Tuesday, February 11, 2014

mid-week calm... (pm.11.feb.14)>

Tuesday's stats:

Low temp: 36.3F (2.4C)
High temp: 46.6F (8.1C)
Precipitation: 0.02" (less than 1mm)
Snowfall: trace

Our skies have rapidly cleared out this evening, at the end of day full of alternating variables.  There was actually a good amount of sunshine (in the midst of clouds) this morning, but the clouds thickened up by mid-afternoon, leading to some random snowflakes by about 2:45pm.  Then, we actually had a fairly impressive period of snow showers between roughly 3:30pm and 4:15pm.  It was too warm here at our surface level to get any accumulation out of it, but it was a nice sight anyway.  Peeks of sun returned even in the midst of the snow showers, with that dramatic late afternoon/early evening clearing following close behind.  It's been another cold day -- and the eighth in a row below 50F (10C).

This departing upper-level disturbance really didn't do much for us, but it wasn't expected to.  Clouds, a surge of colder temps, and just a few short-lived rain/snow showers are all we got out of it since yesterday evening.  We're now poised on the edge of some improving weather conditions for the mid-week period -- in the form of a modest moderation in temperatures and (hopefully) a greater percentage of sunshine tomorrow and Thursday.  Especially on Thursday, we stand a good chance of warming above 50F (10C), as long as the sunshine can hang on.

If you're waiting for a sustained period of nicer weather though, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed.  Right now there is a brand new upper-level circulation over northern Iraq which has its sights set on northern India this weekend.  At this early stage of observation, the computer models are showing a very impressive winter storm system winding up right on top of us by Friday morning, with the best chance of significant rain and snowfall lasting into Saturday morning.  The other interesting thing is that atmospheric temperature profiles strongly favor SNOW at our elevation -- so despite the late date, we can't rule out the potential for a long-awaited accumulating snowfall.  As you well know, all kinds of things can change in the meantime, so stay tuned as Friday approaches...

CURRENT FORECAST specifics are on the tab above.