March 2010- In Like A Lamb, Out Like A Lion?

[vbhoutex]

And that radar image is the reason I will not be heading out to Home Depot as soon as I thought.

[wxdata]

I'm seeing only 24,000 ft tops. Any hail is coming from steep lapse rates, cold air aloft.

[djjordan]

Checking in to say yes there was some small hail (pea sized) that fell here in Sugar Land .... Hwy 6 and Settlers Way within the last 10 minutes. Didn't amount to much but a short lived torrential downpour and 1 rumble of thunder as it passed through.

[Paul]

storms broke apart as they entered NBrazoria....got a good down pour but nothing more...I had thought it was done raining with all the sun shine....

[SCSLAND]

DEFINITELY HAIL in Sugar Land.

It hit me in the head!

[wxman57]

Having a freezing level down around 7000 ft vs. 12,000 to 16,000 ft in the summer helps the hail from such small storms reach the ground in winter. It has less warm air to travel through on the way down.

[wxdata]

Small hail possible south of Arcola.

[sleetstorm]

Can any of you believe that tomorrow is the first day of March? What can everyone on this weather forum anticipate weatherwise during next month which is only over an hour away? Are we finished with Arctic and Polar surges, freezes, and wintry precipitation, or should I wait until the beginning of April to finally be done with all of those things to be able to relish the warm Spring sun? By the way, I know that Ed Mahmoud's Birthday is tomorrow, well, mine is this Friday and it very much looks like it is going to be a cool to mild day, not that I am complaining, though, mind you. If any you might know if the 5th of March has had any wintry precipitation, sleetstorms or snowstorms on it from the year 1984 to now? Because my parents have divulged me numerous times in the past that March 5th, which is the day that I was born, has been very icy and not solely with freezing temperatures but with literal snow and sleet.

Are you talking about in Houston? March 5 from 1984 to 1988 was above freezing. However, March 5, 1989 was was cold with a low of 25.

March 5, 1984-2002 in Houston
1984-65/41 0.22
1985-67/44 0
1986-75/42 0
1987-75/38 0
1988-74/44 0
1989-38/25 T (No record of snow or sleet that I know of)
1990-72/50 0
1991-84/52 0
1992-79/64 T
1993-63/42 0
1994-77/60 0
1995-68/56 0.02
1996-79/67 T
1997-78/51 0.03
1998-84/66 T
1999-74/66 T
2000-71/42 0
2001-70/41 0
2002-62/29 0

However, it snowed on March 10, 1932, the latest snowfall to be ever recorded in Houston.

No, I am talking about for Baytown which is only around thirty miles from Houston.

[sleetstorm]

When my parents told numerous times in the past how icy that my birthday has somtimes been, temperaturewise, of course, they might have been talking about the literal high and low for those days more than literal snow, sleet, or freezing rain.

[wxman57]

Latest GFS says St. Patrick's Day will feature cold rain with a high in the 40s. No warm-up through March 18th. The winter that never ends...





P.S.
I do think the GFS is too cold for next weekend. We may well reach 70 on Sunday.

[srainhoutx]

Is it Spring yet? Looking forward to a 'warm' weekend though.

[wxman57]

I never used to think of "warm" as being a day with a high over 60 degrees.

[kayci]

Heck, I'd like to skip spring and jump head first into summer!

[wxman57]

Do you guys have Summer interns who can do a ground temp/dewpoint versus hail size correlation? Well, will you have any Summer interns?

I interned all six years of college (I partied, and engineering was about 140 hours to graduate).

Yes, we will have summer interns this year. They won't be paying positions, just a chance for college students to get the feel for what it's like in the real world for a week. The payback is that they'll have an edge over other students when we hire more meteorologists. You're probably a little old to apply, Ed. But you can always stop by for a visit if you want.

[weatherrabbit]

hints of spring, saw robins sunday...am hopeful thats this winter maybe leaving soon...

[wxman57]

hints of spring, saw robins sunday...am hopeful thats this winter maybe leaving soon...

I think we're beyond the freezing temps and frozen precip threat now, but I expect a much cooler than normal spring as well. I wonder what the latest date is for Bush (IAH) to reach 80 degrees? We may not get there in March, though we saw 80 degrees a number of times LAST January and February.

[Ptarmigan]

We had a freeze in March 4 or 6 years back, IIRC.

The last time March had a freeze was in 2002. It was also the last time Houston saw below 25 degrees Fahrenheit temperature.

[Ptarmigan]

I think we're beyond the freezing temps and frozen precip threat now, but I expect a much cooler than normal spring as well. I wonder what the latest date is for Bush (IAH) to reach 80 degrees? We may not get there in March, though we saw 80 degrees a number of times LAST January and February.

It is interesting you ask what the latest date for KIAH to reach 80 degrees. Going back to 1970 because records started at June of 1969.

The latest to reach 80 degrees at KIAH was March 15, 1984. The winter of 1983-84 was one of the coldest winters in Houston. The last time it was to reach 80 degrees at KIAH that late was on March 14, 2003. The earliest to reach 80 degrees at KIAH was January 1, 2006. Even in 1973, reached 80 on February 5, 1973. Even the cooler years of 1976-79 reached 80 in mid to late February, with the exception of 1979, which reached 80 on March 7, 1979. Even 1978, one of the coldest winters, reached 80 on February 28, 1978.

[wxman57]

Good news/bad news with 12Z GFS. It forecasts a high of 76 next Tuesday, but then a cooling trend down to a high in the low 40s on March 17th.

[Ptarmigan]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Looks like we may not reach 80 by March 15. I am guessing we may never reach 80 until after March 20.

The average date to reach 80 at KIAH from 1970 to 2009 is February 6th. The average month to start reaching 80 is late January to February or February if you want to round up to 2 since the average month was 1.775.