Friday, April 17, 2015

temps heading up... (am.17.apr.15)>

No rain, no clouds, not even any haze -- instead we have 100% clear skies at dawn on this Friday morning.  I'm recording a low temp of 53.2F (11.8C), and there has been no precipitation overnight.  Our total rainfall between noon on Wednesday and about 2:45pm yesterday (Thu) afternoon was only 0.30" (8mm).

We're poised for a major warm-up across the area today, as the large bubble of warmer air which has been lurking to our southwest for several days is finally going to be able to advance northeastward.  Our air mass is drying out a bit as well, with more continuity between the temp/moisture profiles throughout the different layers of the atmosphere both today and tomorrow (Sat).  That doesn't mean we are totally free and clear, however.  We'll still have to watch for an increase in clouds over the mountains by mid-day, which could lead to isolated thundershower development up there during the afternoon hours.  Still -- it's going to be an overall marked improvement for us as we head into the weekend.

Computer models are advertising a weak upper-level disturbance which will move in from the west by Sunday evening, increasing again our risk of a few rounds of showers and/or thunderstorms between then and very early Tuesday morning.  Moisture appears to be very limited with this system, but with some much warmer air at the surface, and slight cooling aloft, there is going to be some instability, for sure.  But it's then looking fairly quiet and seasonably warm for the balance of next week...

Check THE 7-DAY OUTLOOK for the latest forecast info.