Wednesday, August 28, 2013

volatility... (pm.28.aug.13)>

Wednesday's stats:

Low temp: 63.0F (17.2C)
High temp: 70.3F (21.3C)
Rainfall: 0.94" (2.4cm)

There was nearly one inch of water in my rain gauge from a period of thundershowers this afternoon between about noon and 230pm -- that's the most rain I've recorded since exactly one week ago.  Both before and after that round of thundershowers we had a few glimpses of sunshine, but all in all, today hasn't been quite as bright as a few recent days.  Humidity stayed above 80%, and the temperature was a good 4-5F (2-3C) cooler than yesterday and Monday.

We've eased back into a more active phase of weather in the past 36 hours or so, as expected.  And according to computer model projections and current upper-air data, we stand a pretty good chance of picking up more significant rainfall between tonight and Friday, as tropical moisture gets pushed up against the mountains and forced to get squeezed out in the form of occasional showers and thundershowers.  This air mass is not as chock-full of moisture as it was just a couple of weeks ago, but some locally heavy rainfall amounts are within the realm of possibility.

Still watching with interest for any atmospheric feature which could arrive from the northwest and displace this tropical air mass that we've been dealing with more or less continuously since the second week of June.  Although there should be a drying trend occurring this weekend (during the August/September transition), it won't be the end of this year's monsoon.

MONSOON'S END?, on the tab above, will explain what needs to happen for us to get clear this year.  Also, get details on the CURRENT FORECAST and other info on other tabs at the top of the page.