In brief: A line of severe storms is likely to affect much of the greater Houston area this afternoon. Please be weather aware as you venture out between now and about 5 pm CT.
As of noon, a strong line of thunderstorms has developed near College Station and Huntsville, and it should move steadily southward this afternoon. The time of most concern for the Houston metro area will be from 1 pm to 5 pm, as the system pushes into central parts of the city and down to the coast. Not all of Houston will see severe weather, but a good portion of the metro area is likely to be affected.
Please note that, as of this time, we are not expecting the derecho-like weather that Houston experienced about 10 days ago. However, there is the potential for severe thunderstorms, and that includes the usual threats.
In terms of rainfall, I expect that much of the area will receive 1 to 3 inches, but as these storms move into Houston they could slow somewhat due to interaction with the Gulf of Mexico seabreeze. In this case we could see some higher isolated totals of 4 or more inches of rainfall. As for hail, I think a high-end size would be ping pong ball-sized hail. Straight-line winds could reach up to 60 mph. It is also possible that we see some isolated tornadoes.
The worst of this mess should push through by the late afternoon or early evening hours. As a result of this storm system, my expectation is for quieter weather tonight.
Matt and I will be tracking these storms closely, and if there are changes in the forecast we will update the site.
It just nailed us in Willis! Power went out with the first gusts!
Please let us know if/when it comes back on!
You mention we should not expect derecho-like weather but there will be straight-line winds. What is the difference between the two?
My understanding is the storm has to be a certain size to be called derecho. Straight-line winds can happen with any regular thunderstorm, but a derecho is usually a long squall line stretching across a big area. They did a post about here last week, I think.
In addition to that, I think it also has to hit certain windspeed thresholds.
Appreciate the update as it seems this will be moving through several hours earlier than most had thought.
Oh its here now!! rain, thunder lightning, huge wind and the power just went out!! Its here Now!
Where is here? It’s dark in the Galleria area but no rain or strong winds yet.
Just starting to hit the galleria area
Northwest Harris County. Strong wind sudden around 1:00. Now rain. Breezy, not scary though. Lost power for less than a minute. HW6 and 290 area
Im ready for the 5 months of no rain. Still a swamp up in Conroe front then last downpours
I should have read your morning post because this storm took me completely by surprise. This morning, the National Weather Service had rain coming at around midnight. Accuweather said chance of storms after 7PM. You had it right. (Oh, our power just went out. Great.)
0.5″ hail up here in The Woodlands. Quite breezy, and heavy rain too.
Bad winds, heavy rain, and small hail in The Woodlands. Our pool started overflowing within 20 min. The sky turned from day to night, but its calming down now.
It’s hitting Magnolia now. Power out.
It started coming down in Humble about 5-10 minutes ago and now our power is out
Was there another follow-up post after this?? I saw the app notification on my phone but no matter how many times I hit refresh, this was the latest post. Same thru my web browser. Maybe it was redacted temporarily to fix a mistake?
same here, trying to look for the update but I don’t see it
said 60-80 mph winds after 4pm, something along those lines
Yes, I’m here trying to find the weather alert I saw, I don’t think it was a full post, but I don’t know how to find the list of weather alerts.
The way I understand it from the morning post is that this current post is the update.
This seems to be the occurrence now with any storm. To expect hail, strong winds etc.. any thoughts to that?
I mean… that’s been normal for the 30+ years I’ve lived in Houston. It’s just part of the weather here.
It is 1:45 PM, we are seeing “normal size hail in Clear Lake City. I took a 20 second video but have no apparent way to post it.
Not like derecho my ass. A huge tree fell on my house and my fence is also taken out in the last 30 minutes now huge hail destroying the car. We do not need this after last week. I’m so tired of this. Houstonians need a break
The term “derecho” has less to do with the magnitude of the winds and more to do with duration and directionality.
I’m sorry about your tree, house & car, Caitlin. I hope your family is safe.
We had bad roof damage during the May 2 early morning storm. Got it fixed. It held during the derecho. Today there was a loud crack & pop, and there goes the roof again.
We definitely need a break.
I am so sorry that happened to you. Hopefully no injuries.
Sorry to hear of your issues. It’s exactly why we’re moving. We’ve absolutely had it with this crap. In the last storm, 2 trees fell. One took out our fence, the other was mere inches from smashing through our kitchen. We have problems with damage every time it rains. Not to mention the extended power outage during this heat. My insurance rates have skyrocketed. Enough is enough. We are out of here. Work transfer has already been approved. House is being listed soon. I’ve never been more excited to move in my life.
Hailing in 2nd Ward right now
I am getting hail here in pasadena
Can we not just have normal rain in Houston anymore? I’m so exhausted with every storm having damaging wind with power outages and hail. I’m a native Houstonian and this is not normal.
Thanks for the updates today! Loved the noon one!
The weather, and the sick, dirty, heavy air, I’ve never seen anything like it in 39 years here. It’s like the apocalypse. And it’s only May. I am worried about the summer.
Anybody want to buy a house in Clear Lake?
I’ll take it off your hands.
at HEB Montrose…no power—ferocious rain/wind!
I thought I’d heard here at SCW that spring storms were over for us.
Agreed. I don’t usually like to criticize them but I have to say that that was an absurd claim for them to make in mid May.
I think that highlights just how hard it is to predict Houston weather. I’m grateful to SCW for trying and being transparent about it.
Luckily here in Cypress, all we got was a nice little thunderstorm. Some people did lose power, but I think it’s mostly been restored. I also lost another large tree limb but it’s off my water oak so go figure. A little breeze will knock limbs off that tree.
no, they said Spring was over for us. welcome to summer. and summer storms!
Yep!
“And after some residual showers tomorrow, that’s it for spring storm season in Houston.” -May 16
To be fair, yesterday felt like the hottest bowels of summer.
Pea and marble sized hail on the Ship Channel – just ended. We were told to get away from the windows and head to the hall.
Sun is coming out in the URBAN CORE. I guess the pattern is: get really high dew points followed by deluge and wind the next day.
I was hoping for some more ‘off scale high’ violent weather as it had been too quiet for the last week…….
Trees down and power out in Friendswood
1.5” of rain in Spring Valley Village in about an hour. All clear now.
Got 1.5 inches of rain in my backyard from these storms. Some gusty winds and alot of lightning but nothing to crazy. I am so glad these storms happened because the rain cooled air provided desperate relief from that horrible crap we we have been dealing with. It dropped to 69 degrees in my backyard. It feels so much better outside now. 👍👍
Pretty wild downtown. I have some good footage from inside one Allen center lobby moments before a piece of glass popped
we had lovely rain, this is perfect
Not only is the weather getting wacky, but the ability to predict it is getting wacky as well.
That escalated quickly!
Am I imagining things or is Texas different this year?
Is this the new thing now??? A storm with hail, thunder, lighting, high winds?? Nothing peaceful.