Tuesday, March 25, 2014

hopeful signs... (am.25.mar.14)>

There are some nice breaks in the overcast at sunrise this morning, but there have been some rain showers as recently as about an hour ago.  In fact, scattered showers and occasionally gusty winds were going on throughout most of the night -- and my rain gauge shows an additional 0.38" (1.0cm) since 9:15pm.  The total rainfall since very late Sunday night has been 1.87" (4.7cm) here at my location on Tushita Road just below the mountaineering center.  The current temp is 50.4F (10.2C), but I'm recording an overnight low of 46.2F (7.9C).

This recent blast of wet weather happened almost exactly according to scheduled expectations, and also has delivered expected amounts of rainfall.  The ingredients which led to that lengthy period of rain are now disassembling, and we should see some improving weather during the coming mid-week period.  There will still be enough instability and lingering moisture in this air mass to keep us concerned about a few scattered showers or maybe a thundershower today, but we'll also see some sunshine to lift our spirits.  Rain chances won't drop to zero tomorrow (Wed) or Thursday either, but we should at least be able to enjoy many hours of dry weather -- with the risk of showers confined mainly to the PM hours over the mountains.

The next upper-level disturbance will come knocking by Thursday night, however, and that will increase our rain/thunder chances yet again for Friday into perhaps early Saturday.  In the meantime, some sunny breaks will boost temperatures into the pleasant category, but still a few degrees below normal for the final days of March.

Check the CURRENT FORECAST details on the tab above.