Thursday, July 18, 2013

a temporary break... (am.18.jul.13)>

We've been in the midst of a lull in the action during the past 12 hours or so, as clouds have broken up and the humidity has dropped just slightly (to 92%).  There has been no additional rainfall overnight, with a total of only 0.19" (5mm) since this time yesterday morning.  My early morning temperature here on Tushita Road below the mountaineering center is 66.4F (19.1C).

As the sun comes over the mountain during the next hour or so, we could get some glimmers and glimpses of it, before the quick surface heating leads to the development of thicker clouds and fog once again.  Rain showers can develop at any time, but it's possible that we may get away with another day of relatively lighter rainfall totals before things start to change with the arrival of the weekend.

A major surge of tropical moisture and instability will team up starting on Friday, to put us in line for a couple of rounds of very heavy rainfall between then and Sunday.  Computer models are in agreement that rain amounts of 6-8" (15-20cm) are not out of the question across parts of Himachal Pradesh during that time period -- so if that happens we'll be dealing with lots of water flowing down the mountains which could lead to problems.  Every year we have at least a couple of events that cause a few road wash-outs and minor landslides in our immediate area... so just be aware that this weekend could be one of those times.  

Of course there will be plenty of updates to follow... and your CURRENT FORECAST can be found on the tab at the top of the page.

By the way, I've put up a poll over on the right-side column of the page on our love/hate relationship with the monsoon season -- register your opinion!