Thursday, January 23, 2014

quiet times ahead... (pm.23.jan.14)>

Thursday's stats:

Low temp: 37.0F (2.8C)
High temp: 48.7F (9.3C)
Precipitation since midnight: trace
Precipitation total since Wed morning: 3.25" (8.3cm)

A quiet and peaceful evening is underway -- very different from what was taking place this time yesterday.  There are just a few clouds lingering around, but it is becoming mostly clear as darkness descends.  Full sunshine this morning afforded an exceptional view of the fresh snow on the mountains not far above town, but we did end up getting some patchy cloudiness by mid-day, thanks to a little lingering moisture combined with some serious melting/evaporation of that snow.  My high temp in the upper part of town ended up being very close to the average for this stage of January.

We had been running very very far below normal in terms of January precipitation until yesterday's 7-8 hour period of heavy rain (and snow mixed in for awhile) brought us to within about an inch (2.5cm) of the average monthly total.  Although we still haven't managed to get a good accumulating snowfall in McLeod proper this winter season, heavy snow piled up along the mountain slopes above.  Today I have heard reports of 1-4" in the Dharamkot area, between 6 and 10" around Galu Temple, and at least 1.5ft of snow near Magic View Cafe on the way to Triund.  Have received no reports about what happened at Triund itself, since things are shut down up there these days.

The way the latest weather charts and data are looking, we may not see another significant storm system before February arrives in another 8-9 days.  It looks very quiet and uneventful, with only a few very weak disturbances expected to ripple through northern India on a brisk westerly flow in the upper-atmosphere.  The moisture surge in advance of yesterday's system is now long gone, so our air mass should remain on the dry side for the next week at least.  There is a slight chance of a random shower at some point with one of these weak disturbances, otherwise a back-and-forth between sunshine and occasional clouds will be the rule -- with temperatures returning to the above normal range for the season.  Looking pretty painless for awhile...

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