Shifts

2011-06-15 18:12:21.000 – Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist

Crepuscular Rays & Distant Showers

The theme laced throughout this comment is going to be one of extreme swings in trends.

I normally would not point out the underlying theme of a comment from the get go, but my act of doing so is directly in line with the theme–it is quite a shift from my normal way of doing things.

During my time off this past week, I descended to the valley amidst some very hot and muggy conditions. By the time I arrived in New Jersey on Thursday, June 9th, the mercury was topping out at a sweltering 101 degrees! It was quite a nice change from the icing conditions and 20 degree temperatures I experienced on the summit less than a week prior. I was sure to take full advantage of the sun and all it had to offer before my return to my fog-enshrouded place of work, where sunshine minutes are perpetually at a premium.

The significant heat did not last for my whole week off, however, as I made my way northwards to the Boston area on Tuesday, where overnight temperatures into Wednesday dipped down to 47 degrees.

Not only were gradual temperature shifts apparent in the weather, but a seemingly continuous oscillation between thunderstorms and sunny weather plagued my time off the mountain, with each thundershower passage harboring a rush of cooler air and relieving the standing warm and muggy conditions.

The summit saw its share of shifts while I was away, with a record high of 65 degrees on Wednesday, June 8th morphing into sub-freezing temperatures by Tuesday (yesterday)! No icing was observed, but the prospect of these chilly temperatures in June is quite something (though not nearly record-breaking, as the record low for June 14th is 23 degrees).

The course of today has brought on some serious shifts, as the generally clear and sunny skies allowed me to view Mt. Washington as far south as Ossipee, NH, on NH Route 16. The clouds quickly began to bubble up the with heating of the day as the sun continued to ascend into the afternoon sky, producing numerous showers and thunderstorms that are currently parading over the state of New Hampshire. They produced some spectacular scenery, with virga and distant showers visible during the evening.

Although the models are not pointing to any significant swings in the weather this shift week, we know better than to believe everything they say by now.

And in an unrelated note to weather, but fully in the spirit of this comment, as the series has taken its fair share of momentum shifts…let’s do it tonight, Bruins!

 

Mike Carmon,  Staff Meteorologist