Yesterday was a classic mid-spring like day in Houston. We hit 84 degrees, which makes it the warmest day of 2016 so far. We won’t be pushing that the next few days, but it will stay warm.All the details below, and scroll to the end for an important article you should be reading today.
TODAY
I won’t implicitly suggest today is a good day to play hooky, but it’ll be awfully nice. Expect plenty of sun, low humidity, and temperatures roughly 10 degrees cooler than Thursday (mid-70s). Another winner.
WEEKEND
Saturday should be trouble-free, with temperatures creeping up a degree or two from Friday. Humidity will also edge up a few notches both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday afternoon, dewpoint will creep up close to 60 degrees. Once you cross the 60° threshold in the dewpoint department, it begins to feel a bit muggy. Sunday will also feature a few more clouds.
NEXT WEEK
We’ve been gradually talking more and more about a lack of rain here in Southeast Texas the last few weeks. Well, it looks like we may put in a dent in the dryness next week. As Eric’s been talking about, a pretty complex storm/pattern will set up over us. A slight chance of showers or a storm Monday will evolve into more scattered activity Tuesday. Right now, if I had to peg it, I would say Wednesday may be the most active day. But there are indications this wet pattern may linger into Thursday and even Friday. There’s a lot of uncertainty around specific weather features involved in next week’s rain, so I don’t want to make too many projections here, but some folks may see a substantial amount of rain. More on this next week.
HOUSTON AND HURRICANES
Lastly, there was what this meteorologist believes to be a very important piece of journalism published yesterday cooperatively by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica: Hell and High Water.
It tackles the risk of a worst case scenario hurricane hitting Houston. This is a thorough, long, interactive piece that I’d recommend you read through to fully understand both why a flood protection system in Houston is vital but also to better understand why you should always heed warnings during hurricanes.
The TL;DR on this is essentially that Ike was not the worst case scenario hurricane in Houston. That *will* happen one day, and if it happens before some variant on the so-called “Ike Dike” is built, the consequences will likely be pretty awful. This article describes, in detail, the risks we’re exposed to and what those risks mean for us and the rest of the country (because a worst case scenario storm would have a tremendous negative effect on the U.S. economy, far beyond Houston or Texas).
I know that in today’s partisan-driven, skeptical world, stories like this are occasionally treated with contempt and passed off as hyperbole. I appreciate that point of view, but this is absolutely not one of those cases. The threat from a worst case scenario storm in Houston is very, very real. The cost to develop adequate flood protection is extremely high, but this is one of those cases where the consequences of inaction would be much higher. I’d advocate reading this piece, and searching for other stories on the Ike dike (many of which were written by Eric when he was at the Chronicle) to inform yourselves about this project.
Thanks Matt. Will do.
Thank you for the article links. This is very informative and sobering.
The problem is most people will see the Ike Dike as not having immediate benefit to them, or if they live on the NW side of the area, none at all.
We are so fickle and short-sighted these days, seeking only immediate gratification and expressions of our feelings. If you don’t believe me, just watch a Presidential debate. Something that requires thought and long-term investment and planning is almost out of the question.
I’ve discussed this with people, and you’re right on. It’s frustrating, because in SO many places that are vulnerable to weather (and other things), there are very straightforward solutions to dramatically lower risk. Yet, we don’t implement them because of cost…which basically fully admits that we’re willing to risk it all to save, what is in the grand scheme of budgets and government spending, a drop in the bucket. Maybe I’m too much of a “common-sensist” to wrap my head around how that thinking became acceptable, but…it drives me insane.
Thanks for sharing the article. It was great.