Sunday, April 19, 2015

threat of thunder... (pm.19.apr.15)>

Sunday's stats:

Low temp: 62.3F (16.8C)
High temp: 77.7F (25.4C)
Rainfall: trace

There are some breaks in the overcast this evening just before sunset, but we can still call it mostly cloudy.  Today unfolded according to plan and without surprises -- apart from the fact that our temperatures were a degree or two warmer than expected.  That gave us a new high for the season and the year (see stats above).  We had constant alternation between sunshine and clouds, with a couple of periods of brief sprinkles of rain and even some rumbling thunder between about 3:00 and 4:30pm.  Those raindrops were not enough to register a measurement in the gauge.

The general weather situation has been pretty fantastic the last three days, with our temps getting back to normal for mid-April, and even a bit above.  We've also had very little rain to worry about, along with a good amount of sunshine.  But our attention is now swinging toward the west, where an upper-level disturbance is making its way into Afghanistan.  Already this system has triggered widespread thunderstorm development over the western Himalayas, from northern Pakistan into Kashmir, and will cause an increase in the likelihood of at least a couple of waves of showers and thunderstorms in our area between tonight and late Monday night.  It won't rain continuously during that period -- at least I don't think so -- but be aware of potentially rapid changes, even if there are some nice sunny breaks at times.

Our atmosphere will attempt to stabilize on Tuesday, but I still think we could have an isolated thundershower or two around the area.  For the rest of the week, it looks like there will be a weak trough of low pressure aloft hanging over north India into Nepal -- and despite a continuation of seasonably warm temperatures, we'll probably have to deal with considerable afternoon cloud development, along with a risk of a PM thundershower or two as well.

Check THE 7-DAY OUTLOOK on the tab at the top of the page if you're interested in the specifics.