Saturday continued our cloudy, wet (1.02″) pattern that featured the return of the milder, muggier air with frequent fog spells and rising temps and dew pts though the 60s. The system is winding down as most of today’s rain was in the AM hours, and it was dry in the PM, with some sun predicted to return to the area on Sunday. Temperatures lowered in the mid 50s in the AM but rose through most of the 60s in the afternoon and evening. Flood watches and warnings continue to be posted along many of the major rivers and in other flood-prone areas of the region. The Saturday maximum temperature reached 68.9° @ 2259, while the Saturday minimum temperature was 53.6° @ 0404. The dew point temperatures rose again later today, ranging from a low of 53° @ 0000 up to a high of 68° much later @ 2152. The barometric pressure was statistically essentially the same as Friday, but the pattern was reversed – highest at the very beginning of the day and lowest very near the end of the day It reached the highest value of 30.22″ @ 0000 down to a low of 30.04″ @ 2332. The relative humidity once again remained quite high all day, ranging from a low of 96% at 0000 up to a high of 98% at 0653.

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 reports the data from what is recorded automatically through the tipping bucket VP2 gauge. So right now since the gauge is still clogged it is reporting 0 or 0.01.  I use the data I post to cocorahs as my “official” precipitation total each day.

I did catch a little bit of the Royal Wedding from England before retiring early in the morning. Eventually I got to sleep and back up in the mid-afternoon, after receiving a few phone calls and texts from bed. I watched the Preakness horse race in the fog in nearby Baltimore. I spoke with Tracy on her way to work, and to Marty from his remote location out in the mountains of Montana. Also spoke with Ray later and his ever-changing phone set-up and our changing weather conditions. I watched the ill-fated 5th game of the Caps semi-final Stanley Cup hockey series, which the Caps lost 3-2 to go down 3-2 in games. 

Cloudy conditions persisted through all of Saturday, with frequent fog as the dew point temperature remained very close if not right on top of the air temperature. Rain (1.02″) fell mostly in the morning (0.77″) but with light evening showers (0.25″) and frequent drizzle/mist. We now have had 7 straight days with measurable precipitation (7 day total of 4.77″) As I write this on Sunday afternoon skies have partially cleared, the ground is slowly drying out, and heat-induced building cumulus have returned in the mid 80s temperatures. There is only a 20 POP for an isolated shower or tstorm the rest of the day, with muggy mid 80s temps expected to hold. Monday should have mostly cloudy conditions but only a 20 POP for rain, with highs around 80° and lows in the low-mid 60s. Tuesday looks to have partly cloudy skies, with highs in the upper 70s and lows in the low 60s, and a 50 POP for scattered thunderstorms. Wednesday should be partly cloudy with highs around 80° and lows in the low 60s and the rain chances reduced down to a 20 POP. Thursday should be sunny with highs in the low 80s and lows around 60°. Our week-long persistent battle zone (along an old stalled out stationary frontal boundary) has finally moved off and a drier week ahead looks to be in the cards.

On the Channel 4 radar at 1530 is showing a few widely scattered showers over much of the four-state region at the present time.

As of 1530, 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 WX Bug station are as follows:

Partly sunny, warm, humid with scattered cumulus dotting the sky

Station Relative Location Temp  RH   DP    BP        Wind High/Low temp on Saturday
VP2             Ground           85.5° 55% 67° 30.02″S   NA    68.9°/53.6°

The total precipitation in the cocorahs gauge was 1.02″ through midnight Saturday.

Friday’s precipitation was 1.02″
May precipitation is now 4.90″
Year-to-date precipitation total is 16.64″

WX Bug Lakewood 4500 ft, 85° 46% 62° 30.07″S WNW 6 G WSW 16
                              140° from station                              69°/52°

The Lakewood rain gauge reported 1.17″ of precipitation on Saturday. May is now showing 6.35″ for the month with the 2018 year-to-date (YTD) amount now at 21.55″. I still believe at times the great disparity between the Lakewood WX Bug station precipitation amount total for the month and year and my cocorahs gauge based data is that the Lakewood precip values are estimated/adjusted from radar.

At 2400 obs Saturday night the temperature from the VP2 was 68.7° RH 98% BP 30.05″F DP 68.1°
Cloudy, foggy, muggy, damp at 2400 Saturday

Good afternoon from the partly cloudy, warm, muggy home of the drying-out walrus on this Sunday.