August Weather Discussion

[srainhoutx]

In bound IAH traffic still on long approach out W for what it's worth. New Warning out...

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
729 PM CDT WED AUG 24 2011

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
NORTHWESTERN HARRIS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS...
SOUTHWESTERN MONTGOMERY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS...
NORTHEASTERN WALLER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS...

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 730 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS
OF 60 MPH. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR PINEHURST...AND MOVING
SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT
LIMITED TO HOOKS AIRPORT...TOMBALL...THE WOODLANDS...SHENANDOAH...
OAK RIDGE NORTH AND MAGNOLIA.

[Andrew]

Just received a massive storm over College Station. Had gusts prob around 40-50 (or more) and lightning striking everywhere. Very impressive to see and a long time coming too. Haven't seen a storm like this in many years.

[unome]

hot damn !

[niner21]

hot damn !

I'll take seconds please...

Bunch of thunder and wind and maybe .25 in the gauge in Northern Magnolia area. Weak sister here. I watched the radar part the red seas around our neighborhood.... Thanks for the crap in the pool wind

[sleetstorm]

Does anyone know what caused those showers and thunderstorms to form?

[texaskaz]

Memorial NW ( south of Hooks). MASSIVE lightening. Huge Thunder. no rain message says 7:07 it is actually 807 PM

[singlemom]

Man, the storm came within an inch of my house....lightning and thunder to the immediate west....and then it actually made a blank horseshoe around us. Maybe two drops of rain. Can't believe it. I see this happen all the time..like there's a special branch of the Cockroach Ridge right over 45. *sigh*

In other news......does anyone know the rules about Heat Advisories and schools? I know that at our current heat the kids can be out for 30 minutes, but what about tomorrow or Friday when it's, what, 109? Our PE teacher is not too concerned.

[biffb816]

On the back side of a nice 45 minute old fashioned Texas thunderstorm here in the far northwest. Was kinda nice.

[srainhoutx]

Storm reports so far. Thanks for the heads up jcarr while I was away. Hearing reports of some possible damage to my W, out FM 529...

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
820 PM CDT WED AUG 24 2011

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0548 PM TSTM WND DMG LIVINGSTON 30.71N 94.94W
08/24/2011 POLK TX LAW ENFORCEMENT

TREES DOWN ON ROADWAYS IN LIVINGSTON

0729 PM TSTM WND GST BRYAN 30.67N 96.37W
08/24/2011 E60.00 MPH BRAZOS TX BROADCAST MEDIA

60 MPH WIND GUST AT KBTX TV STATION IN BRYAN. LARGE TREE
LIMBS DOWNED ON THE NORTH SIDE OF BRYAN.

0755 PM TSTM WND GST SNOOK 30.49N 96.47W
08/24/2011 M69.00 MPH BURLESON TX TRAINED SPOTTER

WIND GUST OF 69 MPH MEASURED BY A HOME PORTABLE WEATHER
STATION

[ejburas]

Where along 529? I'm just south of 529, along Fry Rd and it was pretty rough over here for a bit.

[srainhoutx]

Where along 529? I'm just south of 529, along Fry Rd and it was pretty rough over here for a bit.

W of HWY 6. CFVFD was running like crazy out W along FM 529 and I witnessed transformers blowing while in line at KFC for some dinner take out.

[svrwx0503]

Does anyone know what caused those showers and thunderstorms to form?

These storms can be tracked all the way back to Arkansas early this morning in association with an upper level disturbance riding around the edge of the ridge of high pressure. Extreme daytime heating allowed these storms to hold together and move southwest all the way down into our area where they did weaken, but still saw some pretty strong storms in spots.

The storms missed me to my west by about 5 miles; however it looks like that might have been a good thing seeing that radar is indication 60-70mph winds with the storms moving southwest across western Ft. Bend county. Did film an incredible lightning show!

[ejburas]

Yeah, I saw transformers going all around me too.

[wxman57]

I felt a single drop of rain hit me in the back while I was watering my azaleas 30 minutes ago.

[biggerbyte]

Wow! I'm really happy some of you got some rain. So many did not. I was one of them. It was so close. The line split as it approached my part of Montgomery County. The wind was terrible. Everything that a thunderstorm brings, except the rain. Totally heartbreaking.

[srainhoutx]

Good to see a couple of short waves bring some showers this morning to our drought parched area. Perhaps some additional activity with daytime heating for this afternoon as well. Fingers crossed...

[srainhoutx]

Morning e-mail from Jeff:

Upper ridge has finally given just enough ground to place the area on its eastern flank allowing showers/thunderstorms to move into/across the area.

Storms raced across the area last evening with lots of lightening and wind damage (See reports below).

Additional waves of energy on the eastern side of the massive upper high continue to slide SW across the region his morning with numerous showers/thunderstorms affecting areas mainly along and NW of US 59. Storms continue to fire in a region of convergence near Lufkin and then move rapidly SW across the northern half of SE TX. Current batch is along a line from College Station to Humble with additional development upstream just NE of Lake Livingston currently. Fast forward motions are producing gusty winds along the leading edge of the storms, but nothing like many saw yesterday evening (60-80mph). Overall rainfall this morning is light due to fast forward motions, but we will take what we can get at this point!

Overall trend in the next 4-5 hours will be a weakening of the activity, with the possibility of additional activity developing later this afternoon both along the seabreeze and leftover outflow boundaries from the morning activity. Where the best chances of rain will be this afternoon is up for debate based on how boundaries move about this morning. 4km WRF shows the seabreeze being the main focus, but this model is not handling the current activity incoming from the NE right now very well. Feel at least 40% is needed for this morning, but not confident enough to go any higher for this afternoon given the questions on where/if storms will develop.

Damaging winds threat will be greatest with any afternoon thunderstorms as the air mass becomes increasingly unstable and hot and the sub-cloud layer dries…much like yesterday afternoon. Would favor areas west of I-45 and SW down US 59 for this potential where heating may be greatest today. Other threat is lightening induced grass fires as seen yesterday across the area and then the strong outflow winds pushing these fires quickly through the dead/dry brush.

Other item today will be high temperatures as clouds/rain this morning may finally snap the 100 degree day streak at IAH. While the forecast is for 101-103, it is going to be hard to reach those levels if clouds linger into the late morning. We shall see…yesterday was day 24!

Excessive Heat:
After today, the massive heat ridge over the SW US begins to build back eastward over TX, while a weak frontal boundary slips southward across the region and offshore. This will greatly lower dewpoints and afternoon RH will fall to less than 20% for both Saturday and Sunday. Impressive mid level warming and subsidence will result in strong heating and weak to moderate N to NE flow at the low levels will keep the seabreeze right along the coast allowing very warm afternoon highs over the weekend. Guidance (especially the NAM) continues to produce 105-111 across the region for this period which would be approaching the all-time records for several climate sites. While the NAM has performed very well this summer with the heat, we must see how much wetting rains we get today to help “cool” the ground and possibly add a little water for evaporation, which could temper temperatures some over the weekend. If the rains remain fairly scattered, then the NAM guidance will likely become the end result.

Fire Weather:
Several areas north of I-10 saw decent rainfall of .5-1.0 inch yesterday evening…enough to wet the dust. Numerous lightening strikes and strong winds help produce several grass fires which burned very fast in the dry/dead brush/grass. Additional rains ongoing this morning will help wet the top 1-2 inches of soil a little more possibly helping to green-up what vegetation if still alive. Extreme fire weather threat this weekend may have been knocked back some by the rainfall, but very low RH and slightly stronger NE winds over the weekend may still support an elevated risk. If winds are forecast any stronger than about the current 10mph over the weekend, a Fire Weather Watch may be needed given the large amounts of dead fuels and very low RH.

Wednesday Severe Reports:
Livingston: Trees down of roadways
Bryan: 60mph winds recorded at KTBX TV station in Bryan, numerous trees downed
Snook: 69mph wind recorded by home weather station
Brookshire: 60mph winds recorded by Houston Executive Airport ASOS station.
Sealy: trees down along Columbus Rd
Bellville: power lines down
Conroe: estimated 70-80mph winds just south of Lake Conroe Dam, numerous trees and power lines down.
Cypress: lightening strike on a house resulting in a fire
Spring: lightening strike on trees which in turn caught on fire threatening several homes

Palestine: several power lines down along with lightening strikes caused 11 forest fires to develop. Multiple structures were burned

[C2G]

Looks like southern sections may get a taste of precipitation, hopefully.

[txflagwaver]

Rain!

[C2G]

Yup, good thunderstorm with heavy rain. Nice to hear and see.