Thursday started out February milder, with increasing clouds and evening light rain (0.15″). Temperatures started out in the mid 30s in the early AM and rose to around the 50° mark by afternoon and then starting to drop when the rainfall started in the evening around 2100. The Thursday maximum temperature from the VP2 (50.2°) was recorded in the evening at 1952 while the minimum temperature (36.9°) was recorded at 0617. Dew point temperatures rose today, ranging from a low of 21° at 0000 up to 41° much later at 2122. Relative humidity values rose today, esp in the evening light rain (93% – 50%). Barometric values continued to drop most of the day, ranging from a high of 30.04″ at 0013 down to a low of 29.87″ much later at 2033.

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. I contribute daily to cocorahs as Rockville 2.8 WNW, Station ID MD-MG-115. Please remember that Weather Underground does not report snow data, and reflects what is recorded automatically through the tipping bucket VP2 gauge.

I worked some more on organizing my 2017 spreadsheet data, and getting some backlogged April data caught up so I can finish out the year and produce an annual summary. I have a cold and continously dripping nose and an occasional hacking cough. No fever, no flu, as I have had a flu shot months ago for prevention purposes. These are the perils of the roller coaster conditions of our winter weather at the present time.

We stayed cloudy and damp overnight, with temps dropping slowly through the 30s under clearing skies now at 0700 with increasing winds and more rapidly dropping temps, now in the upper 20s. We will have a return to cold conditions with mostly sunny skies on Ground Hog Day Friday. Afternoon high temps will only reach up to the 30° mark with continued windy conditions dropping wind chill temps through the teens Tonight will be clear with lows in the mid teens. Saturday should be mostly sunny with highs in the upper 30s and lows around 30°. Right now Sunday looks cloudy with a 90 POP for rain with possibly a mix or changeover briefly to snow before ending in the evening, with highs in the upper 30s and lows in the mid 20s. Monday should be sunny with highs in the upper-mid 30s and lows in the mid 20s. Tuesday should turn mostly cloudy with high temps in the mid 40s and lows in the mid 30s.

On the Channel 4 weather website at 0749 radar is showing our Thursday evening rain has moved south and east, offshore of the MD coast, then over coastal section of SE VA and eastern NC. There are areas of snow showers and flurries out to my west and north, over parts of northern and western MD, western PA, SW VA and WV at this time.

As of 0749, 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:

Clearing skies and colder this morning.

Station Relative Location Temp RH DP   BP      Wind High/Low temp Thursday
VP2            Ground          28.7 61 17 30.14R    NA    50.2/36.9

There was 0.15″ of precipitation in the cocorahs gauge on Thursday through midnight obs. The VP2 tipping bucket rain gauge under my balcony recorded 0.16″ of precipitation on Thursday through midnight. It collected 0.05″ of precipitation since midnight through to the present time.

Thursday’s precipitation 0.15″
January precipitation final total is 1.83″
February precipitation is 0.15″
Thursday snowfall 0.0″
January snowfall total was a meager 1.4″.
Snow on ground 0.0″ (reported to the nearest half-inch)
The seasonal snowfall total is 5.2″.
Year-to-date precipitation total is 1.98″

WX Bug Lakewood 4500 ft, 28 59 16 30.10″R   NW 9 G N 20 
                            140° from station                        52/38

The Lakewood rain gauge recorded 0.08″ of precipitation on Thursday. So far for Friday an additional 0.04″ of rain has been recorded. It is now reporting a 2.24″ monthly (final?) and yearly January 2018 precipitation, unchanged from yesterday’s report.

Temperature from the VP2 at 2400 was 39.3 RH 92% BP 29.92S DP 37. Cloudy, mild, with light rain at 2400.

Good morning from the partly cloudy, colder, dry but snowless Walrus on this early Ground Hog Day Friday morning. FWIW, the Ground Hog just saw his shadow so that allegedly means 6 more weeks of winter.