Friday, April 18, 2014

grim indeed... (pm.18.apr.14)>

*Update @ 9:23pm... A more consistent and steady batch of light rain/thunder moved in around 7:30pm -- right on time.  Today's total rainfall has now surpassed a quarter of an inch (7mm), with more on the way overnight.  Current temp: 50.9F (10.5C).

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Friday's stats:

Low temp: 50.5F (10.3C)
High temp: 59.2F (15.1C)
Rainfall: 0.28" (7mm) -- as of 9:20pm

It's looking pretty grim out there this evening, with totally cloudy skies and some spotty very light drizzle in the area.  Today's high temp was the coolest I've recorded since the 28th of March, thanks to clouds and occasional rain showers that almost completely trumped the sun.  We did get some glimpses of sunshine around mid-day, but those were brief and easy to miss.  Rainfall up to this point has not been substantial at all -- I've had a total of 0.23" (6mm) in my rain gauge since this recent spell of unsettled weather began on Tuesday evening.

The final disturbance in this long-lasting series is the strongest of them all, and is centered right along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border at sunset this evening.  The satellite view is showing a very nice counter-clockwise circulation associated with it, and also an impressive amount of shower and thunderstorm activity near and to the east of the center itself.  It looks like the most significant rainfall potential/amounts of the entire week will be upon us tonight and Saturday -- with some thunder and strong winds on occasion as well.  The latest computer model data is fairly consistent with about 1.2" (3cm) in our general vicinity by the time this system moves out of here late tomorrow night.  That's a pretty heavy amount for an April storm system, so it will be interesting to see what materializes in the rain gauge during the coming 24 hour or so.

Easter Sunday should bring some major improvement, with a stabilizing atmosphere providing us with more sunshine and a rapid temperature rebound.  In fact, as long as the April sun doesn't get eclipsed by too much random cloudiness, we should be enjoying some pleasantly warm weather as the new week unfolds.

Check the CURRENT FORECAST details on the tab above.