Tuesday, January 1, 2013

ordinary for january... (pm.01.jan.13)>

Tuesday's stats:

Low temp: 44.2F (6.8C) -- shortly after midnight
High temp: 51.6F (10.9C) -- 11:15am
Rainfall: none

Skies are clear just after sunset this evening... the culmination of a clearing trend that began around 3:00pm.  A high overcast dominated the whole day up to that point, keeping our temperatures from fluctuating very much today.  It's been a chilly one.

A fast-moving upper-level disturbance ushered in 2013 for us here along the Dhauladhar range in Himachal Pradesh, providing the cloud cover that we experienced for the majority of this New Year's Day.  There could have been some brief, random snow showers way up along the highest mountain peaks, but this latest system has been moisture-starved... as we've grown used to since the middle of last month.  There will be another couple of relatively disorganized disturbances moving through later this week, but there are no indications that we'll be able to squeeze any rain or snowfall out of them.  We are firmly in the grip of a winter drought, with no hope for significant moisture on the horizon.

Winter fog season is in full swing down on the plains, as cold air funnels through the valleys and pools in the lower elevations, trapped below a layer of slightly milder air aloft -- a classic January temperature inversion pattern!

It's been getting steadily cooler during the past couple of weeks, and that general trend is expected to continue through the weekend.  Although we're pretty close to seasonal norms, it's not likely that we'll drop much below average for early January...

TUESDAY NIGHT:
mostly clear skies... quite cold.
low: 4C (40F)

WEDNESDAY:
sunshine and just a few clouds.  seasonably cold.
high: 11C (51F)

THURSDAY:
sunshine giving way to increasing clouds.
morning low: 4C (40F)
daytime high: 11C (51F)

FRIDAY:
partly cloudy, to mostly cloudy at times.
morning low: 6C (42F)
daytime high: 11C (51F)

SATURDAY:
a mix of clouds and sun.  breezy and cold.
morning low: 4C (40F)
daytime high: 9C (49F)

SUNDAY:
sunny to partly cloudy.  temps near normal for january.
morning low: 4C (39F)
daytime high: 9C (49F)