Saturday, July 7, 2012

saturation point... (am.07.jul.12)>

Friday's high temp: 79.7F (26.5C)
This morning's low temp: 66.6F (19.2C)
24 hour rainfall: 0.44" (1.1cm)

Visibility is less than 50 meters in thick fog here on Tushita Road just below the mountaineering center early on this Saturday morning.  There have been periods of showers and thundershowers since late yesterday afternoon, as the thick clouds and fog very quickly swept in again -- but rainfall has been generally on the light side.  Of the 24 hour total listed above, 0.18" (5mm) of that has occurred since midnight.

According to current satellite pics, there are two main areas of rain/thunder across northern India this morning.  One is located in western Himachal Pradesh between here and Shimla, and the other sprawls across the southwestern quarter of Kashmir.  The very light flow aloft coming from the northwest will bring the Kashmir thundershowers into our area later this morning, if they hold together.  If not, then other development could occur randomly throughout the day.

There is no question that genuine monsoon conditions are gradually becoming more prevalent and widespread across northern India.  However, there are always meandering pockets of drier air in various layers of the atmosphere that can bring a break in the action from time to time.  During the coming several days we'll see occasional periods of moderate to heavy rains... but I'm optimistic that we'll also get stretches of rainless weather, and even some glimpses of sun here and there.  But even during breaks, we've reached the point where the humidity will be hard pressed to drop much below 80% for any decent length of time.

SATURDAY:
mostly cloudy with periods of fog.  more rain and thunder likely.
high: 22C (72F)

SATURDAY NIGHT:
partly to mostly cloudy.  periods of fog, along with a couple of showers with thunder.
low: 19C (67F)

SUNDAY:
mostly cloudy.  a few periods of fog, rain and thunder.
high: 23C (73F)

MONDAY:
a mix of clouds, fog and a bit of sun.  a couple of showers/thundershowers likely.
morning low: 20C (68F)
daytime high: 23C (74F)

TUESDAY:
partly to mostly cloudy with some fog at times.  one or two thundershowers in the area.
morning low: 20C (68F)
daytime high: 23C (74F)

WEDNESDAY:
mostly cloudy with periods of fog, rain and thunder likely.
morning low: 20C (68F)
daytime high: 22C (72F)