Thursday, October 29, 2015

the subjectivity factor... (pm.29.oct.15)>

Thursday's stats:

Low temp: 52.2F (11.2C)
High temp: 63.1F (17.3C)
Rainfall: none

Lingering clouds are rapidly disappearing this evening during the hour after sunset, though it is rather hazy.  We had a morning filled with glorious sunshine, but a few traces of cumulus clouds appeared along the Dhauladhars by noon, and then there was an explosion of cloudiness all along the mountains during the early to mid-afternoon hours which eclipsed our sunshine completely from time to time after about 2:30pm.  Humidity ranged from 40-50%, with temperatures slightly cooler than projected.

I have learned over the years that people's perceptions of temperatures are highly subjective -- even among those who live here semi-permanently.  Just in the last two days I had one person say to me, "It's been really warm so far this autumn, hasn't it?"  And then another, "It's getting really cold really early this year, isn't it?"  This happens not only in the fall, but throughout the year.  Just observe what people are wearing in the market throughout the day, and you'll see evidence of this sometimes mind-boggling disparity in terms of how people are personally interpreting the temperature.  All of this to say -- I can only tell you what the thermometer is saying, and provide some kind of a context according to what might be either above or below normal for the season.  Whether you think it is hot or cold depends on you.!

Anyway -- the upper-level disturbance which has been the main weather-maker in our area since way back on Sunday is now centered over southcentral Uttar Pradesh, and continues to drift off to the east.  Warmer air in the mid- and upper-levels of the atmosphere is trying to build across northwest India, but as evidenced by this afternoon's mountain cloud development issues, we're still dealing with a slightly unsettled air mass.  The next several days will be characterized by more sunshine vs cloud competition, but overall, things are looking quite nice.

Back to the temperature quirks -- we have been averaging above normal for most of this past month, and it looks like that trend will continue as we cross over into November.

Many other bits of info, including THE 7-DAY OUTLOOK, can be found on tabs above.