Quick Sunday update on Houston’s weather, and our new server

Posted by Eric Berger at 11:09 AM on December 30, 2018

We took advantage of a slow Sunday morning to move Space City Weather to a new server, which should load even faster than before, and which should allow us to weather any traffic spikes during major storms. We were able to make this significant investment thanks to the generosity of our readers during last month’s fundraiser, as well as Reliant’s ongoing support. Please, if you notice any problems, use the feedback form to let us know. (More server specs in a minute).

As for the New Year’s Eve forecast, it’s more or less on track. Above a small envelope of cool air at the surface, moisture from the Gulf of Mexico is streaming into the atmosphere above the upper Texas coast. The net effect of this is going to be on-again, off-again, light to moderate rainfall on Sunday, Sunday night, and Monday morning. Most of the region should see 1 inch or less of rain, so we don’t anticipate any problems.

NOAA rain accumulation forecast for now through New Year’s Day. (Pivotal Weather)

Fortunately, the rainfall should end by or before noon on New Year’s Eve, and we could see partly sunny skies with highs in the low 60s later in the day. As for the countdown to midnight, we expect partially clearing skies, with temperatures around 50 degrees and light winds. All in all, this is fairly good weather for New Year’s Eve festivities, so enjoy the celebrations.

As for our new server, we were fortunate to have Lee Hutchinson (a friend, and co-worker of mine at Ars Technica) do all of the back-end work for us. According to Lee, here are the details about our new server:

Space City Weather is now running on its own dedicated server, with no co-tenants and no sharing of anything. The box is a quad-core Intel Xeon E3-1230 with 16GB of RAM and dual 480GB SSDs in a RAID1 mirror, connected to the Internet via a dedicated 1Gbps uplink. We have plenty of room to grow and should be reasonably future-proof for at least the next several years.

Thanks again to all of our readers who supported us, and shared our site in 2018. We promise to deliver more of the same next year, with a site re-design and flood scale coming in the near future.

26 thoughts on “Quick Sunday update on Houston’s weather, and our new server”

    1. Eric Berger

      There’s a chance, but right now it’s rather slim. I’ll take a deeper dive into the modeling on Monday morning.

      Reply

  5. Dennis

    You guys are AWESOME! It’s so refreshing and CALMING to read your expert predictions in light of ALL the local guys and their “WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!” rhetoric. This was especially true during Harvey. Keep it up guys. Thanks so much for your diligence and continued voices.

    Reply

    1. ade

      You have guided Houstonians with spot-on weather — thanks for your accuracy, welcome commentary and willingness to provide “real”
      weather based on fact! Happiest New Year to you and beyond!!!

      Reply

  8. Cass

    Thanks Eric and Matt for putting together this website. It’s my go-to weather source every day. Have a safe New Year’s Eve and a happy 2019!

    Reply

  9. CCollins

    Congratulations on the upgrades and a dedicated server! As spot-on as your weather reporting is and has been, most of us would be more than happy to participate in fundraisers to keep Space City Weather the premier weather site for Houston! You are the best!

    Reply

  10. Anita

    Love the shirt I purchased as a part of the fundraiser. Love the work that you do to keep us informed and calm!! Happy New Yeat!!

    Reply

    1. Eric Berger

      It’s better; but the snow line most likely will stay just west of the I-35 corridor. Hard to say for sure.

      Reply

  17. mark hayes

    That’s great news about Monday’s because my scooter and rain don’t mix, and my great neighbors in Deer Park invited me to their family NYE party. And your new server and the ones that set it up know how to do things right, 16gb and dual SSD drives are lightening fast, Look forward to 2019, thanks again what you all do for us. GO TEXANS!!!!!!!!

    Reply

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