Monday, July 17, 2023

A rainbow stretches over Knight Island yesterday evening

Morning Observation:

This morning in North Hero at 7:15AM it’s currently 72 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. Winds are out of the south at 9-12 mph. Relative humidity is 95%, dewpoint 71, barometric pressure 29.79”. We picked up 0.03” of rain yesterday. Yesterday’s high was 79, and yesterday’s low was 73. The overnight low got down to 71.

This morning in Huntington it’s currently 66 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. Winds are calm. Relative humidity is 98%, dewpoint 65, barometric pressure 29.83”. We picked up 2.09” of rain yesterday afternoon/evening, and there was a lot of flash flooding in Huntington and Richmond were several roads were closed due to washouts. Yesterday’s high was 85, and yesterday’s low was 65. The overnight low got down to 63.

Forecast Discussion:

We’ve got a rare dry day on tap for today courtesy of a ridge of high pressure cresting over the region. Highs today will range from the low to mid 80s with breezy south winds and a soupçon of wildfire smoke. As has been our lot this summer, however, the dry spell will be short-lived as another trough of low pressure is expected to cross the region on Tuesday with chances for showers increasing late tonight into Tuesday. Showers should wind down by Tuesday night with dry and seasonable conditions expected Wednesday and most of Thursday. Another trough of low pressure is expected to track out of the Great Lakes on Thursday and move slowly into the Gulf of St. Lawrence by Saturday. This will likely bring rounds of afternoon showers and thunderstorms Friday and Saturday before the low finally pulls away on Sunday morning.

3-Day Forecast:

We’ll see mostly sunny skies today with patchy smoke from Canadian wildfires. Highs will be near 82 with south winds 5-8 mph in Huntington and 10-13 mph in the Champlain Valley. Tonight should be mostly cloudy with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms late. Lows will be around 67 with south winds around 5-8 mph.

Tuesday should be mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs will be near 78 with south winds 3-7 mph. Rainfall amounts between 0.25″-0.50″ are possible. Tuesday night should be mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of showers before 10:00PM. Lows will be around 61 with light south winds. Rainfall amounts between 0.10″-0.25″ are possible.

Wednesday should be mostly sunny with a high near 81 and west winds 3-7 mph. Wednesday night should be mostly clear with a low around 59 and light and variable winds.

Almanac:

Last year on this date in Huntington we had a high of 89 and a low of 52.
Last year in North Hero we had a high of 85 and a low of 67.

Burlington averages for this date are a low of 63 and high of 83.
The record low was 48 in 1973.
The record high was 97 in 1999 (we had a high of 90 in Huntington).

The Lake Champlain lake level in Burlington is 98.27′.
The water temperature is 75˚.
Last year’s lake level was at 95.27′ (that’s a 3-foot difference folks!)

Sky Notes:

Sunrise: 5:23AM
Sunset: 8:32PM
Length of day: 15:08:25
Today will be 1:40 longer than yesterday.

The Moon is new, 29 days old with 0% illumination.
Moonrise: 4:43AM
Moonset: 9:09PM

About Today’s Photo:

While Huntington and Richmond were getting once again pummeled by rain yesterday evening, we were treated to a lovely rainbow arching over Knight Island for about an hour. Considering all the rainy days we’ve had this summer, it’s the first rainbow that I can recall this season. Guess ya gotta have rain to have rainbows…

Sony A7II, Sony 24-240mm lens @ 57mm, ISO 800, f/13, 1/160″ exposure