Wednesday, December 12, 2012

"in-between" day... (am.12.dec.12)>

It is mostly clear at sunrise this morning, and I'm recording a very cold overnight low temp of 39.7F (4.3C).  We've gone from several degrees ABOVE normal to several degrees BELOW normal since the weekend.

Although we have very few clouds at the moment, that is going to be changing shortly.  Satellite pics show a large area of mainly high clouds spreading eastward from Afghanistan into Pakistan, in association with some slight (and temporary) warming in the mid- and upper-levels of the atmosphere.  Those clouds will move into much of northwest India during the next few hours, preventing us from getting a full dose of sunshine today.  Still, today will be relatively pleasant, considering what is on the way for the rest of the week.

A new storm system will develop across the western Himalayas late tonight and Thursday, putting us under the gun yet again for some significant rain and snow.  Computer model guidance is calculating precipitation amounts in the range of 3-4cm (1.2-1.6") for the period between mid-day Thursday and Friday evening.  If that holds true, it would be 4-5 times greater than the amounts we received on Tuesday morning.  Additionally, temperatures will be even colder as this system moves through, so I think we stand a good chance of picking up some accumulating snowfall here in McLeod.

Typical ratios of rain:snow are 1:10 -- meaning, an inch of liquid rain = 10" of snow.  You can probably do the math yourself and see that there could be a lot of snow around here, or just above us, if this storm materializes as projected.  Check back for a full updated forecast this evening...