August Weather Discussion

[tireman4]

I Just saw a blurb in Saturday's Houston Chronicle. As of August 15, we ( Houston) are averaging 88.1 degrees. That qualifies on track as the hottest August ever. Great.

[texoz]

I think the biggest change in temps around here over the past few years has been the very warm overnight lows. We consistently stay higher than our average at night.

Definitely. The UHI at IAH has made the current 1971-2000 climate normals virtually useless. Overnight lows have been getting so warm at IAH, sometimes even Hobby Airport has a cooler overnight low than IAH (for example, this morning). I can tell you that it was not 83 degrees this morning on the north side of town. I was up around 7:30 this morning when the outdoor thermometer read 80 degrees, which was the same as Hooks. Hooks is a much better representation of what temperatures are like WHERE PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIVE north of the Beltway

Check out this morning's low temps:
Hooks 80
Sugar Land 79
Hobby 81
College Station 79
Conroe 78
Huntsville 78
IAH 83

lolwut? Thanks to IAH being an awful climate site, today's low for the city of Houston will officially be 83 degrees.

I mean, yeah, it's only a couple of degrees off of what it should be. But, when this site is consistently doing it every single day of the month, the temperature departure is suddenly out of whack compared to nearby sites (sometimes up to 2 or 3 degrees warmer than surrounding departures). This is because of the usage of the 1971-2000 climate normals at IAH. This period was before UHI really became a big issue at IAH over the last decade thanks to all of the development that has occured at the airport (more concrete, less trees)

Pardon my french, but that is f'n ridiculous.

If you look around at other locations that are not IAH, like Hooks or Sugar Land, there hasn't been a change in overnight lows for the past couple of years.

This is what happens when you designate an official climate site 5 ft. from a runway.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Can you show the data from the stations you mentioned, and maybe go back further than a couple of years? I'd be curious to see how big the trends are in those locations. I would imagine their increases aren't as much as stations with UHI, but the overall trend is still up.

Globally we just had the warmest six months on record (Jan-Jun 2010). So what's your point exactly?

[TexasMetBlake]

Well we were at 99 degrees for 4 straight hours today at IAH. Anybody think we popped to 100 during obs?

[svrwx0503]

Going to have to keep an eye on the developing line of showers and thunderstorms across our northeastern counties currently moving southwest. Surface analysis shows a moist and unstable air mass resides across the region. It is interesting to note that we are seeing some decent downdraft CAPE values along with good low level lapse rates indicating the potential for strong winds with the strongest storms. In the least, it looks like a good portion of the area, especially along and east of I-45 will see some cooling rain or at least increased cloud cover.

[Mrs.Frosty]

Woohooo...thundering and raining here in Cleveland !
Got some nice wind gusts from the ouflow earlier which was also nicely visible to see that line roll through !

[svrwx0503]

It is oppressively hot ahead of the line of storms. As of 2pm below is a list of current temps and heat heat indices, bold indicating heat advisory criteria.

IAH: 100, 111
HOU: 98, 106
SGR: 96, 107
DWH: 99, 108
CXO (Conroe): 101, 111
UTS (Huntsville): 101, 109
CLL: 102, 108
GLS: 94, 107
LBX: 94, 107
LVJ (Pearland): 97, 107
Wharton: 104, 112

Edit: It is 98 here at UH main campus with a heat index of 108 and clam winds.

Of course there has been debate on whether IAH is an as accurate as it could be although it looks alright this afternoon as many locations north of I-10 are at or above 100. Take it easy out there!

[srainhoutx]

Strong winds a threat over the Bay and surround Coastal Waters...

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
221 PM CDT MON AUG 16 2010

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* SPECIAL MARINE WARNING FOR...
GALVESTON BAY...
COASTAL WATERS FROM HIGH ISLAND TO FREEPORT TX OUT 20 NM...

* UNTIL 415 PM CDT

* AT 218 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
LINE OF THUNDERSTORM...PRODUCING STRONG WINDS 34 KNOTS OR GREATER
FROM LIBERTY TO HANKAMER TO SABINE PASS...MOVING SOUTH SOUTHWEST
AT 20 TO 30 KNOTS. BEAUMONT RECORDED A WIND GUST OF 41 KNOTS WITH
THIS LINE OF STORMS.

[svrwx0503]

Even if you don't see much rain, the outflow boundary will likely drop temperatures a good 10-15 degrees as it passes by. It recently passed one of our met stations in west central Liberty county just off of FM 1960 dropping the temp from 98 to 84 in about 5-10min with winds gusting to 35-40mph.

[svrwx0503]

You can check out our network of stations around the region using the link below. The site I was referring to above is our West Liberty one.

http://www.hnet.uh.edu

[Mr. T]

As the outflow boundary moved through, the temperature went from 100 to 88 here in Kingwood in about 10 minutes. The skies really darkened and the winds really picked up. It was pretty fun...

We are now recieving a nice batch of thunder and heavy rain. A very welcome sight, indeed...

[CAK]

Another Kingwood resident here...

Yes, that was a welcome sight...things are much cooler although I have a feeling tonight is going to be nasty

[srainhoutx]

Rain!!!! Finally after three long weeks.

[srainhoutx]

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
356 PM CDT MON AUG 16 2010

TXZ163-162200-
HOUSTON-
356 PM CDT MON AUG 16 2010

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY...

AT 348 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM HOUSTON COUNTY LAKE SOUTHWARD TO NEAR
AUSTONIO...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 10 MPH.

ONE HALF INCH DIAMETER HAIL...WINDS GREATER THAN 40 MPH...ARE
POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...AUSTONIO AND LOVELADY.

[Paul]

got some good winds with the OFB blew through...no rain yet in Pearland....but I can smell it...

[ticka1]

got some good winds with the OFB blew through...no rain yet in Pearland....but I can smell it...

What's causing this rain and storms we are getting?

[srainhoutx]

got some good winds with the OFB blew through...no rain yet in Pearland....but I can smell it...

What's causing this rain and storms we are getting?

A vort max that broke off the cold front to our N. And I am not complaining one bit.

[srainhoutx]

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
359 PM CDT MON AUG 16 2010

TXZ199-211>213-227-237-238-162200-
AUSTIN-BRAZORIA-FORT BEND-GALVESTON-HARRIS-MONTGOMERY-WALLER-
359 PM CDT MON AUG 16 2010

...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS...

AT 353 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 17 MILES SOUTHWEST
OF PINEHURST TO 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT
30 MPH.

WINDS GREATER THAN 40 MPH...CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...
BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.

LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS INCLUDE...WADSWORTH...
SEABROOK...SCHLITTERBAHN...SAN JACINTO STATE PARK...ROSHARON...
PELICAN ISLAND...MONAVILLE...MEMORIAL...JULIFF...GALVESTON STATE
PARK...DAMON...CHOCOLATE BAYOU...ADDICKS...GALVESTON...WEST
UNIVERSITY PLACE...WEST COLUMBIA...WEBSTER...TOWN WEST...TOMBALL...
THOMPSONS...THE WOODLANDS...TEXAS CITY...TAYLOR LAKE VILLAGE...
SURFSIDE BEACH...SUGAR LAND...STAGECOACH...STAFFORD...SPRING
VALLEY...SPRING...SOUTH HOUSTON...SEALY...SANTA FE...SAN LEON...SAN
FELIPE...ROSENBERG...RICHWOOD...RICHMOND...QUINTANA...PINEY POINT
VILLAGE...PINEHURST...PECAN GROVE...PEARLAND...PATTISON...PASADENA...
ORCHARD...NASSAU BAY...MORGAN`S POINT...MISSOURI CITY...MISSION
BEND...MEADOWS...MANVEL...LIVERPOOL...LEAGUE CITY...LAKE JACKSON...LA
PORTE...LA MARQUE...KATY...JERSEY VILLAGE...JAMAICA BEACH...JACINTO
CITY...IOWA COLONY...HUNTERS CREEK VILLAGE...HUMBLE...HOUSTON...
HITCHCOCK...HILSHIRE VILLAGE...HILLCREST...GALENA PARK...FULSHEAR...
FRIENDSWOOD...FRESNO...FREEPORT...FIRST COLONY...EL LAGO...
DICKINSON...DEER PARK...CLUTE...CLOVERLEAF...CHANNELVIEW...BUNKER
HILL VILLAGE...BROOKSHIRE...BONNEY...BELLAIRE...BEASLEY...BAILEY`S
PRAIRIE...BACLIFF...ARCOLA...ANGLETON...ALVIN AND ALDINE.

[srainhoutx]

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
411 PM CDT MON AUG 16 2010

TXZ197>199-211-212-162215-
AUSTIN-GRIMES-MONTGOMERY-WALLER-WASHINGTON-
411 PM CDT MON AUG 16 2010

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY...

AT 406 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NAVASOTA...MOVING SOUTHWEST
AT 15 MPH.

HAIL UP TO ONE HALF INCH IN DIAMETER...WINDS GREATER THAN 40 MPH...
ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...WASHINGTON...
MONAVILLE...TODD MISSION...PRAIRIE VIEW...PINE ISLAND...NAVASOTA AND
HEMPSTEAD.

[srainhoutx]

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
TXC225-162200-
/O.NEW.KHGX.SV.W.0062.100816T2118Z-100816T2200Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
418 PM CDT MON AUG 16 2010

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
NORTH HOUSTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS...

* UNTIL 500 PM CDT

* AT 412 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED 8 MILES EAST OF
GRAPELAND...OR 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF CROCKETT...AND MOVING
SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT
LIMITED TO LATEXO AND GRAPELAND.

[svrwx0503]

Saw a max gust to 48mph with the outflow, now getting very heavy rain with my weather station currently recording a rain rate of 4.80'' per hour but generally seeing about 2-3'' per hour at this time. This is some very much needed rain! It looks like the storms will continue pushing southwest across a good portion of southeast Texas, and like I said above, even if you don't see much rain the outflow will at least cool you off into the 80s!