Tuesday, April 1, 2014

a fresh start... (am.01.apr.14)>

There are a few streaks of high cirrus clouds off to our south, otherwise it's clear at sunrise on this first morning of April.  I've recorded an overnight low of 52.9F (11.6C), and there has been no rainfall since last report.  The humidity reading this morning is 42%.

Psychologically anyway, it's a great feeling to be putting our very wet months of February and March behind us.  We amassed a total of 17.34" (44.0cm) of rain during that period, with 7.94" (20.2cm) ending up the total for March alone.  These numbers are well above DOUBLE the average, and when you translate that into the amount of snow pack up on the mountains, it's a truly staggering amount.  We shouldn't be in a position to be wanting for water during the upcoming drier season, which is good news.

Another fine day is shaping up -- though there has been enough of an instability problem to get lots of clouds percolating over the mountains by mid-day, leading to an isolated shower with some thunder up there.  Be aware of that potential again this afternoon.  We now have to watch as a weak upper-level disturbance ripples across the area tomorrow into early Thursday, bringing with it a slightly better chance of some scattered showers and thundershowers.  The best chance of picking up some significant rain still appears to be tomorrow (Wed) night, though computer model data isn't showing very impressive amounts for us.  There will be a dip in temps as this weak system pushes through.

Very quickly -- by Thursday afternoon -- a new and rather strong ridge of high pressure is forecast to develop across northern India.  This could cause temperatures to rise to their warmest levels of the season as we head into the weekend, though it looks like we may have to contend with some mainly high cloudiness at times.  The next good chance of some rain enters the picture by late Sunday.

CURRENT FORECAST details can be found on the tab at the top of the page.