Summer lite will hang around in Houston for awhile

Well, we were wrong. Houston did not, in fact, reach 90 degrees on Tuesday. The mercury climbed to 89 degrees and stopped. We’re a week into summer, and this year is now tied for the third-latest 90-degree day in a calendar year on record for the city.

WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY

But it has to come today, right? Probably. Skies should be mostly sunny. However if a few stray showers pop up over the northern part of the city, near the official station at Bush Intercontinental Airport, another sub-90 degree day is not out of the question. In any case, the next three days are likely to be a lot like Tuesday—warm, but not too warm. A few showers are possible, especially to the southwest of the Houston metro area.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

Forecast models continue to suggest muggy air flowing off the Gulf of Mexico will nudge moisture levels higher this weekend. However with high pressure in the region I just don’t see a lot of mechanisms for lifting that moisture into the atmosphere, so it’s not clear how widespread showers are likely to be. In any case, we’re going to see highs in the upper 80s to 90 degrees, most likely, with the best chance of rain in the afternoon. With moisture levels highest on Sunday, that’s probably our most likely time for rain.

NOAA's rain accumulation forecast for now through Sunday shows just a few tenths of an inch for the Houston area. (Weather Bell)
NOAA’s rain accumulation forecast for now through Sunday shows just a few tenths of an inch for the Houston area. (Weather Bell)

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Why weren’t the storms last week considered tropical systems?

This is the latest edition of Weather whys, a series of posts by Braniff Davis explaining the science behind weather phenomenon affecting Texas.

Now that we’ve enjoyed a few sunny days after an extremely wet May and early June, we wanted to tackle a few ‘weather whys’ questions people have asked, either on Facebook, Twitter, or in the blog comments. One reader asked why the weather system last week, which dumped so much rain on the region, was not considered a ‘tropical system.’ After all the system spun counter-clockwise, and had the satellite appearance of a tropical cyclone.

A satellite image from last Friday show a large circulation over Texas. (NCAR)
A satellite image from last Friday show a large circulation over Texas. (NCAR)

 

The answer has to do with how and where different low pressure cyclones form. Pressure, and how it influences weather systems, is vexing. Often, it was the most challenging concept for my students to grasp in my introduction to meteorology classes. We could probably do a 50-part series on the science behind it, called cyclogenesis.  For now, we’ll spare you that and only focus on the large, synoptic scale cyclones that influence our weather.

EXTRATROPICAL VS. TROPICAL CYCLONES

Extratropical cyclone over Pacific Ocean, December 2014 (NOAA)

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Houston likely to record its first 90-degree day today

Well, the party probably ends today. We’ve made it five months and six days into the year 2016, but Houston will likely finally reach 90 degrees today.

Latest dates in the year when Houston has recorded its first 90-degree day. (Matt Lanza)
Latest dates in the year when Houston has recorded its first 90-degree day. (Matt Lanza)

 

The forecast beyond this data point is pretty straight forward.

TODAY through THURSDAY

Partly to mostly sunny skies. Drier air should allow highs to reach around 90 degrees. Lows in the low- to mid-70s. A slight chance of afternoon and early evening showers and thunderstorms along the sea breeze. There’s not much more to say than that.

FRIDAY through SUNDAY

We’re going to see more moisture returning from the Gulf of Mexico by this weekend, which should allow for a greater possibility of rain during the afternoon and evening hours. The European model suggests accumulations of a few tenths of an inch of rain for the weekend, which seems about right. I would not expect any kind of a washout.

After the rains, summer comes to Houston this week

Well, it’s been quite the start to the year 2016. We’ve had floods west of Houston, northwest of Houston, north of Houston southwest of Houston, east of Houston—pretty much all over the city. This most recent rain event, during the second half of last week, was enough to push the city above 1992 for the wettest year to date, through June 5.

The city has officially recorded 39.67 inch of rain at Bush Intercontinental Airport (blue line below). This is all the more remarkable because, only about six weeks ago, the city was actually below normal for total rainfall for this year:

(Victor Murphy/National Weather Service)
(Victor Murphy/National Weather Service)

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