| Observation Date |
Observation Time |
Precipitation |
Snowfall |
Snowfall SWE |
Snow Depth |
Snow SWE |
Notes |
| 10/1/2010 |
8:00 AM |
1.85 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Rain ended! 2-day total 4.00 inches, 4-day total 4.44 inches. It's been drought or flood here all year. The latest is 0.87" in 5 scorching weeks after the August 4" one-day rainfall, now another 4" storm. |
| 10/2/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 10/3/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 10/4/2010 |
9:30 AM |
0.53 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
sprinkles began during the mid-afternoon but the real rain began not until evening, continued overnight and it is still raining. |
| 10/5/2010 |
8:45 AM |
0.11 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
storm total 0.64". Obs time during rain event yesterday was later than many other stations, so must look at 2-day total for meaningful comparison. |
| 10/29/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 10/30/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 10/31/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/1/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/2/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/3/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/6/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/7/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/8/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/9/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/10/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/11/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/12/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/13/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/14/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/15/2010 |
8:30 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
Note: During the past week of dry weather, I had not checked the gauge because it was known that there was no precipitation in the area. However, I found 0.01" this morning - apparently the frost we had several days last week melted and dripped into the gauge and did not evaporate (or this amount was left after some evaporation). This is a reminder that frost and dew can produce measurable accumulations of water on the ground. |
| 11/16/2010 |
10:00 AM |
0.34 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Intermittent light rain around time of observation |
| 11/17/2010 |
8:15 AM |
0.35 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Fast-moving heavy thundershower around 1am with gusty winds towards the end, not classic gust front at the beginning. I saw a modest amount of lightning, more than just a few flashes but not very frequent. Heavy rain was blowing in sheets and at times falling at an angle around 60 degrees from vertical - gauge collection efficiency was probably on the low side. Additionally, I found several leaves on the funnel, one blocking the hole. Leaves may have landed there after most or all of the rain, but if earlier, then possibly not all of the rain was collected. Measured storm total 0.69". Automated station nearby reported 0.16" in 10 minutes with the storm and 0.35" 24-hour total but may have also had collection impeded by wind and leaves. |
| 11/18/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/19/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/20/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/21/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/22/2010 |
9:30 AM |
T |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Road and walks were damp - apparently drizzle, not just fog. |
| 11/23/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/24/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 11/25/2010 |
3:00 PM |
0.11 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Everything was dry at time of obs - rain fell overnight. |
| 11/26/2010 |
11:30 AM |
0.03 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Few drops of rain still falling - very sparse. |
| 11/27/2010 |
8:30 AM |
T |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/5/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/6/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/7/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/8/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/9/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/10/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/11/2010 |
2:30 PM |
0.01 |
T |
M |
0.0 |
M |
Snow fell for a few hours starting roughly around 11am. Gauge had more than 0.01, but closer to .01 than .02. No snow accumulation. |
| 12/12/2010 |
12:50 PM |
0.35 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Rain overnight, just started to resume again for the afternoon so amount is from earlier before the break. |
| 12/13/2010 |
9:30 AM |
0.42 |
T |
M |
T |
M |
Rain during afternoon, snow in early morning. A light dusting covered grass and cars and a few flakes got stuck in the neck of the gauge funnel. |
| 12/14/2010 |
9:00 AM |
0.01 |
0.1 |
M |
T |
M |
Snow covered ground including streets - just a dusting on all. Swept with broom, not shovelable. |
| 12/15/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/16/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/17/2010 |
8:45 AM |
0.12 |
1.4 |
0.12 |
1.5 |
0.12 |
Snow began roughly 10am and immediately stuck, covering ground. Used melted core average for daily amount; gauge contained 0.10" and 4 core samples averaged 0.12"
Depth of snow on ground is between 1.3 and 1.4 inches, rounded to nearest half inch is 1.5 instead of 1.0
Assumed melted core of new snowfall same as melted value from on ground in morning because ground is well frozen and there was little wind, so there was no melting at onset or since. |
| 12/18/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/19/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/20/2010 |
9:30 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
T |
M |
Ground is around 30% snow covered. Layer of snow is wedged into the grass, with its base around 1/2 inch above ground and the layer is around 1/2 inch thick. |
| 12/21/2010 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
T |
M |
Slight decrease in coverage since yesterday. |
| 12/22/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/23/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/24/2010 |
11:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
T |
M |
Still have a little snow in shaded areas - around 5% to 10% coverage. |
| 12/25/2010 |
12:00 PM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
T |
M |
A dusting of snow fell during the late morning today Saturday Dec 25, covering the ground and then quickly melting. There is still snow left in some shaded spots - appears to be still the old snow. I did not get a snow depth measurement for the new snow before it melted. |
| 12/26/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/27/2010 |
8:00 AM |
0.03 |
M |
M |
0.5 |
M |
Snow fell starting in late morning - very light snow all day except brief interludes of moderate snow during the early evening before ending. Snow melted on contact most of the day but for a couple brief periods whitened much of the ground with barely a dusting, until dusk when it stuck better and fell harder but quickly ended. I did not take any measurements during the snowfall and the little bit on the ground is mixed between fine powder and frozen bits on the ground, so attempts to make core samples were futile. The accumulation of new snow should be higher than the depth on the ground but is unknown, thus left at NA, and the only melted amount is from the gauge, which is probably an undercatch, but I would guess an accurate amount is still only around 0.10 inches. |
| 12/28/2010 |
9:30 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
0.00 |
T |
M |
Snow is almost all gone! Strong winds all day and all evening sublimated the thin veneer of snow. The 10% or less of area where the ground was frozen harder and the snow adhered better to the ground still has small thin patches of snow, mostly in shaded or sheltered areas but I did see a few small patches in open areas.
The open water in the south half of Lake Artemesia is much wider, covering almost that entire portion of lake, though the north half is still frozen over. (For those unfamiliar, the lake is split by an east-west isthmus extending across most of the width of the lake.) |
| 12/29/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/30/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 12/31/2010 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 1/1/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 1/2/2011 |
12:00 PM |
0.05 |
0.0 |
M |
0.0 |
M |
Rain came in the evening. Earlier in the day the streets and sidewalks were wet from condensation as higher dewpoints advected in over cold ground, but it was breezy and there was no fog and no stratocu. |
| 1/3/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.02 |
0.0 |
M |
0.0 |
M |
Light rain fell Sunday again after obs, froze in inner cylinder overnight. |
| 1/4/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
0.0 |
M |
|
| 1/5/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
0.0 |
M |
|
| 1/6/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
0.0 |
M |
|
| 1/7/2011 |
8:45 AM |
T |
T |
M |
T |
M |
A very light sparse dusting of snow fell late at night or early morning. The small gathering of flakes in the outer cylinder in my CoCoRaHS gauge was not enough to collect into the inner cylinder and measure. The ground had been bare but now is covered with tiny snow patches in the grass (even very short blades stick up through it, the albedo is not increased by much, not like a continuous snowcover) and on cars, nothing on pavement. |
| 1/8/2011 |
12:00 PM |
0.02 |
0.2 |
M |
T |
M |
Ground was whitened in the morning and much of the snow was gone by noon. |
| 1/9/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
Snow Saturday morning reported in Saturday's observation. I saw snow showers around the area during the afternoon but I did not see any while at home nor later discover any indication any had fallen at my site. |
| 1/10/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
0.0 |
M |
Ground is already bare again ahead of next system expected tomorrow. |
| 1/11/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 1/12/2011 |
8:00 AM |
0.14 |
2.0 |
0.14 |
2.0 |
0.10 |
I am trying to type this for the second time! CoCoRaHS web site timed out and wiped out my entire report! Then, after it saved this one, it would not show it under my reports until I did a forced manual refresh of the browser.
Precipitation began in earnest in early evening, beginning as freezing rain, changing to sleet, and most falling as snow. The gauge was rimed (thin) and so were ground surfaces, so I had difficulty getting the rimed part into the 4 core samples. Further, the snow was crumbly and stuck in the grass even while using the snow swatter, so the melted core samples measured less than the gauge contents, an unusual result.
|
| 1/13/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
1.0 |
M |
|
| 1/14/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 1/15/2011 |
2:00 PM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
T |
M |
More than half of the ground is bare and what snow remains is very thin |
| 1/16/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 1/17/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 1/18/2011 |
8:30 AM |
0.38 |
0.4 |
M |
0.5 |
M |
Dense-packed crunchy ice (hard but has air in it) from sleet and freezing rain mix - not solid ice (no air) from pure glazing - covers everything to a depth of .3 to .4 inches. Heavy snow with large flakes fell for a few minutes fell a bit before 9pm and quickly covered the ground, then changed to sleet. Sleet and freezing rain fell through the night. Trees glazed heavily by midnight but in the morning have less glaze, estimated less than 0.1 inches and substantial unglazed parts. Gauge had less riming than other surfaces. Hail pad is solidly covered with ice. Reported amount is from melted gauge contents. |
| 1/19/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.03 |
0.0 |
M |
T |
M |
Above freezing, a little rain overnight. Ice still covers more than half of the grass, to a thickness of around 0.1 to 0.2 inches and with many holes - bare patches a few inches across. All paved areas are bare with no black ice. |
| 1/20/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 1/21/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.03 |
T |
M |
0.0 |
M |
Light frozen precipitation was pinging the window screens after midnight but apparently changed to rain overnight. I woke up to bare ground and slightly above-freezing temperatures. |
| 1/22/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
0.0 |
M |
|
| 1/29/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 1/30/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 1/31/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 2/1/2011 |
10:00 AM |
0.02 |
T |
M |
2.5 |
M |
Light snow fell after 7pm and apparently some light freezing rain overnight. Streets, cars, and walks had a crunchy snow/ice-pellet mixture in the evening but were bare with no glaze in the morning while hail pad had a thin glaze in the morning. Ground is still entirely covered with an extremely dense hard snowpack (except of course roads and walkways where it was cleared). Depth measurement is from undisturbed areas of which there are few remaining. |
| 2/2/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.71 |
0.0 |
M |
2.0 |
M |
All rain, no freezing, but snowpack not reduced much - shows how dense it was. Snowpack now is not as hard and firm. |
| 2/3/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.02 |
M |
M |
1.0 |
M |
Apparently some of the afternoon showers passed over my house (confirmed by radar) while I was at work. The 0.02 is from after the morning precip ended. Snow cover is down to around 75% and is mostly ice. The dense snowpack from last week's storm had a half inch of ice at the bottom. The dense crunchy snow on top of that is mostly gone (some yards still have more than an inch of that on top of the ice base) but the underlying ice base is still there. |
| 2/4/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
0.5 |
M |
Snowcover down to around 60%, lower (say 25%) in open areas away from tree and building shadows, but the shadow effect is rather long still. |
| 2/7/2011 |
8:30 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
T |
M |
Around 90-95% of the ground is bare now, but small snow patches remain even in some unsheltered spots. |
| 2/8/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.03 |
0.0 |
M |
T |
M |
Very light rain evening into overnight. More snow patches melted but there are still a few left - ground is mostly bare even in shadows but some snow patches still exist in exposed areas of lawns not including where piled up by shoveling. Lake Artemesia is almost entirely open now, for the first time in a couple months. And turkey vultures were enjoying the wind, rocking back and forth while circling above the west shore. |
| 2/9/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 2/10/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.01 |
0.1 |
M |
T |
M |
Wednesday evening snow fell, sticking to all of the grass and even much of the sidewalk and accumulating noticeably on my hailpad. By morning, it was all gone except in a few spots. |
| 2/11/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 2/12/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 2/13/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 2/14/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 2/15/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 2/16/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 2/17/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 2/18/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 2/19/2011 |
1:00 AM |
0.02 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Afternoon rainshower. Read gauge overnight before strong winds came in case winds would tip the gauge. No rain overnight, and gauge is still standing, and hail pad did not blow away (yet). |
| 2/20/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 2/21/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.06 |
M |
M |
0.0 |
M |
Late evening to overnight light rain. No precipitation falling at time of observation. Ground is 100% bare, may change by tomorrow morning. |
| 2/22/2011 |
8:00 AM |
0.29 |
M |
M |
1.0 |
0.12 |
Afternoon rain mixed with a little sleet. Late evening all sleet and moderate at times. Overnight left snow on top and awoke to bright sunshine and blue sky. Cores contained icy slush at the bottom stuck in the grass and it was difficult to extract all of the slush from the ground and grass. Much of the precipitation melted before accumulating, but even so, core esimates may be a little too low. Due to melting in the early part of the event, new snow accumulation and melted core cannot be obtained. |
| 2/23/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
T |
M |
Around 60% of the ground is bare now. |
| 2/24/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
T |
M |
Ground still has a little snow in a few spots, but mostly bare. |
| 2/25/2011 |
11:00 AM |
0.34 |
M |
M |
0.0 |
M |
Sun starting to come out, rain ended. |
| 2/26/2011 |
11:00 AM |
0.06 |
M |
M |
0.0 |
M |
Morning rain in previous day's measurement. Today's rain all fell in brief rapidly-moving early-afternoon showers with cold front passage. No indication of hail on the hail pad and someone who was home on the block said there was no thunder. I saw no lightning from my office in Silver Spring. Strong winds followed the cold front. Showers/storms were narrow elongated towers and at times appeared be like strung-out mini supercells with cloud-free cut-ins in the middle where heavy precip was falling through and strongest westerly winds on the south flank and another precip core downwind on the forward flank. |
| 2/27/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/8/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/9/2011 |
8:00 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Found a bit more than 0.01" in the gauge and there were a few weak radar echoes which passed over the area but none of the airports reported rain. There was no dew as far as I can tell nor does the time series of area obs T and Td suggest heavy dew would have formed. |
| 3/10/2011 |
10:00 AM |
0.66 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Light rain continuing at time of observation. Drips began by mid-evening and rain picked up overnight. Ground is soaked with puddles all over the place and muddy, mushy conditions. |
| 3/11/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.82 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Storm total 1.48. No lightning or thunder observed. |
| 3/12/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/13/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/14/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/15/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/16/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.59 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Rain ended long before obs time. Ground is muddy. Walking on it even gently causes wet mud to splash up onto pant legs. |
| 3/17/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/18/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/19/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/20/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/21/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.29 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
Thunderstorm (did not see any hail and hailpad appears undisturbed) with rather frequent lightning including some CG along leading edge and CC behind leading edge arrived shortly before 7am. Heaviest rain was very short, at the start of the storm, and then a lull, followed by moderate rain in trailing stratiform region. All rain ended a little after 8am. |
| 3/22/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Morning storm in yesterday's total. Evening storms missed, apparently contributing 0.01". |
| 3/23/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.02 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/24/2011 |
9:15 AM |
0.19 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Evening thundershower - storms were dissipating with residual stratiform region passing over but had some in-cloud lightning and thunder. |
| 3/25/2011 |
11:00 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/26/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/27/2011 |
11:45 AM |
T |
T |
M |
0.0 |
0.00 |
Snow ended before 9am (don't know when, but by 9 it was already gone) and ground, cars, and everything are completely dry. Gauge had a small amount of liquid, clearly less than half of 0.01". |
| 3/28/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/29/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/30/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 3/31/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.19 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Rain ended well before obs time but light mist was present. |
| 4/1/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.24 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Rain ended, sun starting to come out |
| 4/2/2011 |
11:15 AM |
0.02 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
sprinkles at time of obs, but water in gauge from much earlier as streets are all dry now |
| 4/3/2011 |
12:00 PM |
0.11 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Brief convective shower with gusty winds - no hail or lightning, around 12:30pm Saturday. Later, I was in Laurel where a second storm came through around 2:30-pm with a good amount (still more rain than hail) of small hail, and when it was to the east I saw one large flash of in-cloud lightning and still a bit later as the line was further east, I saw sun reflecting brightly off an apparent hail shaft. I think all of this later activity (after the 12:30 storm) missed my site or produced very little precipitation at my site. |
| 4/4/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.03 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Long deep rumbling, rolling, and occasionally booming thunder starting around 9:30pm but not much rain. |
| 4/5/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.36 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Light rain falling at time of observation. Slept through the thunderstorm line which swept across the area around 4:30am, but lack of branch pieces and twigs down suggests less wind here than in other locations around the area. Cold front came through around 8:30am with brief moderately heavy shower and burst of strong gusty winds, probably around 45 MPH. |
| 4/6/2011 |
9:15 AM |
0.07 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 4/7/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 4/12/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Very light rain at time of observation and dewpoint still high (warm and humid) |
| 4/13/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.39 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Light rain at obs time. |
| 4/14/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.06 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 4/15/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 4/18/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 4/19/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 4/20/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.05 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Thundershower a little after 11am |
| 4/21/2011 |
9:30 AM |
T |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Few drops of water in gauge - maybe from afternoon cu as radar showed some weak echoes or maybe canopy water from trees blew in the wind. (Canopy does not extend over gauge but is not far.) |
| 4/22/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 4/23/2011 |
11:30 AM |
0.44 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Rain began mid-day Friday and ended prior to the observation time. |
| 4/24/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 4/25/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.05 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
4:30pm thunderstorm passed to north, was on the south edge here with ragged main updraft base passing overhead and long rolling yet rather sharp thunder to the north, then cool gust front went through followed by a few seconds of sheets of rain, then clearing. Nice hard towers blew up along the gust front to the south and cells trained there through the evening, producing a nice lightning show. The northwest edge of one cell came up over the house and dropped a very brief weak shower containing large drops along with some thunder. |
| 4/26/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 4/27/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
Dark skies in the morning now and sprinkles around the area but gauge is dry, cars are dry, no sign of rain. Newspaper bag was dry on top, wet on bottom - likely from dew. |
| 4/28/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
Gauge dry, all storms missed my site. Saw wall cloud from downtown Silver Spring looking toward Rockville. Storm passed over I-270 and moved northeast into Howard County, had nice staircase from flanking line to main cell with nice downshear tilt and wall cloud was under main updraft under the main flanking line tower. Storm was sucking in N-S lines of moderate cumulus but appeared to be moving over its own forward flank rain area. |
| 5/3/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/4/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.51 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Light rain at time of observation. To compare with other sites with readings taken at earlier morning times, need to look at 2-day totals. |
| 5/5/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.05 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Storm total 0.56 |
| 5/6/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/7/2011 |
11:00 AM |
0.03 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Thunderstorm nearby to west at 7:30pm, rain began at 7:43 pm, light rain with large drops as updraft passed overhead. Main rainshaft passed to west and north with the edge passing over. Winds gusted to roughly 35 MPH with the gust front. |
| 5/8/2011 |
4:00 PM |
T |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Saturday (yesterday) afternoon a little light rain fell from altocumulus clouds and the gauge even had a little bit of water remaining this afternoon. No rain yet today. |
| 5/9/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
Towering cumulus were building up late Sunday afternoon and some passed directly overhead but no raindrops noticed and gauge was dry. |
| 5/10/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/11/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/12/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/13/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Air was fresh with the pleasant aroma of just-fallen or nearby rain. It appeared that the light rain had (temporarily) ended just before the observation time. |
| 5/14/2011 |
2:00 PM |
0.02 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/15/2011 |
10:00 AM |
0.35 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
mild thundershower around 10pm with continuing infrequent lightning for a while |
| 5/16/2011 |
7:45 AM |
0.12 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Brief thundershower around 6:45 with nice updraft base but storm was very small. Large drops and heavy downpour for around 2 or 3 minutes with a couple minutes of lighter rain preceding and following the downpour. |
| 5/17/2011 |
9:20 AM |
0.69 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Thundershowers around 4-4:30pm moving from SSE, then light rain in the morning today. |
| 5/18/2011 |
8:40 AM |
0.03 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/19/2011 |
7:40 AM |
0.33 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
In addition to rain water, there are bird droppings on the funnel and the hail pad.
|
| 5/20/2011 |
10:00 AM |
0.14 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Lightning west to southwest around 10pm, later followed by light rain. Some rain earlier during the day also. |
| 5/21/2011 |
11:30 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/22/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/23/2011 |
8:30 AM |
0.03 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
A little light rain overnight and/or early morning. Hail pad is showing the results of more birds standing on it after eating. |
| 5/24/2011 |
10:15 AM |
0.04 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Evening storms missed but had morning rain just a short while ago. |
| 5/25/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/26/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/27/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/28/2011 |
1:00 PM |
0.04 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
thundershower around 8pm with gusty winds (looked like peak around 35 MPH)and moderate (not frequent) amount of cloud to ground lightning but not much rain here. Nice updraft base and tower passed a few miles to my east as the storm ended. |
| 5/29/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/30/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 5/31/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/1/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/2/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
completely dry... was not home when storms passed nearby. College Park airport automated station approximately 2 miles SSW of my site does not report precip but reported reduced visibility and large drop in temperature, so one of the storms was at least that close. |
| 6/3/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/4/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/5/2011 |
11:30 AM |
0.04 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Very distant occasional lightning, approximately north, around midnight. No rain before then and everything was dry at obs time, so must have fallen late at night or early morning. |
| 6/6/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
2.58 inches in last 6 weeks = 0.43"/week, a bit on the dry side since mid-April. Grass and foliage is still deep green, but if drying increases into summer, plants will dry out by July 4 weekend, not a good time to have dry fuels available. |
| 6/7/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/8/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/9/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/10/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.03 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Evening storms passed far to north, overnight storm passed nearby to south with some spider lightning up in the clouds. |
| 6/11/2011 |
12:00 PM |
0.03 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
around 7pm pretty towers went up to the north, with nice updraft bases, nice summer low-shear multicell thundershowers. Only .03 at the house but view was very pretty from ag farm in Beltsville, with lightning from slight overhang and good amount of intense cloud-to-ground strikes nearby there. Rain there was moderate to somewhat heavy briefly, with very large drops but did no hail. Rain foot to the west-northwest of there, somewhere in the Calverton to White Oak vicinity, with a cell to the immediate west of the one which produced the lightning where I watched the storm. After storm moved to the east and weakened, anvil showed mammatus. |
| 6/12/2011 |
2:00 PM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
Dry here but great visibility - sharp view of the towers of the storms over southern PA and extreme northern MD. |
| 6/13/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
Storms along cold front dissipated on approach and new cell matured just to my east with heavy precip shaft visible and nearby lightning and thunder. 4th day in a row with storms but total here only 0.06". |
| 6/14/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/15/2011 |
9:30 AM |
T |
M |
M |
M |
M |
sprinkles from cumulus towers around the area, apparently some passed overhead leaving their trace |
| 6/16/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.03 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
morning showers. 2.59" since May 1, typical of central MD, while many spots in northern MD have had around 6". Young small dogwood tree in front is wilting and turning brown despite my watering it recent evenings - maybe I started watering it a few weeks too late. |
| 6/17/2011 |
9:25 AM |
0.53 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Spectacular lightning display, very frequent and through all parts of the storm with all types - straight CG, curly CG, multiple forks, IC, horizontal CA under anvil behind storm, etc. |
| 6/18/2011 |
12:00 PM |
0.30 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
brief moderate shower around 4:40pm and briefly heavier thundershower at dusk |
| 6/19/2011 |
10:00 AM |
0.02 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
very light rain began around 9pm |
| 6/20/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.27 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Sprinkles Sunday late morning, then light rain overnight/morning and continuing very light rain at obs time. |
| 6/21/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.06 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/22/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Quite a lightning and thunder show after 9pm with multistroke forked vertical and horizontal bolts but hardly any rain here as the storms dissipated before reaching my location. |
| 6/23/2011 |
7:00 PM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/24/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/25/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/26/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/27/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.02 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Apparently, some light rain overnight. Grass and everything dry at obs time. |
| 6/28/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 6/29/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.45 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Evening thunderstorm, watched from Silver Spring as heavy rain area passed to the north along the Beltway. Vivid lightning, not extremely frequent but brilliant and sharp. Nice arc-shaped roll cloud with towers on top advanced right overhead, on south side of main storm, but gust front was not impressive. |
| 6/30/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/1/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/2/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/3/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.57 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Loud thunderstorm around 4am |
| 7/8/2011 |
11:00 AM |
T |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Updraft bases overhead along outflow boundary yesterday evening (storms to distant north), not sure if they produced a few drops or if I simply did an inadequate job shaking out the water from the gauge yesterday afternoon after returning from a trip. |
| 7/9/2011 |
12:00 PM |
0.60 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Most of the rain fell in 15 minutes beginning shortly before 4pm following a bulging dark updraft base which appeared to the west and then tracked just to the north. The storm had not a lot of visible lightning and had rumbling, not crackling, thunder, and little wind. Quite a bit of thunder sounded like it was higher up in the clouds, so perhaps there was quite a bit of in-cloud lightning which I did not see. |
| 7/10/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/11/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/12/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.41 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Spectacular evening storm... excellent extremely dark, bumpy updraft base at leading edge (gusts probably only around 35-40 MPH) as first storm approached from the northwest, but the real treat was lightning with the second cell which developed behind the leading edge a short distance to the south and moved east. Lightning strike sequences were around 30 per minute, with average multiplicity over 4 per sequence, and most of the sequences included large in-cloud illumination and a ground strike, often forked and with longer continuing illumination than in an average storm, and the in-cloud illumination often began before the ground strike appeared, with the ground strike towards the middle of an illuminated part of the cloud. Most of the lightning was towards the rear of the heavy rain area or even behind the heavy rain area. As the storm receded into the distance, lightning from more cells along the line became visible simultaneously (due to viewing perspective not being blocked by closer cells). Easily the best lightning show of the year so far and better than the best of some years. |
| 7/13/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/14/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.10 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Storm passed far to south with some thunder rumbles. Noticing that this would happen, I went stormchasing to the south and was a few minutes late everywhere. An updraft base passed just south of Central Ave and the Beltway, with a good amount of lightning and to its south, torrential rain. A second appeared a distance to its south, and more as I went south on Rt 5, then Rt 301. A particularly intense cell went through Waldorf with tremendous lightning and heavy rain, and even more intense was a cell further south that met me in LaPlata with spectacular frequent and intense cloud to ground strikes all around in extremely heavy rain, and I finally got to the gust front leading edge at the Nice bridge. Fortunately, I parked and turned around there, did not attempt to go over the bridge, as a truck flipped over on the bridge as it attempted to drive through winds behind the gust front - I could not see the bridge from where I turned around just before the toll area, so I did not see the accident. The winds where I was probably peaked only around 40 MPH but winds were likely stronger over the water and the bridge was further toward the warm air/leading edge where the initial surge I never quite caught may have had stronger winds. I did not encounter any hail in any of the cores I drove through. Winds in the cores were from varying directions, even changing directions while I was stopped at traffic lights. Probably, the major rain bursts spread out upon hitting the ground and as different bursts passed over, the wind direction changed. |
| 7/15/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/16/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/17/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/18/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/19/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/20/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
Not a drop... thunderstorms shot up to the northwest and north, and I could see the thick anvils with anvil-embedded ice towers extending across 1/4 of the sky early on while I could hear distant booming thunder, perhaps not just from far away where the storm was reaching the ground but also perhaps coming from the anvil which was rather close horizontally. Later, orphaned anvils covered half of the sky while the gust front (gust is a gross exaggeration), with no human-detectable change in temperature/dewpoint, passed through with a few little towers. New storms developed on the gust front much further south, around the south end of the beltway, producing picturesque towers I could see from home. |
| 7/21/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/22/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/23/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/24/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/25/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/26/2011 |
8:00 AM |
0.11 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Mid-day thunder all around but storms missed. Eventually around 3pm gust front came through from northeast with scud moving south rapidly just to the east, and it settled with updraft bases just to the south, then came most of the little bit of rain, and that was it for here while thunder continued to rumble in various directions. |
| 7/27/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/28/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/29/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/30/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 7/31/2011 |
11:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
6.60" 3-month total since May 1 is far below normal while hot, sunny, and often breezy weather has made for much higher evaporation than normal. My lawn is rather dried up and I haven't had to mow it for roughly two months, it has been a long time! The young dogwood tree in front has been having a very rough time no matter how much I water it. NWS precip map http://water.weather.gov/precip/ for last 90 days shows good rainfall throughout the middle part of the country to the mid-Atlantic and northeastern states with the primary exception of Maryland - a dry region which maps out closely to the Maryland and Delaware area with a few wetter spots near the Bay and along the coast. Within that dry area, my site has been among the driest but a few others have been a little drier. |
| 8/1/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/2/2011 |
8:30 AM |
0.81 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
0.78 by 6pm, .03 later in evening. Amount may be undercatch due to hail. I was driving from Silver Spring when the big storm hit. Neighbor reports hail up to marble size nearly covered the ground. While I was driving on University Blvd eastbound I encountered isolated hailstones with no rain a bit east of Riggs Rd around 5:30, then encountered heavy rain with continuing hail to marble size in vicinity of Adelphi Rd, and the storm was just to my east/southeast going past Stadium Drive and produced a spectacular "nearby" low-hanging rainbow as I almost caught the rain shaft at Rhode Island Ave. The entire area from Adelphi Rd east through all of College Park had stripped leaves in the road but no large branches and quite a few traffic lights without power (not flashing, totally off). Power was out at the house and also in Greenbelt, but came back on around 8pm here and 7pm in Greenbelt. Hail pad has around a dozen circular impressions around 1/3 inch in diameter and only a few just barely having torn the foil, so the hail was apparently not large or not all that hard at the house, but the hail I saw on University Blvd was spherical and very hard, bouncing off the road without splintering apart. Shortly after that, a bit after 6pm, another much weaker cell with nice anvil passed by, giving a few large drops and a little shower and some lightning, and then another brilliant rainbow appeared as the rain shaft passed just to the east. A third cell passed just north with a nice display of wiggly multiforked multistroke lightning and booming and crackling thunder around 10pm. |
| 8/3/2011 |
9:00 AM |
T |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Overnight showers/thundershowers missed but a few drops this morning. |
| 8/4/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.04 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Unusual (for recent months) damp, not hot, day and grass is wet now, but not much rain. |
| 8/5/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/6/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/7/2011 |
11:30 AM |
0.49 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Storm was ending when I arrived home, drove through torrential rain on I-95 near the beltway and again on the beltway near the Rt 1 exit and again shortly after getting off the beltway, but was not heavy when arrived at home. Saw just a couple flashes of lightning, with a nice loud very long roll of thunder after arriving home. |
| 8/8/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.29 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Most fell in 5-10 minutes during a heavy thundershower around 4:23pm. Little lightning was visible but I heard a lot of distant-sounding deep rumbling thunder. I heard thunder again with storms passing far to the south an hour later. |
| 8/9/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/10/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/11/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/12/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/13/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/14/2011 |
12:00 PM |
0.79 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Some rain early morning but significant thundershower with gust front from the south around 1:10pm, followed by briefly heavy rain, ending by 1:50pm, gauge showing 0.26 at that point. Another storm came through after around 4:30 as growing updraft passed overhead and began producing lightning to the northeast, then rain shaft trailed it by quite a distance and produced a steady moderate downpour for a little while, contributing toward the remaining 0.53 found in the gauge. Additional light rainfall fell Sunday morning contributing the remainder. |
| 8/15/2011 |
8:00 AM |
2.82 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
all after 8pm, Sunday's late morning rain in yesterday's measurement. All day there was a convergence zone overhead with towers forming overhead and just to the east, one after another, with dark, very low-hanging updraft bases and nice but not too tall cauliflower tops, but no rain here. Then around 8pm a juicy dark updraft base sat overhead and mushroomed into a major storm, producing light rain here and heavy rain and intense lightning just to the northwest, roughly 2 miles. The south edge of the updraft base was visible to my south (just enough daylight left to see it), and it was clearly moving toward the northwest! It kept redeveloping in place, dropping light rain and emitting lightning darts in all directions and inside the cloud, producing all sorts of thunder from crashing to booming to deep rumbling. The storm eventually made its way here, first the gust front came through and then the heavy rain began in earnest around 9:20pm. Meanwhile, radar indicated an area of storms to the west was approaching, and as it approached, it dissipated while new storms erupted in between, along the gust front, so the second round came with little interruption around 10pm (at least a half hour earlier than if the storms to the west had simply kept moving east) with more torrential rain but not as much cloud-to-ground lightning, mostly constant flashing in the clouds and deep rumbling. Remarkably, I had no flooding in the house and the water did not run over the curb as it gushed down the street and it did not make a lake at the bottom of the hill, and the yard does not have puddles remaining this morning. I guess the recent dry spell allowed the ground and vegetation to soak up a lot quickly and the storm drains function well when not clogged with leaves/debris. My outdoor yard drainage system did collect a lot of mud carried in the runoff but still everything seemed to function well! A spectacular event with no damage, can't beat that! |
| 8/16/2011 |
8:00 AM |
T |
M |
M |
M |
M |
A mid-day thundershower passed nearby to the east with a lot of thunder and later another passed just to the south with a bumpy updraft base visible followed by lightning and thunder and brought sprinkles here. After dark, occasional lightning was visible in far distance. |
| 8/17/2011 |
9:00 AM |
T |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Sprinkles from a southeastward-moving towering cumulus shortly before noon. |
| 8/18/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/19/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.25 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
During afternoon, long period of thunder in Greenbelt with no rain. Arrived home to wet street and found .02 in gauge, and then an updraft base passed overhead, the wind became gusty for a few minutes and shortly thereafter, a few minutes before 6pm, the just-now-maturing storm let loose with a downpour and cannon barrage of nearby cloud-to-ground lightning and thunder. The downpour lasted only a few minutes and the storm slowly moved east with lightning continuing just 1-3 miles away. The next storm followed a short while later with a nice laminar striated updraft and a broken weak roll cloud underneath which passed just to the northwest as the storm core passed slightly further away behind it - got some light to briefly moderate rain with large drops and a lot of lightning to the northwest. This is the storm which brought hail to Calverton and Laurel. At night I saw in-cloud lightning to the south, not nearby, and even some "spider" lightning anvil crawlers closer but still a ways to the south as a region of light rain passed overhead. |
| 8/20/2011 |
10:30 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Dry here but storms all around. Loud cauliflower arose to my southeast with back edge around 5 miles mid-afternoon, then gust front came through from the north with modest breezes and line of modest updrafts. Storm eventually developed 5-10 miles to my south along the gust front with a lot of flashing lightning and deep booming distant thunder. It pushed out a gust front from the south which brought very cool (probably 70 deg F) temperatures and freshened breezes to roughly 25 MPH. Updrafts tried to form along this gust front overhead and to the west/southwest but never matured into storms. Storms continued to the distant south for a while with diminishing lightning frequency. All was done by around 8pm. |
| 8/21/2011 |
7:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/22/2011 |
8:45 AM |
0.79 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Thunderstorm with tremendous frequent cloud-to-ground lightning blew up and passed overhead around 1pm. My location was in the "strike" zone with close ground strikes all around, but I was on the eastern periphery of the heavy rain area as the storm tracked northeast, with the main core just to my southwest to west to eventually north. A series of additional weaker updrafts/cells passed over, creating intermittent light rain and dark skies, for the next 2 hours until the main line of storms arrive around 3pm. It looked like it was heading right for my location but that part weakened and the heaviest core and concentrated lightning strike activity passed just to my south and east. These lightning strikes appeared thicker and longer-lasting than typical, and one strike tripped circuit breakers in a house in Greenbelt. The precipitation was heaviest for just a couple minutes towards the end of the relatively heavy period and by 4pm the entire show was over. No strong winds and no hail here. |
| 8/23/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/24/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/25/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/26/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.32 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Wasn't here for most of the rain, but I know it was dry until at least 8:30am and there was some rain by 10:15am and additional rain which ended before 6pm.
In Silver Spring, I saw a little bit of lightning and heard thunder and saw several showers including a very brief somewhat heavy shower around noon. |
| 8/27/2011 |
10:30 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Towering cu/showers Fri afternoon left 0.01 and first drops from the main core area (outer reaches of the contiguous precip shield) of Irene were starting to fall at 10:30. At 11:27 as I type this, the first heavy showers are falling. |
| 8/28/2011 |
10:30 AM |
4.85 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Amount is ESTIMATE! I removed full inner cylinder and noted outer gauge looked a bit over 1/3 full, less than 40%, and then I tried to lift it off the brackets to pour through the funnel and it got stuck part of the way out and slipped out of my hands, spilling most of the contents. 35% of 11 inches is 3.85 plus the one inch in the inner=4.85, my estimate. This estimate also fits the pattern of surrounding observations. Rain was never extraordinarily heavy like in some of our summer thunderstorms but was showery with heavy moments. The winds became strong and gusty by late afternoon and I estimate the peak wind gusts up to around 1am were roughly 50 MPH. Lost power at 1:15am, came on again roughly 2 hours later at least briefly, then was out again sometime before 6:30am (have no idea when) and came back around 5:30pm. Yard was full of puddles and medium-size branches but no really big branches, no trees look substantially damaged, and gazebo is still intact although tarp covering it flew off as 2 anchors pulled out. Basement flooded as did many in the area, but fortunately only 1 to 1 1/2 inches in the lowest section, spared much of the basement. Overall not bad, not nearly as bad as the big downburst event last summer. |
| 8/29/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 8/30/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.02 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
There were light rain showers around the vicinity Monday afternoon and apparently one came over my gauge while I was not home. |
| 8/31/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 9/1/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 9/2/2011 |
10:30 AM |
0.07 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Overnight rain. DCA reported thunder but I slept through it or there was no thunder here. |
| 9/3/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 9/4/2011 |
12:30 PM |
0.09 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
11am yesterday moderate thundershower with modest amount of thunder. |
| 9/5/2011 |
9:00 AM |
T |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 9/6/2011 |
8:30 AM |
1.28 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
No thunder. Dry basement! |
| 9/7/2011 |
8:30 AM |
0.70 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Light rain intermittent between very light and light all day, then some moderate rain overnight. No rain falling at obs time. Yards all full of puddles and drainage systems still flowing with water running down the slope. Basement still dry so far! |
| 9/8/2011 |
9:00 AM |
4.76 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Still raining, not heavy. 30-day rain total now matches NOAA estimated 100-year return period! Bailed basement out with pump 3 times in past 22 hours, estimate pumped out around 2000 liters combined. 1.88" overnight in addition to the sig weather reports. Summary: 2.14" in 1 1/2 hours beginning around 10:45 am with most falling in a few short torrential burst and occasional strong lightning and thunder, then another 0.70" through 5pm when the sun came out between clouds, 0.04 from more light showers through 7:45pm, and then 1.88" from moderate to occasionally heavy persistent thundershowers overnight. Lightning to the east was bright, multistroke, and frequent. Lightning nearby was infrequent but brilliant and thunder was powerful and rolled on for a long continuous chorus.
My totals compared to estimated return frequencies from http://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds/pfds_map_cont.html?bkmrk=dc (interpolated to near my site location by moving the "+" symbol):
2-h - 5-10 years
6-h - 5 years
24-h - 10 years
2 days - 10 years
3 days - 10-25 years
12 days - 11.77" would be 50-100 years for 10 days but 25 years for 20 days.
20 days - 12.90" 25-50 years
30 days - 16.76" 100 years |
| 9/9/2011 |
10:00 AM |
0.76 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Was in the light rain area surrounding the training heavy convective cores - sky became very dark in the afternoon, but no well-defined updraft bases were visible, and light to occasionally moderate rain fell through the late afternoon and evening with stray bolts of lightning and ground-shaking long rolling thunder once in a while. More light rain fell into overnight but not heavy. Lucky to have missed the 7 inches in 3 hours which fell at Fort Belvoir! Their 3-hour rain exceeds the 90% confidence interval for a 1000-year recurrence period! That amount over 12 hours falls within the confidence interval for a 100-year return period. |
| 9/10/2011 |
8:00 AM |
0.15 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Shower in late morning Friday. Sun came out in afternoon and the drying is beginning! Clear and sunny this morning. |
| 9/11/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 9/12/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.02 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Late evening (forget whether 10:30 or 11pm) very brief moderate shower with very large drops. No lightning. All others missed my location. |
| 9/13/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 9/14/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 9/15/2011 |
8:45 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
Evening lightning lighting up the sky to NW and then N, but no rain here, completely dry. Yard finally dried out, not soggy or damp. |
| 9/16/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.09 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Morning had row of nonprecipitating towering cumulus over Baltimore, visible a long way to the south, with a sharp nice-looking updraft base. Afternoon light rain. |
| 9/17/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 9/18/2011 |
12:00 PM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Some light rain fell mid-afternoon. |
| 9/19/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 9/20/2011 |
7:30 AM |
T |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Drizzle falling at obs time, appears to have just begun |
| 9/21/2011 |
7:35 AM |
0.16 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
No precipitation falling at obs time |
| 9/22/2011 |
7:45 AM |
0.02 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Light rain and drizzle during evening, might have continued overnight. No precipitation falling at obs time. |
| 9/23/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.02 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Light rain at time of observation, do not know when it began but appeared to be recent |
| 9/24/2011 |
10:15 AM |
0.90 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Did not notice any lightning or thunder. |
| 9/25/2011 |
12:00 PM |
T |
M |
M |
M |
M |
In addition to the little bit of water in the gauge, I found a small slug stuck around the 0.20" mark on inside of the inner cylinder. I have found an abundance of much larger slugs in the past few weeks, more than I have ever seen before. |
| 9/26/2011 |
8:45 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 9/27/2011 |
9:00 AM |
0.00 |
0.0 |
M |
M |
M |
|
| 9/28/2011 |
7:30 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
No rain yet from morning storms. Yesterday early afternoon light showers in vicinity and later anvil and dark skies from storms well to the south, with some anvil thunder heard here. |
| 9/29/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.84 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Almost exactly half fell in morning storm and half in evening storm. Morning storm had occasional lightning, mostly towards the rear of the storm. Evening storm had gorgeous after-dark towers illuminated by lightning to the southwest which slowly made its way overhead. New cells formed, seemed like several small cells passed over me while I was in Greenbelt (approx 3 miles east of my site), each with short bursts of rain and nearby lightning. Some of the lightning was unusually brilliant and followed by extraordinarily loud, house-shaking thunder. |
| 9/30/2011 |
9:30 AM |
0.01 |
M |
M |
M |
M |
|