Friday, July 7, 2023

Timothy grass booming in Huntington

Morning Observation:

This morning in North Hero at 7:10AM it’s currently 76 degrees under partly cloudy skies. Winds are out of the south at 3-5 mph. Relative humidity is 85%, dewpoint 71, barometric pressure 29.79”. Yesterday’s high was 85, and yesterday’s low was 73. The overnight low got down to 73.

This morning in Huntington it’s currently 72 degrees under partly cloudy skies. Winds are calm. Relative humidity is 95%, dewpoint 70, barometric pressure 29.82”. Yesterday’s high was 91, and yesterday’s low was 66. The overnight low got down to 67.

Forecast Discussion:

We’ve got an active day of weather ahead of us with a welcome (by me anyway…) break in the heat! Morning radar imagery shows a line of scattered showers extending southwest to northeast just about over Ottawa at this hour. These showers are out ahead of a frontal boundary which is expected to move into Vermont by this afternoon bringing widespread showers and thunderstorms the afternoon and evening. As the front washes out tonight, widespread fog is expected to form in valley locations, but also extending beyond the usual places. Unsettled but generally cooler conditions will continue into Saturday with pop-up scattered showers expected during the afternoon. A more potent low pressure system is expected to move into the region Sunday afternoon bringing and extended period of rain and afternoon thunderstorms Sunday afternoon and through the day on Monday. Unsettled conditions once again look to be in place heading into the middle of next week.

3-Day Forecast:

We’ll see partly sunny skies today with showers and thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Some of the storms could produce small hail, gusty winds, and heavy rain. Highs will be near 85 with south winds 6-9 mph becoming westerly in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80% with rainfall amounts between 0.25″-0.50″ possible. Tonight should be mostly cloudy with showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 11:00PM. Some of the storms could produce small hail, gusty winds, and heavy rain. Lows will be around 67 with light south winds. Chance of precipitation is 80% with rainfall amounts between 0.10″-0.25″, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Saturday should be partly sunny with a 40% chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Highs will be near 83 with light and variable winds. Saturday night should be mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows will be around 67 with south winds 3-6 mph.

Sunday should be mostly cloudy chance of showers before noon, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm in the afternoon. Highs will be near 81 with south winds 5-10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60% with rainfall amounts between 0.25″-0.50″ possible. Sunday night should be cloudy with rain likely. The rain could be heavy at times. Lows will be around 64 with south winds 3-6. Chance of precipitation is 70% with rainfall amounts between 1″-2″ possible in Huntington and 0.75”-1” in North Hero.

Almanac:

Last year on this date in Huntington we had a high of 81 and a low of 49.
Last year in North Hero we had a high of 76 and a low of 59.

Burlington averages for this date are a low of 62 and a high of 82.
The record low was 43 in 1969.
The record high was 95 in 2010 (we had a high of 94 in Huntington).

The Lake Champlain lake level in Burlington is 96.11′.
The water temperature is 77˚.
Last year’s lake level was at 95.76′.

There’s been a lot of discussion of late about Cyanobacteria blooms in Lake Champlain. With recent (and expected…) heavy rainfall, hot temperatures, and light winds, conditions have been unfortunately perfect for widespread algae blooms around the lake with subsequent beach closures in the Burlington area. I’ve noted that the lake temperature is a good 10˚ warmer this year than it was at this time last year.

You can read about Cyanobacteria here and follow the monitoring of Cyanobacteria conditions here.

Sky Notes:

Sunrise: 5:15AM
Sunset: 8:38PM
Length of day: 15:22:33
Today will be 1:04 shorter than yesterday.

The Moon is waning gibbous, 19 days old with 80% illumination.
Moonrise: 11:49PM
Moonset: 10:11AM

About Today’s Photo:

As we approach high summer, the grasses in our front field in Huntington are in bloom. I caught these Timothy seed heads just at the perfect time yesterday as the tiny flowers had just emerged. A light tap on the top and little plumes of pollen drift in the air!

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