Matt Lanza

The summer doldrums continue

June 24, 2016 at 6:38 am by Matt Lanza

Happy Friday, Houston! Summer may have taken a little time to kick off this year, but we’re definitely locked in the doldrums now, with what you would expect this time of year. Let’s jump into it.

TODAY

Looking at weather maps this morning, we see a pretty rich area of precipitable water (PWAT) approaching the Coastal Bend to our south. In English, that means there’s going to be gradually increasing amounts of moisture available for thunderstorms to pop up this afternoon.

Deeper moisture increasing along the Texas coast as of early this morning. (NOAA/SPC)

So while it has been mostly quiet the last couple days, I expect we’ll see just a few more pop-up storms this afternoon (perhaps this morning along the coast). The best chance for greater coverage of afternoon hit/miss storms will be west of I-45 and south of I-10. The further north and east you go, the slightly drier the air mass stays today, so that should keep pop-up storms to a minimum. High temperatures will remain hot, into the low 90s, with heat indices into the low 100s.

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Can Houston do back to back 90 degree days?

June 10, 2016 at 6:15 am by Matt Lanza

At last, our long regional nightmare is over: Houston popped the cork on 90 degree days in 2016 on Thursday. Now we’re clear to rack up dozens of them.

It is Official… Houston Intercontinental Airport has reached 90 degrees as of 131 pm!

— NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) June 9, 2016

2016 will go down in history as having the 3rd latest first 90 degree day in Houston, just being edged out by June 12, 1970, and June 15, 1897. Like age, 90° is really just a state of mind around here. It still feels like summer. We will ease into this new reality where 90 degree temperatures can officially occur in Houston as modest rain chances flirt with us through the weekend.

TODAY

I suspect today will be somewhat similar to yesterday, with a scattering of showers or storms around in the afternoon (perhaps a downpour near the coast this morning). Temperatures will top off close to 90 degrees again, though we may fall a bit short. Storm risk today may not be quite as concentrated as we saw south and west of Houston yesterday, where over 2″ of rain fell in a few spots in Wharton, Matagorda, and Colorado Counties. But a few small clusters of showers or storms will be possible.

And just be aware that occasionally this time of year, you could see a brief funnel cloud or (along the bays/Gulf) a waterspout form. Likely nothing serious, but don’t be shocked if you see or hear reports of that occurring.

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Another stormy day around Houston

June 3, 2016 at 6:28 am by Matt Lanza

After a stormy Thursday, though certainly one that could have been worse for Houston, I’m hopeful for a more optimistic situation today (though not one where rain chances magically disappear unfortunately). A Flash Flood Watch remains posted into Saturday evening, so we’ve got another day and change to stay on guard. Let’s break it down.

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More rain to come for Houston

June 1, 2016 at 10:21 pm by Matt Lanza

I mean, seriously, this is like the rain version of “Groundhog Day.” I wish I had better news for you tonight, but unfortunately, today’s rain was merely Act I for the Houston area. We have some serious concerns going into tomorrow, and I’ll touch on those here in a second.

WHAT FELL?

Rainfall totals were very sporadic across the region, but they hit hardest in the worst possible places: The Woodlands, Spring, and Northern Harris County, places that simply can’t handle much water after last weekend.

Rainfall through 9:45 PM Wednesday evening. (Harris County Flood Control)

This inevitably led to widespread street flooding. That sort of flooding was worse than usual because it fell so fast (3-4″ in an hour in spots), and it overwhelmed drainage systems.

Area-wide view of radar estimated rainfall today. (GRLevel3)

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