Friday, May 6, 2016

not at all boring... (pm.06.may.16)>

Friday's stats:

Low temp: 55.1F (12.8C)
High temp: 75.2F (24.0C) -- updated
Rainfall: 0.02" (less than 1mm) -- updated

There are a couple of clear patches overhead and just to the south, but we'd have to call it mostly cloudy during this hour before sunset.  It's been a crazy 24 hour period -- with that massive, extended period of heavy rain showers and thunderstorms last night between about 6:20 and 10:30pm, the gorgeous sunny skies this morning, and then some tentative light sprinkles and showers during the mid-afternoon.  Even though temperatures are much lower than they were several days ago, we have a lot more moisture in the air now, so it gets kind of sultry and steamy when the sun is out.

The average/normal rainfall for the entire month of May is just 2.30" (5.8cm), but according to my rain gauge on Tushita Road in the upper part of town, we've had just over 4" (10cm) since Wednesday afternoon.  Has it been a fluke, or is this a sign that we might be in for a much wetter than normal May??  Time will tell.  At least in the near term, it looks like we're in for some semblance of stabilization, meaning, the atmosphere will be less prone to stir up the kind of really dramatic thunderstorm action we saw last night.  HOWEVER, there is an unusually high amount of moisture in this air mass, compared to what we normally deal with in early May, and that means any random/isolated thundershowers that DO develop could be capable of surprising us with a significant amount of rain.

Much warmer air aloft is streaming in now, and that could/should lead to a moderation in our temperatures over the weekend -- through about Monday.  But computer models are advertising a good chance of more scattered showers and thunderstorms for much of next week as a fresh batch of moisture surges in from the south-southwest.  Definitely a lot to watch as we progress deeper into our Himalayan summer...

Keep track of THE 7-DAY OUTLOOK (above) for all the forecast details.