Sunday, December 22, 2013

debriefing the action... (pm.22.dec.13)>

Sunday's stats:

Low temp: 34.2F (1.2C)
High temp: 42.8F (6.0C)
Rain/melted snow since midnight: 1.23" (3.1cm)
Total 24 hour precipitation: 1.98" (5.0cm)

Snowfall reports:

  • McLeod main market: trace
  • Tushita Road below mountaineering center: 1"
  • Dharamkot market area: 3-4"
  • Galu Temple: 6-8"
  • Triund: 18" (1.5ft)

Well it has certainly been an active 24 hour period, with a nice taste of winter weather coinciding with the winter solstice which occurred at 10:41pm last night.  I had nearly 2" of rain and melted snow/ice at my location in the upper part of town, and check out the snowfall reports (above), which are pretty healthy for December.  In fact, in 11 winters living on Tushita Road below the mountaineering center, I've never observed measurable snowfall during the month of December (nor had it reported to me by fellow housemates on the few years I've been away during that time).  In other words, last night's storm was more typical of something we experience in January or February.  Still, significant snowfall remained above McLeod proper -- as it certainly should this time of year.  A very close call nonetheless.

This weather system has also put an end to a dry spell which had been ongoing since the 9th of November, and given us almost the entire average monthly rainfall for December.  It ended up being much more of a rain/snow-maker than any computer model data predicted, and I'm beyond surprised at how much moisture it was able to gather and squeeze out on top of us.

AND -- my temp of 34.2F (1.2C) which was recorded during snowfall between 3-4am is the coldest of the season thus far, and abnormally cold for December.  Of course the widespread and very long-lasting power cuts around the area from last evening into mid-day today didn't help matters.

It looks like we'll now revert to our previous dry and quiet weather pattern as Christmas approaches.  Although there will continue to be some very weak disturbances riding eastward on a rather brisk jet stream, much drier air is forecast to sweep across northern India this week, keeping rain/snow chances at a minimum.  These way-below-normal temps in place at the moment will modify and moderate gradually during the coming several days, bringing us back pretty close to normal as we finish off the month.

Keep track of CURRENT FORECAST details on the tab at the top of the page.