recovery underway... (pm.02.may.12)>

There are still some clouds clinging to the mountains this evening, otherwise we're in line for a beautiful sunset.  Full sunshine this morning gave way to quickly-developing clouds over the mountains by noon, but then the sun managed to maintain control in the end... allowing the high temp at my place on Tushita Road to reach 74.8F (23.8C)... the warmest in exactly one week.  There has been no rainfall as of the time of this posting, and hopefully it will stay that way.

The shift in our overall weather pattern appears to be proceeding according to expectations, so far.  Warmer air arriving in the mid- and upper-levels of the atmosphere has already contributed to greater stability today, and we'll be watching carefully during the next few days to see if that trend will continue.  If it does, then our rain chances will be quite low, and temperatures will be warming up quite dramatically.  However, there is always the nagging risk of a random pool of colder air aloft drifting through, which could ignite a round of thundershowers over the mountains, mainly during the PM hours.  Keep that in mind if you're heading uphill.

It now looks like there is a pretty good chance that we'll be experiencing the warmest temperatures of the season (80F/27C+) by the weekend.  Other than that potential for a stray PM thundershower, it looks like a good amount of sunshine will prevail...

WEDNESDAY NIGHT:

clear to partly cloudy.

low: 14C (58F)

THURSDAY:

sunny to partly cloudy and comfortable.  an isolated PM mountain thundershower?

high: 24C (75F)

THURSDAY NIGHT:

slight chance of an evening thundershower, otherwise mostly clear and mild.

low: 16C (60F)

FRIDAY:

sunshine and occasional clouds.  warming trend continues.

high: 25C (77F)

SATURDAY:

sun and some patches of clouds at times.  seasonably warm.

morning low: 17C (62F)

daytime high: 26C (79F)

SUNDAY:

partly cloudy and warm.  an isolated evening thunderstorm?

morning low: 18C (64F)

daytime high: 27C (80F)

MONDAY:

both sun and clouds.  warm, with a risk of a couple of afternoon/evening thunderstorms.

morning low: 18C (65F)

daytime high: 27C (80F)

refreshment... (am.02.may.12)>

We have 100% sunshine early this morning for the first time in quite a long time -- and I have a sunrise temp of 56.8F (13.8C).  Our latest batch of rowdy thundershowers last night brought 0.15" (4mm) of rain, and very gusty winds which continued until the wee hours of the morning.  My low temperature actually dipped to 52.3F (11.3C) in the midst of the wind and showers around midnight... WAY cooler than normal for the beginning of May.

But as we've been talking about and looking foward to recently... we're on the verge of some positive changes. The complex upper-level weather system that has been hanging around and wreaking havoc for about the past 10 days has now weakened and lifted off to the northeast.  That will allow gradual warming in the mid- and upper-levels of the atmosphere which should bring us a greater degree of stability than we've seen in awhile.  Mountain micro-climate factors are going to come into play, however, so we'll have to be on alert for cloud and thundershower development over the mountains during the PM hours.  Hard to escape that risk this time of year.  Still... we should be able to enjoy a greater amount of sunshine, and it's going to start feeling much more like early summer.

Right now it looks like a steady warm-up is in order as we head toward the weekend... bringing us back to normal or even slightly above by Saturday and Sunday.

By the way... I posted a podcast discussion on final stats for April last night.  You can find it by clicking on the PODCAST tab above.

WEDNESDAY:

 sunny this morning, but some mountain clouds should develop this afternoon, along with a risk of a thundershower late PM.  pleasant temps!

high: 23C (73F)

WEDNESDAY NIGHT:

an evening thundershower?  otherwise clear to partly cloudy.

low: 14C (58F)

THURSDAY:

sunshine and a few clouds.  PM mountain thundershower risk?

high: 24C (75F)

FRIDAY:

sunny to partly cloudy.  warm-up continues...

morning low: 16C (60F)

daytime high: 25C (77F)

SATURDAY:

sunny to partly cloudy and seasonably warm.

morning low: 17C (62F)

daytime high: 26C (79F)

SUNDAY:

warm... with a mix of sunshine and clouds.

morning low: 18C (64F)

daytime high: 27C (80F)

shifting gears... (pm.01.may.12)>

We're in the midst of a partly cloudy and pleasantly mild evening... but this first day of May has been much more similar to what we would expect on the first day of April!  Clouds this morning gave way to some sun after 12:30pm, but then we had some brief (but loud) thunder between 3:30 and 4:00pm before the sunshine returned again in full force.  My high temp at the top of McLeod Ganj was just 69.6F (20.9C) -- a good 8F (4-5C) cooler than average.  Rainfall was just a trace... as has been the case the last three days.

**Update @ 9:47pm... very windy, with some thunder and light showers during the last hour.  Only 0.03" (1mm) in my rain gauge thus far.**

Thankfully, changes are on the way during the next few days, as our atmosphere undergoes a fundamental pattern shift.  The persistently disturbed upper-level flow of the past 10 days or so will be gradually replaced by a ridge of high pressure, which means that temperatures in the mid- and upper-levels are going to warm up, creating more of a stable situation.  Our micro-climate features here along the edge of the mountains may still allow a couple of isolated/random thundershowers to pop up, mainly in the PM hours, but we should see a more quiet and consistent scenario start to unfold overall, instead of these wild and dramatic swings between sun, clouds, thunder and wind.

It also looks like our temperatures will be warming up significantly between tomorrow and Sunday, bringing us back to "normal" for the season.  This year's summer season has been trying to arrive in fits and starts, but we should be making some great gains in the next several days...

TUESDAY NIGHT:

a thundershower or two in the area before midnight... otherwise partly cloudy.

low: 14C (58F)

WEDNESDAY:

a mix of sunshine and occasional clouds.  warmer... with an isolated PM thundershower possible.

high: 23C (74F)

WEDNESDAY NIGHT:

risk of an evening thundershower... then clear to partly cloudy.

low: 16C (60F)

THURSDAY:

partly cloudy skies.  an isolated PM thundershower over the mountains?

high: 24C (76F)

FRIDAY:

sunny to partly cloudy.  pleasantly warm.

morning low: 16C (61F)

daytime high: 25C (77F)

SATURDAY:

sunshine and a few clouds.  warming trend continues...

morning low: 17C (62F)

daytime high: 26C (79F)

SUNDAY:

a mix of sun and clouds.  seasonably warm.

morning low: 18C (64F)

daytime high: 27C (80F)

longing for summer... (am.01.may.12)>

It is cloudy on this first morning of May, and I'm recording an overnight low temperature of 57.0F (13.9C) which occurred just before 6:00am.  We had a fair amount of thunder and lightning last evening, but there were nothing more than a few sprinkles of rain... not enough to measure.

Although we got to enjoy a prolonged stretch of sunshine yesterday, I think we're all weary of this unsettled, occasionally showery, stormy and unseasonably coolish weather that has been hanging around for more than a week.  Unfortunately, we're not quite out of the woods yet, as a final, lingering upper-level disturbance will be moving across our area today.  Satellite photos this morning show a large patch of cloudiness overhead... extending westward into eastern Pakistan.  There could also be a few showers and thundershowers intermittently developing and then dying away as this disturbance tracks to the east during the coming 12 hours or so.  Hopefully we'll be able to get some sunshine at some point, however.

Starting tomorrow, the upper-level pattern is going to begin making its transition toward something more seasonable, with computer models showing a building ridge of high pressure in our neighborhood by the weekend.  Random afternoon thundershowers, mainly over the mountains, can't be entirely ruled out, but it should be generally quieter, and definitely warmer.  With only a little luck, we should be right at early May averages by Saturday...

TUESDAY:

clouds gradually giving way to some sun.  still a chance of a couple of showers or thundershowers in the area.

high: 22C (72F)

TUESDAY NIGHT:

a shower or thundershower possible in the evening, then clear to partly cloudy.

low: 14C (58F)

WEDNESDAY:

sunny to partly cloudy.  an isolated PM thundershower?

high: 23C (74F)

THURSDAY:

sunshine and a few clouds.  some PM mountain thunder?

morning low: 16C (60F)

daytime high: 24C (76F)

FRIDAY:

sunny to partly cloudy and pleasantly warm.

morning low: 16C (61F)

daytime high: 25C (77F)

SATURDAY:

partly to mostly sunny.  even warmer...

morning low: 17C (62F)

daytime high: 26C (79F)