never lost power, but life without internet/cable/phones is something I need to practice to get used to... watched some dvd's I had not seen in a while
a "kudos" to wxman for posting here that we should be ready for these kinds of winds, but really wishing I would have paid more attention - hope all our peeps stay(ed) safe
also kudos to all the linemen(women) who keep our power on - Centerpoint is WAY down from approx 35k customers without power earlier today, Entergy, too !!
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Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
401 PM CST Sun Jan 22 2017
.DISCUSSION...
It has been one of the windiest days the region has experienced in quite some time. Many areawide sites were reporting 25 to 35 mph sustained...with gusts to around 45 mph...throughout the day. This has wrecked havoc on some Houston area power grids as (per many social media reports) there have been reports of downed power lines/poles and trees. These strong gradient winds will weaken going into the sunset hours...inland winds falling to under 15 mph by midnight. Coastal winds to fall to under 15 knots during the pre-dawn Monday morning hours.
The upper low currently behind the deadly storm system impacting the southeastern U.S. this afternoon is forecast to move off the Mid-Atlantic coastline tomorrow evening. In the meantime ... transitory riding will fill in its wake and weaken this offshore flow. A weakened north wind with starry overnight skies will allow regional thermometers to fall into the interior lower to middle 40s...lower 50s along a breezier shore. Monday's sunny and dry conditions will counter weak cold air advection and allow T readings to reach the 70s. Surface high pressure advancing east on Tuesday will have flow returning onshore for just a day (or less). A partially cloudy day with a subtle veering of the lower level southerly wind will provide a familiar day of above normal warmth...back in the lower 80s by day's close. A somewhat dry cold frontal passage Wednesday will swing winds around to offshore through Thursday night. Light precipitation is expected in association with the frontal passage. A much weaker backing pressure gradient should not make for an inland wind issue ... although offshore flags will likely go up by late Thursday evening. The story will be the cold late week air mass that fills in behind this frontal boundary. 85H temps do fall between 0-5 deg C going into the weekend that will translate to...wait for it...near normal diurnal (weekend) temperature behavior. Early Saturday light QPF the ECMWF is hanging on to may be a stretch with the limited available moisture. A somewhat sharp trough passage across NE Texas during that time may support the lift for this light precip...all liquid with a relatively deep above freezing layer up to 6-7 k feet (per the GFS). 31
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.MARINE...
Moderate to strong W-NW winds will persist over the Gulf waters tonight and slowly decrease after midnight. Will maintain the Gale Warning over the Gulf waters but change the Bays to a Small Craft Advisory as winds are expected to decrease very early this evening. Considerably lighter W-NW winds are expected Monday as weak high pressure settles over South Texas. Low pressure will develop in the lee of the Rockies on Monday night and the pressure gradient will begin to tighten. The onshore flow will increase on Tuesday. Lighter winds expected on Tuesday night in advance of a cold front. The cold front will cross the coastal waters early Wednesday with an offshore flow developing in the wake of the front. Offshore winds expected through Thursday as high pressure settles over Central Texas. Surface high pressure moves east on Thursday night and sfc winds will become easterly through Friday night. Another front will cross the coastal waters early Saturday. SCA conditions possible behind the front next Saturday.
The W-NW component to the winds will drive water out of Galveston Bay and tide levels are very low at Morgans Pt and Manchester. A Low Water Advisory will be extended through 03z tonight. Water levels at Manchester are almost 2.0 feet below normal. Recovery in the upper reaches of the bay are expected to be slow. 43
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.FIRE WEATHER...
Will maintain the RFW for the western third of SE TX through 23z. Although RH values never reached 25 percent, winds gusting to over 40 knots and dry fine fuels such as grasses created elevated to critical fire weather conditions. RH values over the west are between 30 and 40 percent. RH values could be a bit lower on Monday but winds will be considerably lighter on Monday so a RFW is unlikely at this time. 43
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.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
College Station (CLL) 43 71 52 79 50 / 0 0 0 10 10
Houston (IAH) 45 70 52 80 57 / 0 0 0 10 20
Galveston (GLS) 52 67 60 76 62 / 0 0 0 10 20
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.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...Wind Advisory until 5 PM CST this afternoon for the following
zones: Austin... Brazoria... Brazos... Burleson... Chambers... Colorado... Fort Bend... Galveston... Grimes... Harris... Houston...Jackson...Liberty...Madison...Matagorda... Montgomery... Polk... San Jacinto... Trinity... Walker... Waller... Washington... Wharton.
Red Flag Warning until 5 PM CST this afternoon for the following
zones: Austin... Burleson... Colorado... Jackson... Matagorda... Washington... Wharton.
GM... Small Craft Advisory until 3 AM CST Monday for the following zones: Galveston Bay... Matagorda Bay.
Gale Warning until midnight CST tonight for the following zones:
Coastal waters from Freeport to the Matagorda Ship Channel out 20 NM... Coastal waters from High Island to Freeport out 20 NM... Waters from Freeport to the Matagorda Ship Channel from 20 to 60 NM... Waters from High Island to Freeport from 20 to 60 NM.