Monday, March 10, 2014

a dynamic system... (am.10.mar.14)>

*Update @ 10:48am... We've had numerous mainly brief showers so far this morning, with occasional thunder/lightning and some small hail.  My rain gauge shows 0.13" (3mm).  There have been a few glimpses of sun thrown into the mix as well.

*Update @ 8:43am... Thundershower in progress, with an impressive amount of pea to marble-size hail.  Current temp is 49.1F (9.5C), but obviously much colder than that a few thousand feet above us in the middle of this cumulonimbus cloud!

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The sky looks very threatening at dawn this morning, with strong and gusty winds which have been the theme of the post-midnight hours.  I've still had nothing more than a trace of rain here at my location in the upper part of town -- in the form of some sprinkles and brief light showers.  The low temp has been 48.0F (8.9C), but it's currently 51.4F (10.8C) as these wind gusts churn up the atmosphere.  The humidity is fluctuating, but right now it's still a relatively dry 39%.

A massive area of rain and thunderstorms has moved across northern Pakistan and Kashmir during the overnight hours, and we're right on the southern edge of all that this morning.  This initial wave of precipitation is out ahead of a developing upper-level low pressure circulation right over the middle of Afghanistan -- which is still expected to strengthen and move to near the Pakistan/Punjab border by late tomorrow (Tue) night.  The flow of moisture being pulled up from the south has so far been confined mainly to the middle and upper levels of the atmosphere, but as deeper, richer, low-level moisture gets introduced into the equation, we'll see our rain potential rising.

Even at this stage, the various computer model solutions are all over the place with regard to rainfall amounts -- ranging from about 3cm (1.2"), all the way up to more than 12cm (4.7") by noon on Wednesday.  Just be prepared for a few waves of rain and thunder between now and that time, with strong and gusty winds coming and going as well.  And of course continue to be aware of the risk of heavy snowfall up toward Triund during the next 48 hours or so.

Some good news to look forward to... a very impressive warming trend will quickly get going by Thursday.  Although it may not last more than two or three days, it should take us well above 60F (15.5C) for the first time this season.

CURRENT FORECAST details can be found on the tab above.