SE TX/SW LA Winter WX - 2011-2012

[GoldenTriangle]

SG is right...If I want weather info that isn't on this board Lake Charles is the last place that I check..I live close to SG so I just check to see what she is saying about her weather.

[JenBayles]

A balmy 22 degrees in Bear Creek this morning. Kept the faucets dripping last night and just managed to save the master bath from freezing over since I got up early enough to blast the pipes open. Enough of winter already!

[southerngale]

Special Weather Statement

They tend to gear everything toward the Louisiana folks, it seems.

Hmmmm, maybe because they are located in Louisiana and this advisory was for Louisiana. LOL

It's still drizzling here as well. I wanted so badly to see a few flurries but it just wasn't there.

Uhh, it was also for Jefferson and Orange Counties in SE TX as it says in the statement I quoted on the previous page. That's where I saw it. It showed up on the Point Forecast for Beaumont. Also, I wasn't just talking about this one statement, which is why I said, "they tend to..."
It's highly unlikely that someone not from here, who doesn't regularly read products issued by them, would notice such a thing, though.
Anyway, I don't think it's intentional. They probably think it sucks that they have to cover an area that they're not very familiar with. lol

[southerngale]

Here's a quick example, from just this morning. At 4am, they canceled the Hard Freeze Warning and issued a Freeze Warning, for SE TX and LA.

Notice the bolded part:

Freeze Warning
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
357 AM CST THU FEB 10 2011

LAZ027>033-041>043-051-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-101500-
/O.CAN.KLCH.HZ.W.0009.000000T0000Z-110210T1500Z/
/O.EXA.KLCH.FZ.W.0017.000000T0000Z-110210T1500Z/
VERNON-RAPIDES-AVOYELLES-BEAUREGARD-ALLEN-EVANGELINE-ST. LANDRY-
CALCASIEU-JEFFERSON DAVIS-ACADIA-CAMERON-TYLER-JASPER-NEWTON-
HARDIN-JEFFERSON-ORANGE-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LEESVILLE...ALEXANDRIA...MARKSVILLE...
DERIDDER...OAKDALE...VILLE PLATTE...OPELOUSAS...LAKE CHARLES...
JENNINGS...CROWLEY...CAMERON...WOODVILLE...JASPER...NEWTON...
LUMBERTON...BEAUMONT/PORT ARTHUR...ORANGE
357 AM CST THU FEB 10 2011

...FREEZE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM CST THIS MORNING...
...HARD FREEZE WARNING IS CANCELLED...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A FREEZE
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM CST THIS MORNING. THE
HARD FREEZE WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

LOW TEMPERATURES WILL RANGE FROM 27 TO 32 DEGREES THIS
MORNING...WITH TEMPERATURES RISING ABOVE FREEZING AROUND 9 AM.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FREEZE WARNING MEANS SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES ARE IMMINENT OR
HIGHLY LIKELY. PEOPLE SHOULD TAKE MEASURES TO PROTECT PLANTS BY
COVERING THEM OR BRINGING THEM INSIDE. ALSO...PETS SHOULD BE
PROTECTED OR MOVED INDOORS.

BE CAREFUL HEATING YOUR HOME. SPACE HEATERS NEED TO BE KEPT
36 INCHES AWAY FROM ANYTHING THAT CAN BURN. TURN IT OFF WHEN YOU
LEAVE THE ROOM OR GO TO BED.

27 to 32? Yeah, in Louisiana. At the time, it was 24 here (now 25), 22 in Jasper, and ALL obs in Beaumont showed temps below 27. (KFDM has a nice list of weather stations throughout Beaumont and surrounding areas)
Even the BPT airport, is at 28 right now. I checked Lake Charles and Lafayette airports and they're both at 31 right now. I'm not sure what the temps were at 4am, but it appears their temps fell into their new forecast range. If you're forecasting for Texas, you wouldn't have dropped the hard freeze out of the forecast. Their Texas counties were in the middle of the hard freeze. LOL

Now I could really care less what kind of freeze warning is issued. I'm sure we're all used to hard freezes by now, but it made no sense to cancel the hard freeze warning in SE TX for the remaining 5 hours of the warning and issue a freeze warning, based on the criteria they use, especially since there was no logical reason to do so. It's a little warmer in LA though. One has to wonder if they even saw the temperatures over here.

I don't know. It's weird. It's as if they don't have access to the gazillion local obs and use the BPT airport info for everything, which is clearly warmer than most areas in the winter, since it's in Nederland, bordering Port Arthur, and closer to the coast (at 28 now). It's not even in Beaumont and shouldn't be Beaumont's official weather anyway, but that's another issue. They are consistently too high on their temp forecasts, often by quite a bit. If it was like a TV station, that has to pick ONE general low and high for the entire area, you expect it to be off for each specific location, but when they're so far off on point forecasts, all the time, you have to wonder what is going on. It's baffling, and a little frustrating, to be honest.

Btw, I think they do a great job much of the time. I just think we belong in the HGX NWS. Since they closed our NWS office here in 1995, we just kinda fall through the cracks.

[vbhoutex]

Had a few more VERY LIGHT flurries into the evening last night. Managed a low of 22.1f under cloudy skies. Don't want to think how low it would have gone with no clouds. Currently having a heat wave with 23.7f showing on the thermometer.
Hey SG, at least you get soundings out of the LCH NWS. We don't even have that in HGX. Past that I feel your pain.

[srainhoutx]

Code: Select all

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
548 AM CST THU FEB 10 2011

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

1229 PM     FREEZING RAIN    RICHMOND                29.58N 95.76W
02/09/2011  U0.00 INCH       FORT BEND          TX   EMERGENCY MNGR

            GLAZE ON VEHICLES AND TREES.

1233 PM     FREEZING RAIN    TOMBALL                 30.10N 95.62W
02/09/2011  U0.00 INCH       HARRIS             TX   EMERGENCY MNGR

            GLAZE ON VEHICLES AT BARKER CYPRESS AND WEST ROAD.

1235 PM     SLEET            ADDICKS                 29.78N 95.64W
02/09/2011  U0.00 INCH       HARRIS             TX   EMERGENCY MNGR

            AT I-10 AND HIGHWAY 6

0115 PM     FREEZING RAIN    JERSEY VILLAGE          29.89N 95.57W
02/09/2011  E0.12 INCH       HARRIS             TX   EMERGENCY MNGR

            GLAZE ON VEHICLES AT STATE HIGHWAY 6 AND US 290.

0121 PM     FREEZING RAIN    BROOKSHIRE              29.78N 95.95W
02/09/2011  U0.00 INCH       WALLER             TX   EMERGENCY MNGR

            ICING REPORTED ON MANY BRIDGES ACROSS WALLER COUNTY.




[PTrackerLA]

Here's a quick example, from just this morning. At 4am, they canceled the Hard Freeze Warning and issued a Freeze Warning, for SE TX and LA.

Notice the bolded part:

Freeze Warning
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
357 AM CST THU FEB 10 2011

LAZ027>033-041>043-051-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-101500-
/O.CAN.KLCH.HZ.W.0009.000000T0000Z-110210T1500Z/
/O.EXA.KLCH.FZ.W.0017.000000T0000Z-110210T1500Z/
VERNON-RAPIDES-AVOYELLES-BEAUREGARD-ALLEN-EVANGELINE-ST. LANDRY-
CALCASIEU-JEFFERSON DAVIS-ACADIA-CAMERON-TYLER-JASPER-NEWTON-
HARDIN-JEFFERSON-ORANGE-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LEESVILLE...ALEXANDRIA...MARKSVILLE...
DERIDDER...OAKDALE...VILLE PLATTE...OPELOUSAS...LAKE CHARLES...
JENNINGS...CROWLEY...CAMERON...WOODVILLE...JASPER...NEWTON...
LUMBERTON...BEAUMONT/PORT ARTHUR...ORANGE
357 AM CST THU FEB 10 2011

...FREEZE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM CST THIS MORNING...
...HARD FREEZE WARNING IS CANCELLED...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A FREEZE
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM CST THIS MORNING. THE
HARD FREEZE WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

LOW TEMPERATURES WILL RANGE FROM 27 TO 32 DEGREES THIS
MORNING...WITH TEMPERATURES RISING ABOVE FREEZING AROUND 9 AM.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FREEZE WARNING MEANS SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES ARE IMMINENT OR
HIGHLY LIKELY. PEOPLE SHOULD TAKE MEASURES TO PROTECT PLANTS BY
COVERING THEM OR BRINGING THEM INSIDE. ALSO...PETS SHOULD BE
PROTECTED OR MOVED INDOORS.

BE CAREFUL HEATING YOUR HOME. SPACE HEATERS NEED TO BE KEPT
36 INCHES AWAY FROM ANYTHING THAT CAN BURN. TURN IT OFF WHEN YOU
LEAVE THE ROOM OR GO TO BED.

27 to 32? Yeah, in Louisiana. At the time, it was 24 here (now 25), 22 in Jasper, and ALL obs in Beaumont showed temps below 27. (KFDM has a nice list of weather stations throughout Beaumont and surrounding areas)

Now I could really care less what kind of freeze warning is issued. I'm sure we're all used to hard freezes by now, but it made no sense to cancel the hard freeze warning in SE TX for the remaining 5 hours of the warning and issue a freeze warning, based on the criteria they use. It's a little warmer in LA though. One has to wonder if they saw the temperatures over here.

I don't know. It's weird. It's as if they don't have access to the gazillion local obs and use the BPT airport info for everything, which is clearly warmer than most areas in the winter, since it's in Nederland, bordering Port Arthur, and closer to the coast (at 28 now). It's not even in Beaumont and shouldn't be Beaumont's official weather anyway, but that's another issue. They are consistently too high on their temp forecasts, often by quite a bit. If it was like a TV station, that has to pick ONE general low and high for the entire area, you expect it to be off for each specific location, but when they're so far off on point forecasts, all the time, you have to wonder what is going on. It's baffling, and a little frustrating, to be honest.

Btw, I think they do a great job much of the time. I just think we belong in the HGX NWS. lol

NWS is always going to by the official reporting station. I think weatherbug stations tend to have a slight cold bias, sure seems that way with the few we have around here. This morning our official low was 31 even though my car showed 29 on the way to work, and I live further south than the airport. Or last week during our freezing rain even the official temperature was 33 yet there was a good bit of ice in trees and my vehicle was coated with heavy ice in the morning. Ah well nothing to get too worked up over, it's cold!

[vbhoutex]

I'm not sure about that Weatherbug bias. It seems to go the other way here. It is usually warmer at the stations nearest me here in W Houston.
I think that besides the fact there isn't enough funding to provide the coverage we would all like to see, and see somewhat here due to our membership, that NWS requires well calibrated equipment that is "reliable" and "in a controlled environment". I don't know how well calibrated the WB stations are, so I don't know if it would be feasible to use them for obs for NWS purposes. I do know that the official station here in Houston suffers from a heat bias due to too close a proximity to runways and airplane exhaust. When it was first located it was away from all of that, but as the airport has grown around it it has definitely started to show a warm bias compared to my location which always used to be warmer than it. Now I am consistently lower than that location.
Now looking at 32.5F on the thermometer! Woohoo!! Come on warm up!!

[srainhoutx]

Code: Select all

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1021 AM CST THU FEB 10 2011

             ...FEBRUARY BEGINS ON A FRIGID NOTE...

          ...FEBRUARY 2011 LOW TEMPERATURE AVERAGE
                  IS THE COLDEST ON RECORD...

FEBRUARY 2011 HAS BEGUN ON A RATHER FRIGID NOTE. AT HOUSTON...
NINE OF THE FIRST TEN MORNINGS FELL BELOW FREEZING. SEVEN OF THE
FIRST TEN MORNINGS WERE BELOW FREEZING AT HOUSTON HOBBY AIRPORT
AND AT COLLEGE STATION. THE AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE FOR THE
FIRST NINE DAYS OF FEBRUARY ARE EITHER THE THIRD OR FOURTH COLDEST
START TO FEBRUARY IN RECORDED HISTORY. THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE
OVER THE FIRST NINE DAYS OF THE MONTH WERE THE COLDEST ON RECORD
FOR ALL FOUR PRIMARY CLIMATE SITES. BELOW ARE THE ICY DETAILS:

                DATA - FEBRUARY 1 THROUGH FEBRUARY 9

                             HOUSTON

        AVG HIGH             AVG LOW            AVG DAILY

        44.7 1895            27.0 2011          37.6 1895
        45.1 1905            30.6 1985          38.2 1985
        45.8 1985            30.6 1895          39.5 2011
        47.4 1978            33.2 1972          39.9 1905
        49.6 1982            34.4 1978          40.9 1978

8TH     52.0 2011

                           HOUSTON HOBBY

        AVG HIGH             AVG LOW            AVG DAILY

        47.2 1978            30.3 2011          41.5 1985
        47.8 1985            33.8 1951          41.5 1978
        49.7 1982            34.7 1947          41.7 2011
        50.1 1989            35.2 1985          43.2 1989
        51.9 1979            35.8 1978          43.5 1982

6TH     53.0 2011

                          COLLEGE STATION

        AVG HIGH             AVG LOW            AVG DAILY

        43.1 1905            26.6 2011          37.1 1985
        44.4 1978            26.7 1951          37.3 1989
        45.0 1985            28.6 1989          39.3 1978
        46.0 1989            29.2 1985          39.6 2011
        46.8 1979            29.6 1905          40.6 1979

7TH     52.6 2011
                             GALVESTON

        AVG HIGH             AVG LOW            AVG DAILY

        44.2 1985            33.1 2011          39.8 1985
        45.0 1895            35.4 1985          40.2 1895
        45.9 1905            35.4 1895          41.4 1905
        46.7 1978            36.9 1905          41.5 2011
        49.7 1989            38.8 1978          42.7 1978

6TH     49.9 2011

BELOW IS ANOTHER TABLE WITH DATA FOR THE MOST DAYS BELOW 32
DEGREES FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY:

            HOUSTON     HOU HOBBY     GALVESTON

          12 - 1895     7 - 2011      9 - 1895
           9 - 2011     6 - 1989      6 - 2011
           9 - 1978     6 - 1951      5 - 1899
           8 - 1989     5 - 1960      4 - 1905
           7 - 1905     4 - 1996      4 - 1989
           7 - 1899

RELIEF FROM THE COLD IS ON THE WAY. A FEW MORE COLD MORNINGS ARE
EXPECTED AND THEN A WARM UP BEGINS OVER THE WEEKEND. IT LOOKS LIKE
THE COLD AIR WILL FINALLY RETREAT TO THE NORTH AND ALLOW WARMER
TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH.

$$



[CajunMama]

We had reports of snow flurries around here this morning. I didn't see any. Did you PT?

[southerngale]

Well, of course they use BPT, but that still isn't indicative of weather 30, 60, and 90 miles away in the area. That's what I meant. The temperature near the coast obviously wouldn't be the same as areas inland. I have talked to KFDM in the past about their Instaweather stations and they do calibrate them. How often, I do not know. But they are usually similar to peoples' own obs, from what I can tell. My thermometer is usually similar or the same as the 2 stations on each side of me. I know that KFDM once mentioned that the station at Lamar was off on the winds. And my car isn't usually very accurate, either. I agree, it's COLD!!


Anyway, today's high was supposed to be 44 and we haven't gotten above freezing!! Sitting at 31 currently with ice still around. It was supposed to be mostly sunny today, but I haven't seen the sun. If it ever does come out, I suppose that high could still be reached. Geez, what a freaking crazy winter! Another hard freeze warning for tonight...

[southerngale]

It was 20° this morning. It looks like one more hard freeze tonight, then the warm-up begins!


The only thing I will miss is a crackling fire in the fireplace. But I can wait until next year. Bring out the flip-flops!

[vbhoutex]

We were at 22F this morning (same as last night). I'm not sure we'll get to a hard freeze tonight since we are still at 36F. That would be just fine with me!! I'm ready for the tank tops, shorts, and flip flops too!!

[BigB0882]

southerngale, out of curiosity, what was the high on Thursday? You mentioned it still being below freezing when you posted and the high was supposed to be 44. How high did it get?

I appreciate reading your posts, I was born and raised in Beaumont so I like being kept up to date with weather there as all my family is still in or around Beaumont.

[southerngale]

southerngale, out of curiosity, what was the high on Thursday? You mentioned it still being below freezing when you posted and the high was supposed to be 44. How high did it get?

I appreciate reading your posts, I was born and raised in Beaumont so I like being kept up to date with weather there as all my family is still in or around Beaumont.

It got to 33° here briefly, but it was at or below freezing most of the day. It was colder than expected area wide.

Oh, cool. And thanks. I live outside the city limits, on the west side of Beaumont, between Beaumont and Sour Lake. Since you're familiar with the area, I'm sure you know where the Jefferson County airport is. I try to post local obs since the airport is actually south of Beaumont.

[southerngale]

We were at 22F this morning (same as last night). I'm not sure we'll get to a hard freeze tonight since we are still at 36F. That would be just fine with me!! I'm ready for the tank tops, shorts, and flip flops too!!

So, how low did you go? It got to 23° here. I think that's the last time I'll see a temp that low this year. Well, this season.

I have to say... I am amazed by how many freezes and hard freezes we've had. I think we've had more nights below freezing than not! I wish I had kept a record of it. Just unreal.

My birdbath still has ice in it this afternoon! lol It sits in the shade so even though it's in the 50s, it hasn't completely melted yet.

[BigB0882]

Yes, I do know the airport. My mom lives in Vidor (don't judge, haha) but we grew up in Beaumont and my dad still has a place off of Major near 105. Probably not far from you!

[southerngale]

Not far at all. I pass 105 @ Major nearly every day.

No judging here. lol I have friends who live in Vidor.

[vbhoutex]

We were at 22F this morning (same as last night). I'm not sure we'll get to a hard freeze tonight since we are still at 36F. That would be just fine with me!! I'm ready for the tank tops, shorts, and flip flops too!!

So, how low did you go? It got to 23° here. I think that's the last time I'll see a temp that low this year. Well, this season.

I have to say... I am amazed by how many freezes and hard freezes we've had. I think we've had more nights below freezing than not! I wish I had kept a record of it. Just unreal.

My birdbath still has ice in it this afternoon! lol It sits in the shade so even though it's in the 50s, it hasn't completely melted yet.

26F this am. I have uncovered my dead plants in hopes of revival in the next two weeks. I think I may have lost my hibiscuses for good this time since they were still trying to recover from last winter.
I, like you, wish I had kept track of the number of freezes. It is definitely a lot more than we have had in years and they have definitely been colder than most we have had in many years. Definitely not a typical La Nina winter!!

[CajunMama]

Local met, Rob Perillo of KATC, showed on his friday weathercast how many days it has dipped below 32 here in acadiana.

2008-09 7 days
2009-10 17 days
2010-11 25 days

I guess you can change 2010-11 to 26 days.