Friday, August 28, 2015

one of the nicest... (pm.28.aug.15)>

Friday's stats:

Low temp: 62.2F (16.8C)
High temp: 75.5F (24.2C)
Rainfall: 0.23" (6mm)

One of the most pleasant days of the entire monsoon season is drawing to a close, with partly cloudy skies and some patchy fog.  The only rainfall here in the immediate McLeod Ganj area occurred during the very early morning hours -- not long after midnight -- when we had a short spell of thundershowers.  Otherwise, there has been no more rain at all today, at least none that I am aware of, and the sunshine was more prevalent than on any day during the past month.  That allowed our high temp to reach its highest level of the month of August as well.

As we begin to cross from August into September, we enter a time of year that can be highly variable and potentially frustrating.  All of the atmospheric dynamics that team up to produce the monsoon season here across the Indian subcontinent normally begin to weaken by this time -- but there can still be moderate to strong surges of moisture and supporting mid- and upper-level energy features that combine to produce periods of saturation and locally heavy rainfall.  Just last year, many people had written off the monsoon by this time, only to see the Kashmir Valley hit with devastating flooding during the first week of September.  That's why we have to watch how things evolve over the long-term, and resist the temptation to jump to early conclusions.

WETTEST MONTHS, MONSOON 2015: RAINFALL TALLY and A LOOK BACK: MONSOON 2014 on tabs above contain some facts that can put it all into perspective.  Also remember that the current forecast can be found on THE 7-DAY OUTLOOK.