Saturday, May 9, 2015

hazy, dusty skies... (pm.09.may.15)>

Saturday's stats:

Low temp: 68.5F (20.3C)
High temp: 85.8F (29.9C)
Rainfall: none

There are just a few clouds out there at sunset this evening, but the bigger issue is the thick haze -- consisting of a lot of dust and dirt trapped in the atmosphere.  We had the expected mix of hazy sun and clouds today, with some isolated thundershower development further northeast of us in the mountains.  Once again, we were spared any rainfall in McLeod -- with only a trace of precipitation in my rain gauge during these first nine days of the month of May.

Today was also the first day this month that our high temperature didn't exceed the one of the previous day.  My high temp in the upper part of town was about 1ºF less than yesterday's... mainly due to the effect of the thicker haze dimming the sun's influence.  We still have a mid-summer-like high pressure ridge parked over western and northern India, but it looks like it will be gradually giving way to a couple of disturbances easing in from the west as we head into the new week.  So far, the upper-level flow has not been favorable for us to get thundershowers here at our elevation and orientation along the front slopes of the mountains -- but that will change -- especially during the period between Monday and Wednesday.  There could be some isolated thunder development tomorrow (Sun), but it's looking more and more likely that we'll have to wait longer for any appreciable rainfall.

Upper-level energy will combine with slightly colder air aloft and a batch of moisture-laden air pushing in from the Arabian Sea to bring in the better chances of scattered showers and thunderstorms during that Monday to Wednesday time frame.  AND -- our temperatures will likely cool off a few degrees at that time as well.  However, a fresh ridge of high pressure will dry things out and warm us up again during the latter part of the week.

Other info, including THE 7-DAY OUTLOOK can be found on tabs above.