Not going to lie, we did not expect this to happen this evening. A storm system that developed near the Dallas metro area on Wednesday afternoon moved quickly southward, pushing through the Houston metro area during the late evening hours. To our surprise, instead of weakening as this system pushed southward, it maintained its intensity.
As of this writing nearly 100,000 customers are without power in Montgomery County, and nearly 240,000 in Harris County. This is mostly due to the very strong wind gusts that accompanied these storms. An unconfirmed wind gust of 97 mph was recorded at Bush Intercontinental Airport as this line of storms passed through. To be clear, these winds were wholly unexpected even as of a few hours ago. I’d expect it to take at least a few hours for crew to get out and about and address fallen trees and other issues.
On the upside, the system dropped 0.5 to 1.0 inch of rain across much of the area, which was badly needed after 10 days of sunshine and hot weather. Temperatures have also dropped below 75 degrees across most of Houston, a place they’ve not been in more than a week. I realize that is no small comfort if the power dropped out at your house this evening.
In terms of the near-term forecast, once the storms pass through your area this evening, that’s probably it for tonight. Tomorrow morning looks fairly calm, and we’re probably looking at high temperatures in the low- to mid-90s. At this point I’d expect storm chances to start spinning back up in the afternoon hours, probably peaking again during the early evening. Hopefully we can nail that forecast a little better for you in tomorrow morning’s post.
Now I’m going to go back to my late dinner—of humble pie.
Is the 97 MPH gust real?
Peaceful by comparison here around Ellington. Lightning and some rain. Winds light at 10:05.
Still a pretty good lighting show down here, but nothing like up north.
Wow!
It’s ok to be human! Hope all are OK.
You guys are still the best in my book, even if you get a surprise now and again.
This is going to sound ridiculous (I realize this because I prefer to rely on facts and data myself), but I get “barometer” headaches when we’re going to have rain in the summer and fall, particularly after a stubborn high pressure system like we’ve been experiencing. I texted a friend at 3:02PM and said: “Ooh I’m getting a pressure headache, maybe we will get some rain today. It’s a long shot but I can hope!”
And here we are. So there’s that.
I believe you. I can feel it in my joints when rain is coming…
Eric, I saw clouds to the north of my drive home from downtown while I traveled southwest. I thought those are a sign of future developments.
In other words, how did you miss that? Just look out your window or take a drive in your vehicle.
Thanks for your honesty. That is so refreshing to hear someone that does not hype everything up. I quit watching all the weather and news except from you all. No one can predict what Mother Nature will do 100 per but you all do an excellent job.
¯\(ツ)/¯
My gosh that was the most insane storm I’ve ever been through, including Ike. I was sitting here in the dark re-reading your post from this morning thinking, alright-y then. Lol
Concur with the others…Mother Nature can’t be predicted 100%. Post ending is cute! And Lara, you are not crazy! I know when it’s going to rain 3 days before it does! I get those behind the eyes and bridge of nose “headaches” too. They disappear as soon as it passes thru. I do believe I read an article that explains this phenomenon.
Humble pie is honest pie! None of us humans are perfect but I promise all your readers appreciate your honesty, especially when you miss the mark!
It was pretty wild in Tomball. It was one of the few times my wife and I were worried about potential storm damage. Fortunately we’re safe. Anything that catches you guys by surprise is an exception. You’ll always be my go to source for weather information.
Wow, that was crazy! I didn’t know pine trees could bend like palm trees 👀
Blame me. I washed my car at lunchtime.
I did the Houston rain dance on Monday and washed all three of my family’s cars. I was hoping to improve our Thursday chances, but didn’t mean to sandbag the whole thing like that!
So next time, you’ll wash just ONE car, right?? 😉
It was LOUD in The Woodlands with heavy rain. Glad out local power lines are underground. I’m in the state regulated Entergy grid that extends all the way into Canada. A couple of flickers, but no true power outage.
Why is our weather being so strange this year?
Win some and some are called because of rain…
Kudos Eric for being honest and humble. That raises you up many notches in my book. All of us make mistakes and I know that you and Matt do your best not to err, Last night, God sent us a wonderful, unexpected blessing for which we are extremely thankful.
Was stuck at the gym for 30 minutes last night with no power in Spring. Lived through several Hurricanes over the years and the winds and rains looked just as intense as a Hurricane outside.
Humble Pie! Great super band with Peter Frampton with songs like Hot n Nasty – always appropriate for Houston in the summer.. I’m sure you are referencing them and not any need for you to take a hit for trying to forecast Houston weather with 100% accuracy. You, like Humble Pie, ROCK!
Gotta love that “Gods in charge” and surprises even the best – you guys! – sometimes.
OH WELL , everyone misses a hit now and then. No big deal .. And we needed that rain!!!