Wednesday, September 18, 2013

three dry days... (pm.18.sep.13)>

*Update at 7:40pm... Lingering clouds and fog dissipated very rapidly at sunset, leaving us with clear skies and a great view of the big, bright, full moon in the eastern sky.  Humidity has now dropped to 58%.

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Wednesday's stats:

Low temp: 63.0F (17.2C)
High temp: 76.5F (24.7C) -- updated
Rainfall: none

It is mostly cloudy with some patchy fog in the area at sunset this evening.  We had full sunshine until about 12:30pm when a few cumulus clouds began to develop over the mountains, leading to generally partly cloudy skies for most of the afternoon.  Around 4:30pm, the cloud bases lowered to the point were we had a period of rather widespread fog here in the main market area of McLeod.  Up until that point, it had been a very nice day -- and the warmest since the 31st of July.  Humidity dipped as low as 38% during the late morning, but has obviously been on the rise since mid- to late afternoon.  Today has been the third day in a row without rain!

As of this evening, the India Met Department is announcing that an official monsoon withdrawal declaration is coming for more sections of northwest India during the next 48 hours.  They mention Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, AND Himachal Pradesh.  By Friday evening we should have word about the exact placement of the withdrawal line, and whether or not we'll be included.

The thicker clouds and fog during the past couple of hours are an example of what keeps me nervous and on edge during the final transition out of the monsoon season.  Our position here along the front slopes of the Dhauladhars is notoriously fickle, and usually if there are lingering pockets of moisture drifting around, they can easily be lifted and condensed into clouds, fog and even random thundershowers.  Don't be surprised by these variations in the midst of the major overall improvements in our recent weather scenario.  Sunshine should continue to dominate the majority of the time, but we're going to have to be constantly aware of rogue resurgences of moisture that could occur from time to time, all the way until the end of the month.

CURRENT FORECAST details can be found on the tab above.