It has been quite warm and humid recently. One of the parameters meteorologists use to determine the amount of moisture in the air is what is known as the precipitable water, often referred to as PWAT. The most recent PWAT for our region obtained from the twice-daily radiosonde observations taken here at our office (7 am and 7 pm daily) was 1.42 inches, which is 146% of normal for this time of year. The normal value would be closer to 0.90 inch. However, several of our computer models suggest that this value will rise even higher over the next couple of days, approaching 2.0 inches Friday and Saturday, which is nearing the all time max value of 2.1 for this time of year! Bottom line, it will be very humid the next few days, very much so for this time of year. By the same token, temperatures have also been and will continue to be well above normal as well. Meteorologists frequently examine what is known as the temperature about 3000 feet above the ground or what is often referred to as the 850mb level. This largely smooths out terrain influences and gives a truer indication of the air mass present within the region. Again, as you can see from the second plot below, we are well above normal there as well, running near +18 Centigrade. Normal for this time of year is closer to +13 Centigrade.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 09:22:36 +0000
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