December Weather Discussion. Will We See Rain?

[Katdaddy]

Longview, Gregg County Airport 19:53 Light Snow

[Andrew]

Just finished decorating the Christmas tree. Now if I can just find my favorite Christmas song - "I'm dreaming of a hot july"...

Be careful what you wish for.

I am with Wxman. Bring on the heat!

Next week looks to be a cold one once again for us and even if the cold air goes to the east of us, we should see enough of the cold air to get freezing temps.

[srainhoutx]

Radar from Corpus suggest the SPC outlook was spot on...

DAY 1 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0627 PM CST TUE DEC 07 2010

VALID 080100Z - 081200Z

...NO TSTM AREAS FORECAST...

...SYNOPSIS...
LATEST MODELS MAINTAIN THE FORECAST FOR NO TSTMS ACROSS THE LOWER 48
STATES. ALTHOUGH A LIGHTNING STRIKE OR TWO MAY OCCUR NEAR THE TX
COAST OVERNIGHT/EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING...GREATER LIKELIHOOD FOR
TSTMS WILL EXIST OFFSHORE WHERE EQUILIBRIUM LEVEL TEMPERATURES WILL
BECOME COLD ENOUGH FOR CHARGE SEPARATION.
ELSEWHERE...ISOLATED LIGHTNING STRIKES MAY OCCUR OFF THE WA COAST
LATE IN THE FORECAST PERIOD.

..PETERS.. 12/08/2010

[wxman57]

Longview, Gregg County Airport 19:53 Light Snow

That looks suspicious as the temp is 45 with a 38 dew point. RUC sounding indicates cold air aloft, but not in the lower 3000-4000 ft. Could be an errant ASOS observation.

It's still in the mid 50s all across SE TX this evening. I don't think I've ever seen such conditions prior to any snow event in the past 40-50 years, so I'm doubtful we'll see anything but cold rain tonight.

[Mr. T]

HGX removed snow from the grids for Houston and Trinity counties

[srainhoutx]

I'll take my rain and be happy. Fun disturbance to track in a "lame winter". What is that, two events in a week with the sleet reports?

[biggerbyte]

Dewpoints are coming up. They'll probably come down a little after midnight. We can get sleet and snow flurries with temps in the 40s. I've seen it with temps in the low 50s. Even so, this sure looks to be a cold rain event for most. It's okay... Winter is not even here yet and we've seen cold temps and some sleet. I feel like a kid waiting on Santa. It is the little things sometimes.. No?

[Kludge]

HGX removed snow from the grids for Houston and Trinity counties

Did they include my favorite line, "BASED ON CURRENT RADAR TRENDS HAVE MODIFIED POPS"?

I apologize...I'm just jealous. I wish my company would allow me to nowcast.

[ticka1]

I'll take my rain and be happy. Fun disturbance to track in a "lame winter". What is that, two events in a week with the sleet reports?

I agree Srainhoutx - this weather is definitely more exciting the hot and dry! Its misting outside right now!!!! Looks like we have another cold blast to follow next week.

[C2G]

I question some folks sanity if they enjoy cold and wet.
Ready for summer already. Cold, rainy nights are good for sleeping, though.

[srainhoutx]

Not much help for the drought, but any moisture is not a bad thing, IMO...

[redneckweather]

So when is the front going to come through over the weekend? I'm hoping late afternoon on Saturday while I am in my deer stand.

[wxman57]

It appears to be all over now. Barely 1/4" of rain at Hobby and .05" at IAH. Hardly enough to wet the ground in southwest Houston. Not quite a drought-breaker. Temps were just way too warm for anything but rain across most of TX and LA.

[wxman57]

It sure got quiet in here. 12Z GFS doesn't really indicate any interesting weather through Christmas Eve. Perhaps this was our one and only (though slight) winter weather threat of the 2010-2011 winter season? Analog seasons would suggest a milder Jan/Feb after this Dec cold.

[wxman57]

So, an extended outlook of boring, seasonably mild interrupted by unpleasantly but not freakishly cool, followed by dead lawns in the Spring and area wide foundation settling with grass fires in the rural areas?

Pretty much sums it up, Ed. I'm hoping it's like the winter of 1985-86. I remember it being sunny and mild/warm all winter. Even got to 90 degrees in February - warm enough to go swimming even though the pool temp was still in the 70s. It really looks like a dry pattern will continue, though. La Nina winters are like that here.

[srainhoutx]

Temps are going to bust for the high temps today it appears. I should have 56 for a high today, but sit at 47.

[wxman57]

Temps are going to bust for the high temps today it appears. I should have 56 for a high today, but sit at 47.

Clouds aren't breaking in time. Could lead to a lower temperature tomorrow morning.

[C2G]

Pretty much sums it up, Ed. I'm hoping it's like the winter of 1985-86. I remember it being sunny and mild/warm all winter. Even got to 90 degrees in February - warm enough to go swimming even though the pool temp was still in the 70s. It really looks like a dry pattern will continue, though. La Nina winters are like that here.

EXCELLENT.
Personally, I was miserable last winter. It always seemed to be chilly, damp, and raw.

[wxman57]

Pretty much sums it up, Ed. I'm hoping it's like the winter of 1985-86. I remember it being sunny and mild/warm all winter. Even got to 90 degrees in February - warm enough to go swimming even though the pool temp was still in the 70s. It really looks like a dry pattern will continue, though. La Nina winters are like that here.

EXCELLENT.
Personally, I was miserable last winter. It always seemed to be chilly, damp, and raw.

Well, so far that's just an extended outlook based upon analog years and seasoned with a dash of extreme optimism on my part.

[TexasMetBlake]

Well 1989 was like this too...generally mild with two VERY strong arctic outbreaks in February (Houston below freezing for 4 days) and then again in December when we dropped to 7 degrees under cloudy, windy and snowy conditions. I'm not giving up.