Saturday, May 5, 2012

mountain thunder machine... (pm.05.may.12)>

During this hour before sunset, we have partly cloudy skies, with the showers having ended just recently.  Our Saturday turned out to be more active and variable than expected!  We had warm sunshine until about 10am, rapidly erupting cloudiness and a brief period of sprinkles and light showers just before noon, more nice sunshine between 12:30pm and 2:30pm -- and then a lively round of thundershowers between about 3:30pm and 5:30pm.(!)   I had a rainfall total of 0.20" (5mm),  and my high temp at the top of McLeod Ganj was 77.5F (25.3C).

The moral of the story for today is that you just never really know what might happen when differing air masses collide along the outer Himalayan ranges.  None of the computer models had a handle on what was happening today, but in retrospect, it's quite obvious that the big wall of warmer air shifting northward encountered lingering colder air entrenched over the mountains... which led to the scattered shower and thundershower action.  I was anticipating an isolated thundershower or two, but was surprised that it got rolling so early, and that we had two distinct waves.

So what does this mean for us going forward?  The warmer, summertime air continues to knock on our door, so during sunny periods we will still be expecting the warmest temperatures of the season during the coming several days.  On the other hand, it's impossible not to include the occasional round of showers and/or thunderstorms in the forecast -- mainly during the afternoon and evening hours -- with chances actually increasing as we approach the middle of next week.

SATURDAY NIGHT:
full moon rising.  another random thundershower possible overnight., otherwise partly cloudy and mild.
low: 18C (65F)

SUNDAY:
warmer... with a mix of sun and clouds.  a thundershower or two possible, mainly in the PM.
high: 27C (81F)

SUNDAY NIGHT:
scattered thundershowers in the area during the evening, otherwise partly cloudy.
low: 19C (66F)

MONDAY:
partly cloudy and warm.  a couple of showers/thunderstorms possible.
high: 28C (83F)

TUESDAY:
both sunshine and clouds.  good chance of a period of thunderstorms.
morning low: 19C (67F)
daytime high: 28C (83F)

WEDNESDAY:
seasonably warm temps... otherwise partly cloudy with a good chance of a thunderstorm or two.
morning low: 19C (67F)
daytime high: 28C (82F)

THURSDAY:
a mix of clouds and sun.  good chance of more thunderstorms in the area.
morning low: 19C (66F)
daytime high: 28C (81F)