Sunday, March 20, 2016

drier and milder... (pm.20.mar.16)>

Sunday's stats:

Low temp: 49.1F (9.5C)
High temp: 57.9F (14.4C)
Rainfall: trace

Here in the middle of McLeod Ganj it is about 75% overcast as sunset approaches.  Variable cloudiness was the forecast, and that's been the only way to describe sky conditions today -- with a couple of rather dramatic swings between clouds and full sunshine.  The shower/thunderstorm development didn't really get going, though there were a few light rain showers accompanied by gusty winds during the very early morning hours.  Temperatures remain well below normal for the latter half of March, and the official first day of spring.

This is the time of year when we can experience some wild swings in temps -- from unseasonably cool to nearly summer-like warmth (and back) in a matter of just a few days.  It's looking like we may get to experience that as we close out the month, as the first truly warm air of the season builds on the plains just to our south, but gets challenged by lingering late-winter air across the western Himalayas to our north and west.  A high pressure ridge will be building in by late Tuesday into Wednesday, which right now looks like it will deliver a fairly impressive warm-up for us during the middle to latter parts of this new week.  I am concerned about extensive high cloud development by Thursday and Friday, but there's plenty of time to keep an eye on that.

The next storm system will be knocking on the door as early as Saturday, but will be more likely to bring in some significant shower and thunderstorm action on Easter Sunday... at least that's the way the data is looking at the moment.

Stay tuned for daily updates, and check out THE 7-DAY OUTLOOK on the tab above for forecast specs.