Thursday was quite a changeable day as Hurricane Dorian inched northward along the East Coast, with its initial outermost bands of circulation entered our region today (see today’s featured image). Skies were cloudy most of the day, but with a very thin overcast in the AM and early PM, the sun filtered through the clouds much of the time. High temps held in the 70s all day, as the high temperature for the day was reached at midnight, and then started falling slowly through the 70s most of the day with a few glitches in that pattern – mid-morning brief temps in the upper 60s for the day’s min then a bit of a rebound in the afternoon for a time when a PM max temp of 77.3 degrees was recorded at 1540. Dew point temps did not range very much all day, with low 60s at the start of the day only rising to the mid 60s by a bit later in the morning just before sunrise. Dew point temps then changed little the rest of the day, dropping very slowly back into the lower 60s by midnight observation time. 

The maximum temperature was 79.5 degrees at 0000. (PM Max 77.3 degrees at 1540)

The minimum temperature was 68.2 degrees at 0806.

The dew point temperatures ranged from a high of 66 degrees @ 0044 down to a low of 61 degrees @ 0605.

The relative humidity values ranged from a low of 61% @ 0014 up to a high of 79% @ 0740.

The barometric pressure ranged from a high of 30.08 inches @ 0904 down to a low of 29.97 inches @ 2352.

There was no precipitation on Thursday so the monthly total remains at 0.39 inches. The year-to-date total is 38.05 inches.

My current online data (except for rainfall/snowfall so please use the cocorahs link shown below) 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

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 of late 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 arose as usual in the afternoon after a few unwanted phone calls from telemarketers and a few wanted calls from Ray and Robin with Gideon. I took a shower after finally getting up out of bed, to prepare for my evening weekly trivia game. I had a good bowl of shredded wheat cereal with a banana and milk, along with leftover coffee that I made iced coffee out of. Trivia turned out to be a very large turnout with 13 total people, a record high for me as I best can recall over the past few years of pretty regular weekly attendance.  Upon my return I prepared dinner of stuffed pasta shells in spaghetti sauce, baked in the oven covered in foil for about 40 minutes. I also had some orzo salad while that was cooking. I watched the first regular season game of the NFL season, won by the Packers 10-3 over the Bears in a defensive struggle. During the entire day I caught more of the Weather Channel’s 24/7 coverage of Dorian, along with local news coverage, seeing more of the incredible damage the storm laid on the Bahamas and to a lesser extent parts of the Florida East Coast. Dorian was moving N but now NE at a faster rate of speed through the Carolinas at this time. Hurricane and tropical storm watches and warnings remain in effect in areas of coastal North Carolina, SE Virginia and even into southern and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The storm is now a Category 1 storm, with 90 MPH peak winds at last report. It is still a dangerous storm that continues to be monitored closely. .

Friday should have cloudy skies, with stiff NE breezes from the departing storm and remaining relatively cool with highs in the mid 70s and lows in the upper 50s with showers staying mostly south and east of our area as Dorian moves NE past our latitude well to the east out in the Atlantic Ocean.

Saturday and Sunday should be mostly sunny and a bit warmer, with highs in the around 80 and lows around 60.

Monday and Tuesday should be partly cloudy and seasonable with highs in the upper 70s and lows in the low-mid 60s.

Wednesday should be partly cloudy and warming back up again into the mid 80s, lows in the mid-upper 60s. 

Hurricane Dorian is still looming to our south. But is has now picked up forward speed and direction, NE at 15 MPH with peak winds at 90 MPH (Cat 1). It should accelerate even more once in the north Atlantic NE off Cape Hatteras, and its impact on our immediate area will be minimal. Coastal Maryland areas will still see some significant effects with rain and wind but not of hurricane force. 

On Midnight Thursday the temperature was 69.4 degrees, relative humidity 78%, pressure falling at 29.97 inches with the dew point temperature at 62 degrees under cloudy skies.

Currently at 0601 Friday morning the temperature is 66.0 degrees under cloudy skies, relative humidity at 81%, barometric pressure falling at 29.91 inches, and the dew point temperature at 60 degrees.

Good early morning from the walrus on this cloudy Friday. Today’s featured image is one taken as usual just prior to my trivia game at 1900 EDT, looking in a south by westerly direction showing the initial cloud formations advancing in from the outermost bands of circulation from advancing hurricane Dorian. Winds were light at the time from the N.