Wednesday, April 11, 2012

plenty going on... (pm.11.apr.12)>

I'm watching the southern and western skies just before sunset this evening... and it's quite a dynamic picture.  Lots going on all around us.  There has been thunder overhead during the past 10 minutes or so, but no rain at the moment.  I've recorded another 0.39" (1cm) of rain since the 8:30am update added to this morning's post. That brings our storm total since early Tuesday morning to 1.43" (3.6cm).  The few brief periods of sunshine we had here and there only warmed us up to 63.9F (17.7C)... which is the coolest high temp here since the 15th of March.  Wow!

The upper-level disturbance responsible for all the wild weather during the past 36 hours is centered pretty much right on top of us this evening.  The counterclockwise (anti-clockwise) circulation around this system is keeping scattered showers and thunderstorms popping up from northern Pakistan and Kashmir, southeastward into central Uttar Pradesh.  This is definitely an unusually strong system for the middle of April. There have even been thunderstorms in Delhi and vicinity since last evening.

Unfortunately, or fortunately -- depending on your aversion to rain -- our pattern won't be showing dramatic signs of improvement for several more days.  Although thunderstorms will become fewer and futher between... the atmosphere is expected to remain moderately unstable all the way through Sunday.  There is a lot of discrepancy between computer models at the moment, but I think we'll need to remain braced for changeable weather and the appearance of sudden thundershowers.

In terms of temperatures, none of the computer model guidance was providing much of a "heads-up" for this intrusion of much cooler air.  An increasing amount of sunshine will allow us to gradually moderate, but now it seems we'll be stuck on the cool side of "normal" into early next week.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT:
partly cloudy, with scattered showers and thunderstorms in the area overnight.
low: 12C (53F)

THURSDAY:
partly cloudy and unseasonably cool.  still a couple of thundershowers possible.
high: 20C (68F)

THURSDAY NIGHT:
an evening thundershower?  then partly cloudy.
low: 13C (55F)

FRIDAY:
a mix of clouds and sun, with a good chance of a period of showers and thunderstorms.
high: 21C (69F)

SATURDAY:
partly cloudy with a chance of a thundershower.
morning low: 13C (55F)
daytime high: 21C (70F)

SUNDAY:
both sunshine and clouds.  a thundershower possible, mainly in the PM.
morning low: 13C (56F)
daytime high: 21C (70F)

MONDAY:
sunny to partly cloudy.  slightly warmer.
morning low: 14C (58F)
daytime high: 22C (72F)