Monday featured sunny skies, warmer all day and in fact the warmest day (so far) of March, and warmest day since February 28 when 63.3 was the high recorded. We did have increasing clouds late ahead of our stormy mid-week weather. We have a radically different scenario for Tuesday, with clouds and much colder temps as rain started to fall around 0600 and is expected to turn to sleet and snow later on today. Temperatures have been running just above freezing all morning, falling significantly in the early AM till the rain started around 0615. The Monday maximum temperature from the VP2 (57.8°) was recorded at 1405 while the minimum temperature (32.1°) was recorded at 0722. Dew point temperatures were a bit higher than yesterday, ranging from a low of 24° at 0118 up to a high of 32° at 2051. Relative humidity values lowered a bit today (75% – 31%). Barometric values were a bit lower than yesterday, ranging from an early high of 29.94″ at 0000 down to a low of 29.85″ at 1635. For the second day in a row I missed recording the VP2 data which I must do just prior to midnight, so I used my backup data recorded on Weather Underground. VP2 and cocorahs data were used for the high and low temps and precipitation for the day.

Remember now you can get the VP2 data on Weatherlink. You can access the data through http://www.weatherlink.com/user/walrusman444

I am posting daily to weather underground. My ID is KMDROCKV200 and my station is called “Gardens of Traville.” Data is online, normally just about in real-time. The web address for my data on weather underground is: https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KMDrockv200#history/ I contribute daily to cocorahs as Rockville 2.8 WNW, Station ID MD-MG-115 on https://www.cocorahs.org/ Please remember that Weather Underground does not report snow data, and reflects what is recorded automatically through the tipping bucket VP2 gauge. I use the data I post to cocorahs as my “official” precipitation total each day.

Monday was a busy day till evening, when I crashed and slept through most of the night. I listened to the WEATHER BUFF show during the noon hour, and called into the show along with Marty to make for some fun on the air talking about the GLOBE Clouds program, and setting up an interview with GLOBE cloud scientists at NASA/Goddard next Monday. I continue to have to deal with problems with sending out email through gmail and verizon through Thunderbird, as the outgoing SMTP mail server keeps timing out. Rebooting (warm or cold) keeps working as the only solution. 

It was clear and cold at sunrise early Monday morning but warmed up quickly under the strong March sun, hitting the mid-upper 50s early in the afternoon. Increasing clouds from our midweek storm coming from the SW took over towards the end of the day. Overnight Monday into Tuesday the clouds continued to thicken and lower and temperatures really started to drop after midnight. Rain started to fall around 0615 with temps in the mid 30s. Temps dropped into the low 30s just above the freezing mark by mid-morning. High temps for the day on Tuesday have already been reached, and will be slowly dropping into the low 30s during the afternoon, as the rain changes over to sleet and snow and starts to pile up by evening. Overnight into Wednesday snow will continue, with current thinking of around 6-12 inches or more of snow accumulation by the time it winds down late Wednesday afternoon or evening. High temps both days will be around or just above freezing in the low-mid 30s, lows in the upper 20s to around 30°. There is officially a 100 POP for rain/mostly snow on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday through Saturday will eventually should clear out, partially so on Thursday with highs in the low 40s and sunny on Friday and Saturday with similar highs . Lows all 3 nights should be in the low-mid 20s.

On the Channel 4 weather website at 1332 radar is showing snow, sleet and rain falling over most of the region. Today’s feature image shows the “UP” image for my Terra Satellite Flyover GLOBE cloud observation taken about 1245 EDT. Light sleet falling at the time, temp 32.3. The KGAI (Montgomery County Airpark) METAR observation from about an hour before showed a 1200 foot ceiling. An hour later it was down to an 800 foot ceiling. It should go lower later when the precipitation becomes heavier with snow. It will persist for all of today and most of tomorrow. There is a WINTER STORM WARNING just hoisted for our area, lasting through most of tomorrow. 

As of 1332, the data from the VP2 (coming from the ground radiation shield about 4 feet off the ground just under and out from the balcony) and the Lakewood WXBug station are as follows:

Cloudy, cold, light sleet falling

Station Relative Location Temp RH DP    BP      Wind High/Low temp Sunday
VP2              Ground          32.3  91 30 29.79F    NA    57.8/32.1

The total precipitation in the cocorahs gauge was 0.00″ through midnight Monday. The VP2 tipping bucket rain gauge under my balcony had 0.00″ through midnight Monday. So far my tipping bucket has recorded 0.42″ of precipitation since midnight up through the current time.

Monday’s precipitation was 0
March precipitation is 0.44″.
Monday’s snowfall 0
March snowfall 0.3″
Snow on ground 0 (reported to the nearest half-inch)
The seasonal snowfall total is 7.8″.
Year-to-date precipitation total is 7.07″

WX Bug Lakewood 4500 ft, 32 99 31 29.76″F NNE 6 G NE 17
                              140° from station               53/31 (estimated)

The Lakewood rain gauge recorded 0.00″ of precipitation on Monday. It is still reporting a total of 1.05″ of precipitation so far in March and a 2018 year-to-date (YTD) amount of 8.56″. So far today it has recorded 0.13″ of precipitation.

At 2400 obs Wednesday night the temperature from the VP2 was 43.4 RH 65% BP 29.90″S DP 32.4.

Cloudy, milder, dry, no snow on the ground yet as of 2400

Good early afternoon from the cloudy, colder, and sleety home of the Walrus early on this Tuesday afternoon.