Wednesday, February 27, 2013

ferocious... (am.27.feb.13)>

*Update @ 3:17pm... Drier air has swept in aloft, but there's still a lot of low-level moisture here along the mountains -- that means we'll still have to watch for potential thundershower development for a few more hours.  My current temp is now up to 50.2F (10.1C) with 77% humidity.

*Update @ 1:19pm... There have been a couple of more rounds of showers since last report, the most recent one included a period of small hail and very heavy rain.  I have 0.80" (2.0cm) in my rain gauge, and the current temp is 48.0F (8.9C).  Satellite pics show a sharp clearing line just to our southwest, but it remains to be seen if it will be for real here along the mountain slopes, or if there will be more thundershower development during the afternoon/early evening.

*Update @ 8:26am... I don't know if it's the same story all over town or not, but my power has fluctuated on and off at least a dozen times since the high winds kicked in around 1:30am or so.  My temp is also fluctuating wildly -- now back up to 44.4F (6.9C).

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What a nasty morning.  I've recorded 0.35" (9mm) of rain since thundershowers began sometime after about 3am.  It was a balmy 56.5F (13.6C) until the rain started, then my temp here in the upper part of town has plummeted to a current 41.9F (5.5C).  And then there's the issue of extremely strong wind gusts.

Our upper-level storm center is located over northern Pakistan early this morning, and will be moving slowly toward the northeast today and this evening.  We should see occasional showers and thunderstorms until the system moves northeast of us and weakens late tonight.  I think it's possible that we could get some breaks in the clouds from time to time, but any sunshine is only going to destabilize the atmosphere and allow the development of more thunderstorms.

Snow has made it down to the 2300m/7500ft level, it appears, but accumulating/heavier snow should remain well above us.

The good news is that we are in for a very rapid, dramatic warm-up in the wake of this storm -- just in time for the weekend, and the arrival of March.  We can look forward to, by far, the warmest weather of 2013.