Posted by Dave Gorham on November 8, 2011
The buzz in my neighborhood, now that the Halloween candy stockpiles have lost their sparkle, is the coming winter weather. Houston is full of people just like me who are northern transplants down here who miss the snow and the cold, but are happy that — for the most part — a winter on the Gulf Coast is tame and fairly mild. Still, the possibility of snow sets this town in an uproar almost as much as the possibility of the Texans going to the Super Bowl. Could it be possible, because of last weekend’s early and record-breaking snowfall, North America has been primed for an unusually cold and snowy winter?
Posted by Dave Gorham on September 16, 2011
The endless summer — 2011. It’s been a wild ride with earthquakes, floods, wildfires, drought and heat. It may be that despite all the weather features that grabbed the headlines this past summer, it will be the heat that is remembered for generations to come. And the drought. (Not to mention the dreadful spring season [...]
Posted by Dave Gorham on September 6, 2011
The out-of-control forest fires are close enough to Houston that we can smell the smoke (Bastrop State Park in the photo below is about 110 miles northwest of Houston). In Magnolia, a nearby and popular escape from urban Houston, thousands of acres have been consumed by fire. In the state’s capital, wildfires have forced thousands [...]
Posted by Dave Gorham on August 3, 2011
Though it seems quiet, the ImpactWeather TropicsWatch team is keeping a watchful eye on four active disturbances and one suspect area on Africa’s West Coast. Additionally, areas like the eastern Caribbean, the western Tropical Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico are climatological hot spots for development, while the peak of hurricane season (September 10th) draws closer every day.
Posted by Dave Gorham on May 10, 2011
As the magical pattern change takes shape, the forecast is more in focus yet the rain is by no means guaranteed. Wait — let me rephrase that: the rain for most is by no means guaranteed. It will rain in Texas — how much, when and exactly where remains in question.
Posted by Dave Gorham on May 6, 2011
On the heels of yesterday’s blog post (Wednesday’s, too) about the flooding and the flooding-to-come for the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, comes this: Rain in southern Texas by mid-May. No fooling.
Posted by Lauren Whisenhunt on April 21, 2011
Wildfires continue to burn across the great state of Texas and unfortunately it now appears conditions are getting worse. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s report this morning, the entire state is now under at least a moderate drought while 92% has reached severe drought status. Houston is the largest city in Texas and is [...]
Posted by Lauren Whisenhunt on March 28, 2011
I was in Katy, TX just the other day and as I was getting on the interstate I noticed all of the beautiful bluebonnets lining some of the banks under the overpasses. You might not know this but the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas. These are annual flowers that usually blossom towards the [...]
Posted by Lauren Whisenhunt on March 25, 2011
Here in the Lone Star State we’re in one of our worst droughts in 44 years. This is a huge problem since we are the largest U.S. cattle producer and the second-largest winter wheat grower. According to State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, we’ve received only 4.7 inches (12 centimeters) of rain on average from October through [...]
Posted by Dave Gorham on February 3, 2011
Flurries (northern Metro Houston) and sleet (coastal areas near Galveston) have already been reported this morning. This afternoon though is when the precipitation should begin in earnest with accumulations in some areas nearing five inches of snow by tomorrow morning and other areas accumulating 1/4-inch of ice or perhaps even more.
