Sunday, March 19, 2017

trending into spring... (pm.19.mar.17)>

Sunday's stats:

Low temp: 49.8F (9.9C)
High temp: 62.6F (17.0C)
Precipitation: trace

Our sky is clearing out again this evening at sunset, after our little bout of thundershowers during the latter half of the afternoon.  There was not enough rain to register a measurement at my location on Tushita Road just below the mountaineering center, but there was a lot of thunder between about 2:30 and 4:00pm, as those thundershowers lurked just up-mountain.  Before all that, we had abundant sunshine, with temperatures climbing higher than expected -- just shy of the warmest of the season and the year thus far.

Warmer air throughout all layers and levels of the atmosphere is poised to begin flowing into our area during the next 12-24 hours, as a ridge of high pressure pokes northeastward into the Indian subcontinent.  Not only here, but across most of central and northern India, temperatures will be higher than we've seen so far this season, and it's likely that we'll finally rise back to normal and even slightly above as we move into the final one-third of March.  Tomorrow is the vernal equinox, which, meteorologically speaking, marks the first official day of spring in the northern hemisphere... so the timing is good.

There are some serious concerns about high cloudiness developing and flowing along the north side of this incoming ridge of high pressure... especially by Tuesday into Wednesday.  That could keep temps from reaching their full warming potential, even though we'll be in a much more comfortable zone than we've been able to enjoy in the last 12 days or so.  There is also a decent chance of some thundershowers sometime between Wednesday night and early Friday morning.

Check tabs above for historical normals/averages, and THE 7-DAY OUTLOOK.