Eric Berger

We are thrilled to announce a Spanish-language version of Space City Weather

Four years ago, today, Harvey re-formed in the Gulf of Mexico. This set the stage for a historic flooding event that would change parts of Houston and the upper Texas coast forever. Harvey also put Space City Weather on the map—since then this site has transformed from a small-time hobby to something many people and institutions in Houston and beyond rely upon. Matt and I are humbled by this, and we view Space City Weather as a public service. For this reason we’ve grown concerned about missing out on the nearly 40 percent of Houston for whom Spanish is a native language.

So we are legitimately thrilled to announce the creation of Tiempo Ciudad Espacial, or TCE, as a Spanish-language version of our website. To accomplish this we are partnering with Maria Sotolongo, a longtime Texas meteorologist who is fluent in Spanish. Like Matt and myself, Maria is passionate about getting people reliable information before and during storms.

Therefore Maria will, on, a daily basis, write an independent forecast on TCE. This will be part translation, part interpretation, of what appears on Space City Weather in a format curated for a Spanish-language audience. It is our hope that people who are more comfortable reading in Spanish will find this service helpful.

Here is a little bit from Maria about her background, in English, and then an explanation of what she hopes to bring to TCE in Spanish:

If you don’t speak Spanish, nothing is going to change. Occasionally, however, Maria may fill in for Matt or myself with an English-language post. She might also brighten up our social media channels or even cajole one or both of us into producing more videos. Matt and I are excited to have some extra help.

I want to thank Reliant, which is sponsoring TCE in addition to Space City Weather. We are kind of jumping into the unknown here, and don’t really know what audience exists for this product. So if you know someone who speaks Spanish, primarily, please pass along this news!

Almost there: One more month until calmer seas, better weather

Good morning. We are into the final week of August, and this brings both good and bad news. The good news is that we’re much closer to the end of summer than the beginning. Based upon our climate normals, the warmest stretch of summer in Houston lasts from July 31 through August 8, when the average temperature is 85.8 degrees. (That’s simply an average of the daily high and low temperature). We are, reasonably, about one month from when we can expect fall’s first significant cool front.

The bad news is that we still have about a full month of summer left, and it coincides with the absolute peak of hurricane season for Texas. Although we see no immediate threats to the greater Houston region (read more below), the next few weeks do look active for the Gulf of Mexico. So we’re asking you to hang on for one more month, after which we’ll escape the heat of summer and the main threat of tropical activity.

With high pressure firmly in place, expect a hot start to the week. (Weather Bell)

Monday

Monday will see a continuation of conditions the region experienced over the weekend, which is to say hot and sunny. High temperatures for inland areas could well flirt with 100 degrees, and even coastal areas should be solidly in the low- to mid-90s. Skies will be mostly sunny, with only light southerly winds. This will be a day for care during the hottest, afternoon hours. Overnight lows should be in the upper 70s.

Tuesday

Another hot and sunny day, with high temperatures in the upper 90s. Winds will again be calm.

Wednesday and Thursday

Our overall pattern should begin to change by the middle of the week, as high pressure lifts away from the area. This should bring a few clouds to our skies, and introduce rain chances of perhaps 30 to 40 percent each day during the afternoon hours. This may also help to moderate temperatures slightly, from the upper 90s to mid-90s.

By Wednesday, high pressure should retreat north some. (Weather Bell)

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

The weekend forecast is far from settled, but for now it appears as though the combination of low pressure and increasing levels of tropical moisture should combine for healthy rain chances, especially by Sunday. For now I’d guess we’ll see highs in the low 90s, with partly sunny skies, and at least a 50 percent chance of rain showers each day. Under some scenarios, heavy rain is possible by Sunday, but that will depend to some extent on tropical development, discussed below.

Tropics

After Tropical Storm Henri moved into the northeastern United States this weekend, there are no active systems over water. However that could change later this week as a tropical wave moves into the Caribbean Sea. The National Hurricane Center gives this wave a 30 percent chance of developing into a tropical depression or storm within the next five days.

Tropical Outlook for 7am CT on Monday. (National Hurricane Center)

The global models are generally pretty bullish on this system eventually developing in the Southern Gulf of Mexico this weekend, and it’s something we’ll be watching closely as it will influence our rain chances this weekend. For now the bulk of these models suggest the storm will come ashore somewhere along the Mexican mainland, south of the Texas border. Although it is far too early to have much confidence in this, such a scenairo would also be unfortunate, give the recent landfall of Hurricane Grace near the resort town of Tecolutla.

After this system, there are hints of more potential activity in the Gulf of Mexico about two weeks from now, which would be consistent with early September. As we said above, the next month is the peak of hurricane season for Texas, so have a plan and be prepared.

Last real chance of rain today before serious August heat sets in

Wednesday’s high temperature across much of the metro area, beneath cloudy skies and on-and-off rain showers, peaked at about 90 to 93 degrees for most of us. Temperatures much of the day were in the 80s. While this was not “cool” by any stretch of the imagination, we are definitely bound for much hotter weather. The period from this coming Sunday through Tuesday should bring 100-degree heat for many inland locations.

For many locations, afternoon temperatures on Thursday were quite a bit cooler than Wednesday thanks to rain-cooled air. (Weather Bell)

Thursday

For those still seeking a bit of rainfall, today will be akin to drinking in the last chance saloon. Although atmospheric moisture levels remain fairly elevated, we’ll begin to feel the influence of high pressure expanding into the region. For this reason rain chances will likely be higher—maybe 40 or 50 percent—closer to the coast with lesser chances inland of Interstate 69 and Highway 59. These showers will be hit or miss, but a few isolated areas could pick up a quick inch of rain or so. Skies should otherwise be partly sunny, with highs in the mid-90s, and light southerly winds. Rain chances will drop as the Sun drops to the horizon.

Friday

As high pressure begins to fully assert itself, this should be a warm and sunny day with highs in the mid-90s. Rain chances will be on the order of 10 to 20 percent. Winds will be light, out of the south and southeast.

Saturday and Sunday

This will be a classic August weekend, with highs in the upper 90s to possibly 100 degrees by Sunday. Skies will be mostly sunny with generally light winds. Please take care outside during the hottest part of the day.

High pressure should build to a peak on Monday over Texas. (Weather Bell)

Next week

The heat remains turned up through Tuesday, with the potential for 100 degree days and lots of sunshine. A few more clouds return by Wednesday or Thursday, and as high pressure eases off we might even see some modest rain chances toward the end of next week. But it’s still going to be hot, y’all.

Tropics

The tropics remain more or less the same. Hurricane Grace has made landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula, will cross the Bay of Campeche on Friday, and make a final landfall along the Mexico mainland on Friday night, likely as a Category 1 hurricane. There is less certainty about Tropical Storm Henri. The forecast models are really struggling with this system, and there is still some question about whether it will affect the northeastern coast of the United States late this weekend. There are no immediate concerns beyond these two storms.

Update on Space City Weather’s app: Where we are, where we’re going

We first released the Space City Weather app a little more than two months ago, and I wanted to give you an update on where we are, and where we hope to go. As a reminder, you can download the app on Apple devices here, and Android devices here. The app is free, and there are no ads, no in-app purchases, and no tracking or hoovering of your personal information.

The App so far

First of all, we could not he happier with the response. More than 75,000 people have downloaded the app on Apple and Android devices since its launch. This is a pretty phenomenal response, and we appreciate your interest. We also appreciate your patience as we know the app launched with bugs on both mobile operating systems. We think we’ve now squashed most of them, so be sure you’ve updated the app on your device to get the latest version. After updating, you can report bugs by emailing us.

Plans for the App in 2022

Since the release of our initial app we have received a lot of feedback and feature requests. And we definitely hear you. To create the initial version of our app we exhausted all of our available funds, with the goal of creating a simple, functional app ready to go in time for the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. We delivered that.

Now we are contemplating our next steps. After we hold our site’s annual fundraiser in late October and November, we’ll be able to set a budget for upgrades to the Space City Weather App in 2022. Our initial priority is to work with our developer Hussain Abbasi, to include some of our most requested feature upgrades:

  • A better radar: larger, time stamps, improved resolution
  • Increased number of locations: I.e. Sugar Land, Tomball, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Baytown, etc.
  • An hourly percent chance of rain
  • Metric unit option

Then, depending on the—cough, cough—robustness of our fundraiser later this year we hope to include some of these additional upgrades later in 2022:

  • Dark mode
  • Ability to comment on posts within the app
  • Tropical weather tab

Plans for the App beyond 2022

Beyond these, we have ideas for future upgrades. We’re still not yet sure how to implement some of these, and some will require a lot of back-end work. So we want you to know we’re considering these ideas, but don’t have immediate plans to include them:

  • Pollen counts
  • Barometric pressure and trends
  • Portrait/horizontal mode
  • Apply watch support
  • Apple and Android widgets

As always, thank you for your interest in Space City Weather, and for your kind words about our efforts. Matt and I continue to feel as though it is a privilege to serve you all, and we greatly value the trust you place in us.