Wednesday, May 17, 2017

the ups and downs... (pm.17.may.17)>

Wednesday's stats:

Low temp: 64.2F (17.9C)
High temp: 79.4F (26.3C)
Rainfall: none

This evening as sunset approaches there are still some thundershowers, in various stages of dissipation, visible along the mountain ranges to our north and east, but everything is quiet and fine here in town.  I heard a few rumbles of thunder late this afternoon, starting around 3:45pm, but that activity up-mountain from us stayed there, and allowed us a break after the very active day we had yesterday.  Sunshine was plentiful today, but my high temp was nearly 3ºF/2ºC cooler than normal for this stage of May.

I'm craving a new weather pattern and something different to talk about, but that's just not the case.  For the past eight days we've been locked in a pattern that is fickle and changeable and moody -- as a disturbed upper-level flow overruns a warm summertime air mass in the lower levels.  With a moderate amount of moisture thrown into the mix, this is the recipe for chronic instability, with pretty much unpredictable fluctuations between sun, clouds, and thundershower development all across the western and central Himalayan region.  It looks like we are roughly a week away from any kind of notable shift in this general scenario, so we'll just have to keep riding these ups-and-downs, and be prepared for sudden bouts of thundershowers.

It's really not all that horrible, though.  As we experienced today, there will still be some very nice summer weather for us to enjoy in between the rounds of showers and thunder that appear to be inevitable.  And temperatures will be generally pleasant, and probably averaging near or even a bit below mid-May norms all the way into the early part of next week...