Eric Berger

In brief: Today’s post offers some thoughts about the need for a reckoning with power distribution in the greater Houston area, and greater resiliency given the conditions we regularly experience. In terms of a forecast, we will see additional thunderstorm chances today and Saturday before a hotter and calmer pattern begins Sunday.

Is this CenterPoint’s ERCOT moment?

Three and a half years ago nearly everyone in Texas had a bogeyman for the power issues that bedeviled the state during the Valentine’s Freeze of 2021. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power, and at least 250 people were killed directly or indirectly by the freeze. Property damages in the state approached $200 billion when “rolling” blackouts never actually rolled. It was a disaster—both natural and manmade.

The underlying issue was power generation, in particular the failure of power plants under extremely cold conditions, and an insufficient supply of natural gas for power plants. The reasons for this lack of preparation are complex, and partly political. The bottom line is that the organization tasked with supplying the vast majority of the state’s electricity and managing the grid, ERCOT, received the majority of the blame. This led to a reckoning for ERCOT and, at least theoretically, reforms that will prevent future issues. So far, so good.

The failure of Houston’s power grid during the derecho in May and, most recently Beryl, is a distribution issue rather than a generation issue. There was plenty of power available, it just could not be delivered to residents. There are three electricity distributors in the Houston region: CenterPoint, Texas-New Mexico, and Entergy. However by far the largest distributor is CenterPoint, which has drawn the lion’s share of angst and anger since the outages began early on Monday morning. Let’s face it, being without electricity, especially in the middle of July in Houston, is absolutely miserable.

We have been pretty clear here at Space City Weather that the region should not have experienced such widespread outages. Beryl knocked out electricity to more customers than Hurricane Ike did in 2008. At Beryl’s peak, 85 percent of CenterPoint customers lost electricity. This matters because Ike was much larger and more powerful than Beryl, and brought hurricane-force sustained winds across large chunks of the Houston metro area. I’m not saying Beryl wasn’t a nasty storm, but its winds were quantitatively, and significantly, less than those of Ike.

I am far from an expert on the distribution infrastructure that delivers power into homes. It is complex, and I salute the linemen working long hours to restore service. However, Houston’s electricity distribution system is not working. It is failing us. Many residents have now experienced two prolonged outages in three months. I realize that CenterPoint can no more control the weather than I can. But after Hurricane Ike our system should have been hardened for future similar (and lesser events, like Beryl). I realize there are no easy solutions, but there are things we should be studying and the implementing, such as concrete poles, underground lines, microgrids, and other ideas.

Whatever company officials and politicians say in the coming days, the harsh reality is that our transmission system failed the Beryl test. Badly. And if we do nothing it will happen again and again.

Just as ERCOT faced a reckoning after the great freeze, our distributors need a reckoning after Beryl. The status quo, and political leaders who enable it going forward, are unacceptable. What we have seen this week is unsustainable for a city that bills itself as the energy capital of the world.

Friday and Saturday

Parts of the Houston area saw rain showers on Thursday, and some of these developed into fairly strong thunderstorms. A few locations just west of downtown picked up 1 to 1.5 inches of rainfall. This overall pattern of plenty of moisture in the atmosphere and an unstable boundary will persist today and Saturday. Therefore we are likely to see a similar pattern for the next two days, with showers developing near the coast later this morning and migrating inland this afternoon. Unfortunately, a few areas within these stronger storms will see lighting and briefly strong winds.

The upside to this pattern is partly to mostly cloudy skies, with cooler temperatures. Highs both days will be around 90 degrees, with light winds from the southeast. Overnight lows will generally drop into the upper 70s.

Sunday

By the second half of the weekend, high pressure should expand into Southeast Texas, setting the stage for a warmer pattern. We can expect mostly sunny skies and high temperatures in the mid-90s. Rain chances will be low, perhaps 20 percent, but not non-existent.

Next week

Hot, full-on summer weather arrives next week and our region will need electricity fully restored to cope. We are looking at highs generally in the mid- to upper-90s for most of the area, with mostly sunny skies. The first half of the week should be rain free, although chances for some scattered showers arrive during the second half of the week. Rain chances may improve further by next weekend as some sort of dying front approaches the region. We shall see.

To the extent possible, have a great weekend everyone. After a long period of activity, this site will go quiet on Saturday and Sunday, and then following our normal schedule of daily posting next week.

In brief: Today’s post discusses elevated rain chances today, and the rest of the week, which should help keep daytime highs a bit cooler. However, with higher temperatures on the horizon next week, power losses really need to be restored by then. I also list my top five most impactful weather disasters in Houston.

Ranking Beryl in the pantheon of Houston weather disasters

I’ve lived in Houston since 1997, covered weather on a semi-regular basis since 2001, started blogging about hurricanes in 2005, and been a certified meteorologist since 2014. I have tromped around flooded Houston streets during Allison, heard the winds howling downtown during Ike, and froze my tuchus off three and a half years ago during those “rolling” blackouts that never actually rolled.

The following list is totally subjective, but it’s coming from the perspective of someone who has probably written more words about the weather in Houston than anyone past or present—probably about 3 million words, or nearly six times the length of War and Peace. Anyway, after all that writing and thinking about Houston weather, here is my list of top five most impactful weather events since I got here:

• 1. Hurricane Harvey (2017). The competition for the top spot is not even close. The worst flood storm in US history and very likely the defining event of my career. I’ll never forget any of it.
• 2. Hurricane Ike (2008). At the time, it was the second costliest US hurricane ever, ranking behind only Hurricane Katrina. It still ranks among the top 10, and was a devastating wind and surge event.
• 3. Valentine’s Freeze (2021). We froze. We lost power. Our pipes burst. The roads iced over. The entire state of Texas, of Texas, was under a freeze warning at one point. This event impacted almost everyone in our community.
• 4. Tropical Storm Allison (2001). Before Harvey this was Houston’s flood of record. The Texas Medical Center flooded. Downtown Houston flooded. Everything flooded. Crazy rains that night. If you know, you know.
• 5. Hurricane Beryl (2024). At this point I’m prepared to put Beryl on this list due to its widespread disruptions to power and internet connectivity (still down for many, I realize). Beyond that, the storm downed hundreds of thousands of trees, and caused serious coastal flooding due to surge.

There are other serious contenders for this list. Dwight Silverman told me he believes the Drought of 2011 should be on the list, and it did cause serious structural problems in Houston, and utterly disrupted our flora and fauna. I also considered Hurricane Rita, which led to the death of 107 evacuees. Rita ultimately missed Houston, but no one who evacuated will forget that nightmare, and it led to statewide reforms in how Texas and local communities manage evacuations. Tropical Storm Imelda’s rains were catastrophic for parts of the Houston region, but a non-event for others. Other events, like Tropical Storm Frances (1998), and the Memorial Day and Tax Day floods, were also more localized phenomena.

Those are my thoughts. What about yours?

Thursday

With a boundary just offshore, and plenty of moisture in the atmosphere, we’ll start to see rain chances increase today. Coastal areas will see coverage of about 50 percent, with a few stronger thunderstorms. Areas further inland will have lower, but not non-existent chances. Increased cloud cover and rain-cooled air should help keep temperatures a bit lower today, in the low 90s for most, possibly even a touch lower near the coast. Humidity levels remain high, of course. Winds will be light, out of the southeast.

Friday and Saturday

The pattern will be more or less the same the next couple of days, with partly to mostly cloudy skies, and healthy rain chances. Showers and thunderstorms will be most likely during the afternoon hours, with daytime heating and the seabreeze providing a trigger. Highs will range from 90 to the lower 90s for most locations.

Sunday

Chances start to back off a bit, but there will still be a modest chance of rain. Look for highs in the low 90s with partly sunny skies.

Next week

High pressure starts to edge upward heading into next week, and this will increase our daily temperatures into the mid-90s, and then possibly the upper-90s. Rain chances will decrease for the start of the week, but should be on the rise again toward the end of next week. In any case, this is going to be hot summer weather in Houston, and people are going to need their power back on.

In brief: Today’s post discusses why Beryl’s winds were so strong hours after landfall, and then looks ahead to a forecast with some decent rain chances and slightly cooler daytime highs.

Hurricane Beryl’s persistent winds

Normally as a hurricane traverses land it starts to weaken fairly quickly. But Beryl didn’t as it moved north from Matagorda into Fort Bend County and Sugar Land. The storm maintained much of its strength and bulldozed right into the heart of Houston with near hurricane-force sustained winds and higher gusts. Why?

I chatted a little bit about this with Eric Blake, a forecaster at the National Hurricane Center, on the social media site X Tuesday. He noted that just as it was coming ashore, Beryl was starting to intensify rapidly, with a closed-off eyewall. He believes it would have been a Category 2 hurricane with just six more hours over the water. Thus, there was a lot of momentum built up by the storm.

So I think the storm’s long-lasting winds were a combination of factors. First, as Beryl moved north at about 12 mph, it crossed much of Houston just six hours after landfall. Second, as the storm came ashore with such momentum toward intensification, it took some time and interaction with land to unwind that momentum. Only after this could it start to weaken more rapidly once it passed north of Houston.

Weather isn’t all bad

I’m a weather and space nerd, so when I’m outside I always like to look up. Mother Nature has delivered us some harsh blows of late, but the skies were beautiful on Tuesday evening. I took this photograph of mammatus clouds just at sunset on Tuesday south of Houston, while walking around my neighborhood.

Wednesday

Skies today will be mostly sunny, with just very light northeasterly winds. Expect high temperatures in the low-90s for most locations, with inland areas possibly hitting the mid-90s. It will be a very warm day, with plenty of humidity. Areas near the coast, such as Matagorda and Brazoria counties, may see some showers and thunderstorms develop this afternoon, but most of our area should be rain-free.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Our pattern turns slightly more unsettled toward the end of the week as a stalled boundary will open the door to increased rain chances, especially for locations south of Interstate 10. Daily rain chances for these coastal areas will be on the order of 50 percent, with slightly lesser odds inland. Showers should mostly occur with peak heating, during the afternoon hours. Overall accumulations through the weekend don’t look excessive, but areas closer to the coast could see 0.5 to 1 inch of rainfall, or a little more. The increased cloud cover will help to moderate daytime temperatures a bit, with highs expected in the range of upper 80s to lower 90s.

Next week

We’re going to really need our utilities to deliver on restoring power for everyone next week, because as high pressure likely becomes a little more dominant, we’re going to see daytime temperatures creep back upward. I’m not expecting a full-blown heat wave, but this kind of pattern typically produces highs at least in the mid-90s in the Houston area in July. That’s pretty hot to be without power.

In brief: Houston will see a warm, mostly sunny pattern for the next couple of days before rain chances tick up a bit toward the end of the week. These will mostly be seabreeze type showers, so nothing too crazy. They should help to keep highs generally in the low 90s into the weekend as millions struggle without electricity.

Beryl aftermath

Beryl will soon dissipate, but as of this morning it remains a tropical depression moving rapidly to the northeast over Arkansas. It will not be a factor in our weather going forward. Bayous and creeks are quickly returning to normal levels, and coastal waters have retreated. We are left to cleanup, and there is plenty of work to do with CenterPoint still reporting 1.8 million customers with outages, Entergy with 232,000 outages north of Houston, and Texas New Mexico Power 92,000 customers mostly south of the city. Houston will not be as hot as it could be in July, but it will still be plenty hot this week unfortunately.

One discovery made at the Berger household is that one of our downed trees contained a huge bee’s nest. I had seen more bees of late near our garage, but I had no idea this was there. We’re working to get the hive moved to an apiary. Pretty wild stuff.

Tuesday

Skies will be mostly sunny today, with high temperatures in the low 90s. Winds will be light, generally from the northwest. Given the sunshine and high humidity levels, we’ll see “high” heat levels today based on wet bulb globe temperatures, so please drink plenty of water and take a cold shower or bath if possible to cool down. Low temperatures tonight will drop into the upper 70s, providing some modest relief. Rain chances will be near zero today.

Wednesday

Another mostly sunny day with highs generally in the low 90s. Rain chances will again be low, with light northeasterly winds.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

These days will see a mix of clouds and sunshine, this should continue to help keep high temperatures in the low 90s. Rain chances will be better on each of these days, with the influx of some moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. We’re talking perhaps a 30 to 50 percent chance each day of mostly light to moderate showers and thunderstorms. Total accumulations for most areas through the weekend will probably be on the order of one-half inch of rain, or less. Nighttime temperatures should continue to remain in the upper 70s.

Sunday and next week

More sunshine and lower (but not non-existent) rain chances arrive next week. We can probably expect highs in the low- to mid-90s, with nights trending a bit warmer.

Good luck to everyone today with storm recovery!