Wednesday, May 9, 2012

weather to savor... (pm.09.may.12)>

Enjoying an idyllic May evening... it really doesn't get much better than this anytime of the year.  We have mostly clear skies as the sun sinks toward the horizon, after a day featuring lots of sun at the beginning and end, but a couple of hours of cloudiness during the middle of the afternoon.  Despite that build-up of ominous-looking clouds, I'm not aware of any rainfall in the area.  My high temp in the upper part of town reached 85.1F (29.5C) during the noon hour -- yet another new HIGH for 2012.

Reaching 85F without thunderstorms erupting is an indication of how warm it is in the upper-atmosphere as well... which squashes the instability and keeps things rather calm.  This is classic summertime weather in McLeod Ganj -- something to be relished and savored since it can be a fleeting phenomenon.  It looks like we may get another day of generally quiet weather, along with these very warm temps, before the next change starts evolving.

An upper level disturbance will slowly ease our way from the west and northwest starting on Friday.  The main feature of this system will be significantly colder temperatures aloft which, combined with this unseasonably warm air at the surface, will lead to an increasingly unstable air mass going into the weekend.  Right now, it looks like the best chances of significant thunderstorms will be from late Thursday night through Saturday night. Temps will drop as well... but should still remain comfortable for the first half of May.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT:
clear to partly cloudy skies... very mild!
low: 21C (69F)

THURSDAY:
a mix of sunshine and clouds... still WARM.  some PM thunder possible?
high: 29C (85F)

THURSDAY NIGHT:
partly cloudy.  chance of thunderstorms in the area.
low: 21C (69F)

FRIDAY:
partly cloudy.  good chance of a period or two of showers and thunderstorms.
high: 28C (83F)

SATURDAY:
not as warm... with both clouds and sun.  good chance of a couple of thunderstorms.
morning low: 19C (66F)
daytime high: 27C (80F)

SUNDAY:
partly cloudy and comfortably warm.  still a risk of a thunderstorm.
morning low: 18C (64F)
daytime high: 26C (78F)

MONDAY:
a mix of sun and clouds.  chance of a thunderstorm, mainly in the PM.
morning low: 17C (63F)
daytime high: 26C (78F)