Month: June 2017

Unsettled weekend for Houston, but not a washout

Houston officially only hit 84° yesterday, several degrees shy of our average of 90° this time of year. Clouds and showers certainly helped. What does our weekend have in store?

Friday & Saturday

It’s very difficult to have a day in summer in Southeast Texas where you don’t have a chance of showers or hit and miss thunderstorms. That means we have to find ways to express which days have better chances than others. If yesterday was a five out of ten, today and tomorrow should be about a three or four out of ten. One of the key reasons is precipitable water (PWAT), a basic gauge of how much moisture is available in the atmosphere. Our PWAT value yesterday morning was around 1.8″ (or higher). Both today and tomorrow it should be more like 1.6-1.7″.

PWAT values yesterday vs. today show a fairly substantial drop. That won’t eliminate storms, but it should mean just a few less than were around yesterday. (NOAA)

 

This means we’ll almost certainly have scattered downpours around, but by no means should either day be a total washout. Have an umbrella handy and just be ready to scoot to shelter if you’ve got outdoor plans. Lightning will definitely be possible in the storms, as it almost always is during summer. Storms may also have heavy rain. There was some very localized street flooding in the Sugar Land area yesterday, and it’s conceivable that a handful of places may see a similar situation today or tomorrow.

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Hurricane season starts, but no concerns for Houston yet

We have reached June 1, which marks the official beginning of hurricane season. You’ve probably seen lots of coverage about how this seems likely to be an “active” season for the Atlantic—however if you actually read NOAA’s forecast it calls for a 55 percent chance of near normal or below normal activity, with a 45 percent chance of above normal. Essentially, that’s 50-50, and not really worth worrying about any more than any other year. Truthfully, if you live near the Gulf coast you should have a plan for when a hurricane threatens (evacuate? where? pets? documents? supplies?), and then put it into place when a storm develops. You can rest assured that we’ll provide comprehensive coverage of any tropical weather that potentially threatens Texas. To that end, we’ll be unveiling a site sponsor for the entirety of the season soon.

(NOAA)

Now, onto the forecast.

Thursday

Scattered showers and thunderstorms moved through Houston during the overnight hours dropping from less than a tenth of an inch to more than one inch of rain over western parts of Harris County. These showers have scoured some of the moisture from the air, and we’re likely to see a reprieve from rain through the morning hours. Whether we see some additional rain showers this afternoon will depend upon the extent to which our skies clear out after noon—sunnier skies will lead to warmer temperatures, and this would increase the likelihood of showers later in the afternoon and early evening. Look for highs in the mid-80s.

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