Friday, December 27, 2013

the nature of winter... (pm.27.dec.13)>

Friday's stats:

Low temp: 38.8F (3.8C)
High temp: 46.8F (8.2C)
Precipitation: none

It's mostly clear out there as the light fades from the western sky this evening.  Although we had lots of sunshine today, the cold air mass in place across our area kept temperatures very near the coldest of the season thus far, and a period of very gusty winds this morning added to the winter chill.  There were a few clouds around today, but most of them remained confined to the mountain slopes to our north and east.

Climatologically speaking, we're getting into the coldest four week period of the entire year, so these chilly temperatures should come as no surprise.  In fact, even with the dip in temps during the past 24 hours or so, we're still running fairly close to normal/average for the season.  It's going to be another cold night tonight, but then there should be some slight moderation over the weekend into early next week.

All eyes are on a strong upper-level circulation which is just now dropping southeastward into northern parts of Afghanistan.  It will be our next significant weather-maker as it eases toward northern India during the coming four days or so.  Computer models are still showing some moisture being pulled northward in advance of this system, and this will bring us an increase in cloudiness by Monday, and a good chance of some rain showers (and maybe thunder) on New Year's Eve (Tues).  The interesting thing is that all the data continues to indicate that this system is going to rapidly weaken and die as a ridge of high pressure exerts its influence over northwest India by New Year's Day (Wed) -- so right now it looks like we'll be spared a major winter storm situation.  Just check back here for frequent updates as new data becomes available.

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