Friday, November 22, 2013

ridges and troughs... (am.22.nov.13)>

We're starting to see some patches of high clouds develop and move in from the west early this morning, but the sun should be visible as it rises over the mountains shortly.  My temp is near 49F (9.5C) at the moment, and humidity is a low 28%.

The upper-air pattern has been fast-moving and very changeable recently, and will continue that way through the weekend.  Temperatures aloft are warming dramatically again, as a steep ridge of high pressure builds across northwest India.  At the same time, a rather strong storm system is swirling around the vicinity of the southern Caspian Sea, and will be easing its way east-northeastward during the next 48-72 hours.  This storm system looks like it will be unable to blast through the ridge of high pressure over northwest India, so it will be torn apart and flatten out as it moves into the western Himalayas.  That means some waves of high clouds are probably all we'll get out of this, and perhaps an isolated rain/snow shower in the higher elevations late Saturday or Sunday.

After a brief cooler spell, our temperatures should be on the rise again over the course of the weekend.  But -- in spite of a gradually warming air mass, we'll have to be aware of the effect of the high cloudiness.  If we have a period of thicker cloud cover during the maximum heating time of the day, then we won't reap the benefits.  

CURRENT FORECAST details can be found on the tab above.