Rainbow Shades plumeria
When will it end?
* * * * *
Notwithstanding my last post in which I rejoiced at the brief shower we had that day, the Houston and Galveston area, as well as most if not all of the rest of Texas, continues to choke through an extreme and extended drought condition.
I didn’t need to read the official temperature and rainfall statistics from the National Weather Service to know just how grim the current situation is, but seeing the numbers in print was sobering indeed. Check out these selected excerpts from the latest NWS report:
1030 AM CDT THU JUN 16 2011
SYNOPSIS...
UPPER LEVEL RIDGING CONTINUED ITS STRANGLEHOLD ON SOUTHEAST TEXAS... HOUSTON HAS ALREADY RECORDED FOUR DAYS WITH TEMPERATURES REACHING OR EXCEEDING 100 DEGREES. HOUSTON TYPICALLY REACHES 100 DEGREES OR HIGHER ONLY THREE TIMES A YEAR...
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES COUPLED WITH WINDIER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS HAVE EXACERBATED DROUGHT CONDITIONS. HOUSTON RECORDED 100 DEGREES ON JUNE 2, 2011. THIS IS THE EARLIEST 100 DEGREE TEMPERATURE RECORDED IN CITY HISTORY. A FEW DAYS LATER THE HIGH TEMPERATURE SOARED TO 105 DEGREES IN HOUSTON AND 99 DEGREES IN GALVESTON. HOUSTON ESTABLISHED A NEW HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORD FOR THE MONTH SURPASSING THE PREVIOUS WARMEST JUNE TEMPERATURE OF 104 DEGREES. GALVESTON TIED ITS WARMEST JUNE TEMPERATURE WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 99 DEGREES...
THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS ENTERED UNCHARTED TERRITORY. HOUSTON HAS ENDURED FOUR CONSECUTIVE MONTHS WITH LESS THAN AN INCH OF RAIN TALLIED IN EACH MONTH. THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS NEVER RECORDED THREE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS WITH LESS THAN AN INCH OF RAIN...
IT IS STILL THE DRIEST OCTOBER 1ST THROUGH JUNE 16TH IN CITY OF HOUSTON WEATHER HISTORY... EVEN GALVESTON, WHICH RECEIVED SOME MODERATE RAINFALL TOTALS IN DECEMBER AND JANUARY, IS ENDURING ITS SIXTH DRIEST PERIOD ON RECORD.
THE LAST FOUR MONTHS HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLY DRY. SINCE FEBRUARY 1ST THE CITY OF HOUSTON (IAH) HAS RECEIVED ONLY 2.02 INCHES OF RAIN. HOUSTON HOBBY (HOU) HAS RECEIVED 1.31 INCHES... GALVESTON HAS HAD TWICE THE RAIN AS HOBBY AIRPORT BUT MOST OF THE RAIN FELL ON JUST ONE DAY (MARCH 5TH) WITH LESS THAN AN INCH OF RAIN ON THE ISLAND SINCE MARCH 5TH.
HERE ARE THE PERCENTAGE OF NORMAL RAINFALL SINCE FEBRUARY 1ST...
SITE RAINFALL NORMAL DEPARTURE PERCENT OF
2/1-6/13 RAINFALL NORMAL
IAH 2.02 17.52 -15.50 11.5
HOU 1.31 17.88 -16.57 7.3
GLS 3.98 13.41 -9.43 29.7
What a glorious feeling!
A pretty Texas Star, too
Still, we’ve learned to be cautious with predictions like this. So before we declare that there be dancing in the streets—let alone singing in the rain—let’s just lay low for now and see what happens next week…
