Saturday, December 28, 2013

waning days of 2013... (pm.28.dec.13)>

Saturday's stats:

Low temp: 41.9F (5.5C)
High temp: 50.2F (10.1C)
Precipitation: none

It is clear, calm and quiet just after sunset this evening.  There was some cloud cover along the Dhauladhars today, otherwise we had lots of sunshine -- perhaps even more than the last few days.  The wind was gusting on and off this morning, but managed to calm down during the afternoon hours.  Temperatures were very very close to normal for the waning days of December -- but the comfort factor depends on sun vs. shade.

McLeod Ganj tends to attract a lot of visitors for the New Year holiday, so it would be nice to say that we've got some dry and sunny and mild weather on the way as the calendar flips from 2013 to 2014.  Unfortunately, we've still got to keep our eyes on a storm system over Afghanistan which is going to be very slowly moving in our direction by late Monday and Tuesday (New Year's Eve).  There have been very few changes in the resolution of the computer model data -- which indicates this system will rapidly weaken and die out as it finally reaches northern India.  Even so, there will be an area of low pressure developing over western Rajasthan as the upper-level system approaches, which will be able to grab some moisture and funnel it northward into the mountains of Himachal.  That means there should be enough "fuel" for rain shower development here at our elevation, and some moderate snows in the mountains above -- especially on Tuesday into early Wednesday.

Although temperatures will drop with the onset of precipitation, it looks like any really cold air will be short-lived, with temps rapidly rebounding late Wednesday through the end of the week as what's left of that system moves out of the picture.

Bottom line... if you have plans to be in McLeod over the New Year holiday, just have the rain gear in tow, but don't worry too much about significant snow here in town.  Will do my best to keep you updated.

CURRENT FORECAST specs are on the tab at the top of the page.