of the month of February, and the warmest since a rogue mild day back during the first week of January.  But then, clouds literally exploded over the mountains starting around 1:30pm, leading to mostly cloudy skies from about 2:30pm onwards.  The warmth of the soothing morning sunshine was quickly forgotten, as temps dipped again.

There's no hint of a storm system or even any kind of significant upper-level disturbance in our area... this afternoon's clouds were just one of the many manifestations of our mountain micro-climate effects which can be set off by the most subtle changes in the temperature and moisture content of the air mass here along the front slopes of the Dhauladhars.

We do have a legitimate period of disturbed weather on the way as the end of the week approaches, however.  The first in a long series of upper-level circulations will ease into northern India from the west very late tomorrow (Wed) night, as gradually colder air in the upper atmosphere sinks southward.  There will also be a fresh surge of moisture approaching from the south.  All of this points toward an extended period of unsettled and potentially wet weather for us -- from very late tomorrow night all the way through Saturday, and possibly beyond.  The most significant rainfall looks most likely on Friday into early Saturday, but that could change as the computer models attempt to decipher how all of these variables are going to converge.

The bottom line is this:  We are in for some wet and unseasonably cold weather as we make our transition from February into March.

CURRENT FORECAST specifics can be found on the tab above.