15 days without rain... (am.24.nov.13)>

Some thin patches of high clouds are scattered across the area at sunrise this morning, but it is a beautiful start to the day nonetheless.  My temperature on Tushita Road just below the mountaineering center is 54.5F (12.5C), which is extremely mild for the latter part of November.  Humidity is currently 40%.  We've now had 15 days in a row without so much as a drop of rain.

Varying degrees of high cloudiness has been moving across the area on fast upper-level winds throughout the night and early morning hours.  The storm system way off to our west that we've been watching the last few days is nearly stationary, just to the east of the Caspian Sea, and weakening rapidly.  The high pressure ridge locked in place over northwest India recently will break down only slightly over the next several days, which should keep our weather dry and rather mild for this time of year.  There will continue to be occasional waves of high clouds being carried along from west-to-east in the rapid upper flow, but our skies should still balance out mostly sunny.

No drama whatsoever is showing up on the weather charts all the way through the coming week, so November should end pretty much as it should -- boring.

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nothing inclement... (pm.23.nov.13)>

Saturday's stats:

Low temp: 52.0F (11.1C)

High temp: 61.0F (16.1C)

Rainfall: none

With no exaggeration, I have to say that this evening's sunset was one of the most stunning I have seen this year.  With the layer of high clouds to the west, and the inversion layer in the lowest levels and in the valleys, there were some spectacular colors for about 20 minutes or so -- red, purple, pink, orange, yellow, green, and every combination of the above.  We managed to hold on to a lot of sunshine today, despite the occasional waves of high cloudiness and some light haze mainly during the afternoon hours.  I recorded a high temp above 60F again, after a respite of a couple of days.

An intense upper-level circulation/disturbance remains well to our west, and has lifted northeast into western Turkmenistan since this morning.  We're on the outer fringes of this system, and that's why we've seen the high cloudiness drifting in from the west.  The high pressure ridge in place across northwest India is strong and stubborn, and will not allow that disturbance to get any closer to us than it is already... so it will weaken and die out altogether as it drifts north-northeastward during the next 24-36 hours or so.

Thanks to that high pressure ridge, our temperatures are running above normal for this time of year yet again -- and it looks like we'll stay generally on the mild side at least into the middle of next week.  The upper-level flow will start to flatten out, leaving us with an uneventful pattern which could take us all the way until the end of the month.

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sun vs. high clouds... (am.23.nov.13)>

There are a few small patches of high clouds around, otherwise it is mostly clear at sunrise on this Saturday morning.  The current temp (and overnight low) is right around 52F (11C), which is on the mild side for the season.  Humidity is 51%.

Satellite pics this morning are looking ominous off to our west -- as a strong storm system centered in extreme northeastern Iran continues to spin around.  However, a healthy ridge of high pressure remains parked over much of Pakistan and the northwest third of India, so it still looks like that storm system will not be able to make much headway to the east.  Instead, it is forecast to lift north-northeastward and weaken during the next 48 hours.  We're going to get brushed with a few waves of high cloudiness over the weekend, but it looks like the chance of any significant precipitation will be very low.  I think there could be some random rain/snow showers up along the higher mountain peaks tomorrow (Sun), but that should be about it.

Temperatures remain a bit of a wild card during the next couple of days -- this air mass is warming up enough that we could see temperatures in the 60-64F (16-18C) range, as long as the sun cooperates.  The problem is, a few hours of high cloud cover could rob us of that unseasonable warmth.  Still, nothing particularly cold for this time of year should affect us over the course of the coming several days at least.

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inversion, high clouds, etc... (pm.22.nov.13)>

Friday's stats:

Low temp: 48.7F (9.3C)
High temp: 58.5F (14.7C)
Rainfall: none

It is hazy with a few thin patches of high clouds scattered around the area just after sunset this evening.  Although we could easily call it a 'mostly sunny' day, there was a period of fairly extensive high cloudiness for a couple of hours this morning, and the visibility was reduced due to haze for much of this afternoon into the evening.  Temperatures were slightly milder this afternoon than the last two days, while the humidity fluctuated rather dramatically -- from around 25% early this morning to just over 50% during the middle of the afternoon.

There is a lot of warming occurring in the mid- and upper-levels of the atmosphere right now, as a strong ridge of high pressure pumps up across the northwest one-third of India.  With cooler air trapped in the lower levels, we're again seeing the effects of a temperature inversion, with that haze, smoke, and whatever other kinds of pollution unable to escape upward.  I think the warming will translate to our elevation and below as well over the course of the weekend -- through occasional waves of high cloudiness may hinder the sun's effect on the warming air mass.

The high clouds are associated with a strong storm system centered over northeastern Iran this evening.  This system won't ever make it here though, as it is forecast to lift northeastward and eventually northward as it weakens and blows itself out.  Our big challenge this weekend will be the anticipation of how extensive any cloudiness might be, and how that will affect our temps -- but rain and/or snow potential still looks very low anywhere in Himachal Pradesh.

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