Thursday was much cooler, cloudy, and slightly damp with a trace of afternoon sprinkles, low temps around 70 in the evening after highs at the very beginning of the day of around 80 with a PM Max of 76.6 degrees at 1405. Dew point temperatures remained in the 60s all day, starting in the mid 60s at midnight and rising into the upper 60s by mid-morning and remaining there the rest of the day. 

The maximum temperature was 77.7 degrees at 0000. (83.2 degrees recorded on the VP2 across the street.)

The minimum temperature was 70.4 degrees at 2036.

The dew point temperatures ranged from a low of 64 degrees @ 0000 up to a high of 69 degrees @ 0824.

The relative humidity values ranged from a low of 73% @ 0050 up to a high of 90% @ 2338.

The barometric pressure ranged from a low of 29.89 inches @ 0102 up to a high of 30.02 inches @ 1103. A new parameter I will start reporting on is the highest daily wind recorded across the street on the roof of the new USG building. 14 MPH was recorded at 0207 from the SSW. 

There was a trace of precipitation on Thursday afternoon so the October monthly total is a trace. The final September monthly total was 0.59 inches, which was the driest September here at my apartment location and second driest September ever since 1978 at both my Rockville and Gaithersburg locations. The driest ever was 0.25 inches in September 2005. The year-to-date total is 38.25 inches. Despite the rain this past Monday we are still officially “abnormally dry” right now and very close to the moderate drought line.

My current online data is showing regularly on Weather Underground. My data is posted there every 5 minutes. My ID is KMDROCKV200 and my station is called Gardens of Traville. Data is online, available in real-time as it is being updated on a 5 minute interval. The web address for my data on weather underground is: https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KMDROCKV200

Unfortunately a recent development was found that is a discrepancy between my wxlink data and my VP2 display data. I noted this a week ago Friday when the low temperature came in as 50.2 degrees as I saw it in real time on my VP2 display, but on other sources tied in with wxlink I had a low of 52.8. Other variables also were a bit different. I don’t understand this discrepancy which I continue to notice in my records. I need to study close by VP2 stations in wunderground to see if I may be getting signal interference from another station all of a sudden. In a probably related development, I also continue to notice wind data for my station in wxlink (and therefore also in my weather underground data) a few days ago and has continued (Marty was here on Thursday and we have determined that this wind data is definitely coming from the recently installed and activated VP2 on the roof of the new USG (University of Shady Grove) building across the street from me). We still look for it online but haven’t found it yet, but it is transmitting its data to my wxlink station and now after Marty made the necessary adjustments also appearing in real time on my VP2 display). More updates will follow as they develop.

I contribute my precipitation data daily to CoCoRaHS as Rockville 2.8 WNW, Station ID MD-MG-115 and can be found on the web at https://www.cocorahs.org

Please remember that my Weather Underground precipitation data reflects what is recorded automatically through the tipping bucket VP2 gauge, just as it does on WxLink 2.0. The tipping bucket has been producing erratic values on most days (when I have had rain that is) so should not be used except for general precipitation timing.

I actually use the data I post to CoCoRaHS from my 4 inch CoCoRaHS gauge I read manually as my official precipitation total each day. I wasn’t able to do this very much in September unfortunately since precious little rain (only on three measurable days the entire month) fell from the sky.

Thursday started out early. Marty arrived early with all the storage bins extracted from the Storage facility, which now is closed and won’t have to pay for any more. They are resting safely along the wall in my bedroom. Later I pulled out all of my brand new shirts from one of the bins and wore one of them on Thursday. Marty then worked on my computer while I kept sleeping, installing printer scanner software so I can now scan documents again from my UScan Utility. The hard drive is completely cleaned and defragmented, so it is running faster and smoother. Marty left in the late morning. I rose in the mid-afternoon, having a turkey sausage, velveeta, mushrooms and eggs on a toasted everything bagel. I also made a pot of coffee. I worked on some football pools and caught up some on my email, then left for trivia just prior to 1900. We had a rousing game for an hour, then I returned to my apartment to watch the NL Wildcard playoff game, won by the LA Dodgers, 6-0 over the home team, the Washington Nationals. I also watched quite a bit of the exciting TNF game, won by Seattle over the Rams 30-29 when a last second field goal sailed only inches right of the right upright. I talked with Ray while we both watched the game. I never did eat anything more for the day, but will have some breakfast shortly after I finish this weather report. 

A cooldown to more like fall starts on Friday with highs in the low 70s and lows in the low-mid 40s under mostly sunny skies.

Saturday should have even cooler max temps in the mid 60s with lows in the mid 50s.

Sunday should be mostly cloudy with highs in the low-mid 70s and lows in the low-mid 60s.

Mostly cloudy with rain on Monday and highs in the mid 70s and lows in the low 50s.

Tuesday and Wednesday should be partly to mostly sunny with highs in the upper 60s and lows in the mid 40s. 

On Midnight Thursday, clear skies with a temperature of 66.6 degrees, relative humidity 84%, pressure falling at 30.19 inches with the dew point temperature at 62 degrees. Winds were South at 2 MPH with gusts to 5 MPH from the SSE. 

Currently at 0959 Friday morning the temperature is 69.0 degrees under sunny skies, relative humidity at 58%, barometric pressure rising at 30.11 inches, and the dew point temperature at 53 degrees. Winds are ranging from 5-10 MPH from the NE. 

Good morning from the walrus on this sunny, cooler, much more pleasant Friday. Today’s featured image is my usual Thursday 1900 image in front of Building A just prior to the weekly trivia game. Typical cloudy image for the day.