Tuesday was a day of change. Light morning rain and clouds with mild temps in the 50s gradually gave way to just clouds in the afternoon with gradually dropping temps into the 40s, then evening light rain and more clouds with temps dropping into the 30s by late evening after the cold front passed through, with light snow on our doorstep by midnight observation time. Dew points slowly dropped all day, from the mid 50s in the late AM down to the mid 30s by midnight observation time.

The maximum temperature was 55.4 degrees at 0955.

The minimum temperature was 36.2 degrees at 2359.

The dew point temperatures ranged from a high of 54 degrees @ 1100 down to a low of 34 degrees @ 2355.

The relative humidity values ranged from a high of 95% @ 0000 down to a low of 81% @ 1855.

The barometric pressure ranged from a low of 29.81 inches @ 0105 up to a high of 30.21 inches @ 2315.

The highest daily peak wind gust recorded across the street on the roof of the new USG building was 24 MPH at 0010 from the SW.

There was 0.28 inches of precipitation on Tuesday. My December monthly total precipitation is now 1.45 inches.

There was no snow on Tuesday. My seasonal total snowfall remains a trace. The year-to-date precipitation total is now 44.56 inches.

My current downstairs station data is now 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 (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.

Tuesday was a good day, with a few interesting twists and adversity that kept me going for a while. I overslept my alarm in the late morning, as my dear friend Laura was planning to pick me up to go out to lunch, meeting several former business associates at 11:30. Laura ran a bit late, and i ran even more late, and Laura had to wake me up and give me some extra time to get ready. We wound up arriving at our Bethesda Rockbottom Brewery and Restaurant lunch destination about an hour later than planned, and the party we were meeting was close to being finished, but did hang with us for 45 minutes, and then we just enjoyed 45 more minutes to finish our lunch by ourselves. The party we were meeting was the NGA (National Geo-spatial Agency) Maritime Retired Group that regularly meet there for lunch, but it was our first time meeting with them. We worked with some of them in the past, and knew of a few more of them. One particularly notable member was (Ret) Admiral Chris Andreasen who worked upper management positions at both NGA and NOAA, being Laura’s and my third line boss as the Marine Chart Division Chief and then Commanding officer of the Office of Coast Survey before moving over to NGA as eventually their Chief Hydrographer. We plan to join them the next time they meet, which should be in the late winter or early spring.  Laura helped me out so much, she is such a nice, sweet, special long-time friend. She drove me to and from Rockbottom, taking the day off from her usual work, returning me back to my apartment about 3 PM. That was the highlight of the day, and the cajun pasta and special seasonal draft beers was my meal for the day. Even shared some delicious carrot cake for dessert with Laura to finish off the meal nicely. 

Early Wednesday has already seen our light rain turn to snow for a short while in the very early AM. Partly cloudy skies and colder temps should take hold most of the day, with highs around 40 and lows in the upper 20s. 

Thursday will be sunny and cold, with highs in the upper 30s and lows in the mid 20s.

Friday should cloud over again, with rain at times, lows around 40 and highs in the low 40s.

Saturday should feature clouds and more rain, milder with highs around 50 and lows in the upper 30s.

Sunday should be partly to mostly sunny and seasonable, with highs in the upper 40s and lows in the low 30s.

Monday should find clouds and rain returning, with highs around 40 and lows in the mid 30s.

At Midnight Tuesday, cloudy skies with light rain falling with a dropping temperature of 36.2 degrees, relative humidity 92%, pressure rising at 30.19 inches with a dew point temperature of 34 degrees.

Currently at 0629 EST Wednesday the temperature is 32.1 degrees under cloudy skies but dry, relative humidity at 89%, barometric pressure rising at 30.33 inches, and the dew point temperature at 29 degrees. Winds are averaging 6 MPH over the past 10 minutes from the NW. Peak wind gust since midnight has been 22 MPH from the NW at 0209. About 0.6 inches of snow has accumulated on grassy surfaces only since midnight, with an incomplete 0.07 inches of water collecting in my VP2 tipping bucket gauge (snow accumulated in the cone) but with the freezing temps the snow did not pass down through the recording spoons and won’t do so until some time during the day on Wednesday when it starts to melt. 

Good morning from the walrus on this slightly snowy Wednesday.