The heat revved up some more on Friday, topping the 90° mark for only the third time this month with highs just above the 90° mark but with slightly cooler AM min temps in the upper 60s. Clouds were lacking for the most part, esp in the morning, but some fair weather cumulus started to develop in the afternoon. Overnight into Saturday skies remained clear to at most partly cloudy with lows by sunrise in the upper 60s. The Friday maximum temperature was 90.4° @ 1624, while the Friday minimum temperature was 67.9° @ 0550. The dew point temperatures were in the mid-upper 60s, and the daily variation occurred within an hour of each other in the mid-afternoon, ranging from a low of 65° @ 1525 up to a high of 70° @ 1625. The barometric pressure rose from Thursday’s values – the lowest value being 29.93″ @ 0000 up to a high of 30.05″ @ 0955. The relative humidity lowered a bit from yesterday’s, ranging from a high of 92% at 0420 down to a low of 45% at 1525.

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 precipitation data reflects what is recorded automatically through the tipping bucket VP2 gauge. I actually use the data I post to cocorahs from my 4″ cocorahs gauge I read manually as my “official” precipitation total each day.

Our heat wave continues! Mostly sunny on Friday with highs around 90° and lows in the upper 60s. Saturday has been partly cloudy and hot with highs already up above 90° and headed for the mid 90s with lows in the low 70s. Sunday and Monday will be sunny and hotter with highs around 97° and lows in the mid 70s as we head into July, traditionally our hottest month of the year. Tuesday will still be sunny but a few degrees “cooler” with highs around 93° and lows in the low 70s. Fourth of July Wednesday should be partly sunny and a bit “cooler” with highs in the upper 80s and lows around 70°.

At 1457, Channel 4 radar is showing no action at all in the 4-state Mid-Atlantic region. The closest action is in widely scattered locations north of the border in Ontario and Quebec and to the south over scattered locations in AL, GA, SC and a good part of Florida. Nothing moving this way, that is for sure.

At 1457, 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:

Sunny, hot and dry (only high, wispy cirrus overhead currently)

Station Relative Location Temp  RH    DP      BP   Wind High/Low temp on Friday
VP2            Ground          90.1° 50% 69° 30.08″F NA     90.4°/67.9°

The total precipitation in the cocorahs gauge was 0.00″ through midnight Friday. The VP2 tipping bucket also had 0.00″. I think the generally greater amount in the VP2 tipping bucket rain gauge recently has been at least partially due to its proximity to a dense evergreen tree that frequently drips down and then blows the “catch” into the gauge. I mostly use this gauge to tell me when and how hard it rained. Marty will be visiting soon and make some necessary changes to the rain gauges that should help improve performance.

Friday’s precipitation was 0.00″
June precipitation 3.77″
Year-to-date precipitation total 22.19″

WX Bug Lakewood 4500 ft, 92° 38% 63° 30.13″F   S 1 SW 9
                            140° from station                  (est) 90°/67°
The Lakewood rain gauge recorded 0.00″ of rain on Friday. June total precip is reported as 8.37″ with the 2018 year-to-date (YTD) amount now at 34.41″. I definitely continue to believe that at times the disparities 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 Thursday night the temperature from the VP2 was 74.7° RH 78% BP 30.05″R DP 67.4°
Clear, warm, moderately muggy at 2400 Friday

Good afternoon from the sunny, hot and dry home of the Walrus on this Saturday.