Saturday was the second and last day of our “mini-heat wave” with mostly sunny skies with scattered high cirrus at times and temperatures once again reaching well into the 80s as had been predicted all week. The Saturday maximum temperature from the VP2 (83.4°) was recorded at 1513 while the equally balmy Saturday minimum temperature (64.6°) was recorded at 0655. Dew point temperatures continued to rise also, ranging from a low of 51° at 0001 up to a high of 60° later at 1223. Relative humidity values raised a bit from yesterday (67% – 38%) . Barometric values were just about the same today as yesterday, ranging from a high of 29.99″ at 0918 down to a low of 29.85″ at 1620.This mini-heat wave brought out some more buds on nearby trees I can see from my balcony, as can be seen in the image directly below. The pink blooms I believe are from the 2 dogwood trees. Correction to this claim desired if known. 

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.

Overnight Saturday into Sunday skies clouded up overnight and very late cooled down under the influence of a back door cold front. Saturday morning surpassed Friday’s warm minimum for the warmest night of April (64.6° actual reading), and warmest night of 2018, surpassing the 62.1° reading on Friday. Sunday has stayed cloudy and continues to cool off, dropping mid-afternoon temps down into the upper 40s and allowing me to turn off my A/C for the foreseeable future. We had some morning drizzle but currently dry but with light rain in the area. Today’s feature image shows 2 geese flying about, breaking up the gray stratus overcast that is still strongly in place late this afternoon. I uploaded this image and a few others to the GLOBE CLOUD observation program earlier.

A flash flood watch has been posted for area in VA just to my west for heavier rain coming in later this afternoon into this evening. Two to three inch amounts are possible in scattered locations in heavy rain/thunderstorms continuing overnight. We will stay in the upper 40s the rest of Sunday with a 100% POP for showers and thunderstorms. More rain (80 POP) and cloudy on Monday and still quite cool, with highs in the mid 50s and lows in the upper 30s. Tuesday should be mostly cloudy and even cooler with highs in the upper 40s and lows in the mid-upper 30s. Wednesday should start to warm up under mostly sunny skies, with highs in the low 60s and lows in the upper 40s. Thursday should be partly cloudy and continued cool, with highs in the low 60s and lows in the low 40s.

On the channel 4 weather radar website at 1618 shows scattered light rain showers in the area with a heavier area in parts of the MD and DE Eastern Shore and associated waters. A line of heavy showers/storms runs almost straight north/south moving E through parts of eastern OH, WV, SW VA, eastern TN, and western NC. Some areas even are running the risk of possible tornadoes in unlucky spots.

As of 1618, 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:

Mostly cloudy with 600 foot ceiling, stratus overcast. cool and threatening.

Station Relative Location Temp RH DP BP Wind High/Low temp Saturday
VP2 Ground 48.1° 93% 46° 29.99″F NA 83.4/64.6

The total precipitation in the cocorahs gauge was 0.00″ through midnight Saturday. The VP2 tipping bucket rain gauge under my balcony recorded 0.00″ through midnight Friday. So far today we have had a trace of precipitation as observed late this morning.

Saturday’s precipitation was 0.00″
April precipitation 0.17″
April snowfall 0.0″ (will be reported till the end of April)
The seasonal snowfall total is 12.0″.
Year-to-date precipitation total is 8.34″

WX Bug Lakewood 4500 ft, 46 100 46 29.99″F ENE 9 G ESE 26
140° from station 84/65
The Lakewood rain gauge recorded 0.00″ of precipitation on Saturday. It is reporting a total of 0.43″ of precipitation for April and a 2018 year-to-date (YTD) amount of 11.30″. I think 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 Lakewood precip values are estimated/adjusted from radar.

At 2400 obs Saturday night the temperature from the VP2 was 71.9 RH 59% BP 29.92″F DP 56.9
Cloudy, warm, dry at 2400

Good afternoon from the cloudy, much cooler, still dry for the moment home of the snowless walrus on this Sunday.