Saturday, August 18, 2012

below the norm... (pm.18.aug.12)>

From reports I have received, it seems that August is (so far) running quite a bit behind as far as rainfall is concerned.  I have a report from Naddi of approximately 13" (33cm) for the month up until yesterday morning (the 17th) -- which is only 65-70% of normal.  Rainfall amounts can be highly variable across our area, however, so there could be some areas which have picked up much more, and some less.

*By the way... just saw a report that Dharamsala received 7.5" (19cm) of rain in the 24 hours ending at 830am today (Sat/18th).  I haven't heard whether or not there was heavy rainfall of that magnitude in the McLeod area... but if so, that would be the heaviest daily total of this monsoon season.

*Also just received a report from Naddi that the rain gauge (which holds about 5.5"/15cm) was full to the brim and overflowing... so I guess that means it was INDEED the heaviest rain of the entire season.  Hope you all enjoyed it...

As I sit in Thailand looking at some of the computer model data available online, I see that conditions appear to be looking more favorable for heavy rainfall between now and Wednesday morning.  I am pretty skeptical of the computer models without being able to be on top of local observations -- but just wanted to let you know that there could be some more significant rainfall totals coming up in the next few days...

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

in the groove (pm.01.aug.12)>

We really made a run for it during the last four days of July.  
  • Total rainfall between the 28th and the 31st amounted to 7.92" (20.1cm), which was the greatest 4-day total of the season.  
  • The total for the final week of the month was 11.96" (30.4cm), which is actually well above normal for the middle of monsoon season.  
  • The month of July ended with a grand total of 31.61" (80.3cm).  That is about 7.5" (19.1cm) less than average, or 81% of normal.  Considering the fact that the majority of northwest India is running just 65-70% of normal, we're doing much better than most.  That is, of course, thanks to our elevation and the Dhauladar thunder machine factor.
I'm on my way out of India, due to visa/immigration requirements, so regular forecasts won't be available for the next several weeks.  If you have observations, reports, or other comments, I am always happy to receive them.  You can either post in the comments section here on the blog, on our facebook page, or email me here.  Wherever you are in the Dharamsala metro area :-), I'd love to hear from you.