2011 SE TX/SW LA Weather: Nice weather next several days

[ndale]

re pics ... out of curiousity has anyone down there seen tumbleweeds rolling around? If so are they common in the deep SE part of Texas?

Congrats on the rain!!! Looking forward to seeing those rain pics.

No tumbleweeds that I know of in se Texas, they are mostly in the western half of the state.

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

Well Ms Screamer, we in Humble did get rain. I did not take pictures, sorry about that. It cooled off quick afterwards. Right now, we are just waiting on the cooler drier air to filter in. We are spending the weekend in San Antonio for a mini-vacation ( me, wife and son) so this should be a respite from our daily grind.

Now I would've thought you, for sure, would've done that....but then again they prolly would've been blury from that jig you were dancing! Enjoy the cooler air (I hope somehow it too will allow rain to fall). I'm a tropical plant lover (well love most plants) so would hate to see that paradise looking like here (given time). I love my prairies (for their subtle beauty) but seeing different places is good for the soul.

re pics ... out of curiousity has anyone down there seen tumbleweeds rolling around? If so are they common in the deep SE part of Texas?

Congrats on the rain!!! Looking forward to seeing those rain pics.

No tumbleweeds that I know of in se Texas, they are mostly in the western half of the state.

Thanks for the reply ndale...I kinda figured they wouldn't be but thought, if some were bouncing around down there, what a contrast they'd be against palm trees, etc.

Used to see lots of them bouncing around here but haven't lately (further west however they are still easily found).

[vbhoutex]

Well Ms Screamer, we in Humble did get rain. I did not take pictures, sorry about that. It cooled off quick afterwards. Right now, we are just waiting on the cooler drier air to filter in. We are spending the weekend in San Antonio for a mini-vacation ( me, wife and son) so this should be a respite from our daily grind.

No pics from me either. Nothing as exciting as Kelly's pics. However we did get 0.98" of rain from out two sets of storms. there was a disturbance in my neighborhood-something about a fat old man dancing in the middle of the street- Anyway, with that I am up to a little over 1.5" for the month which is twice what I have had in the previous 3 months!! Is there hope?? Who knows, but I take the rain any way I can get it these days. Did have one CG strike that nearly caused both the wife and I to need to change clothes.

[sequoyah101]

We got a whopping 0.05 to 0.09 inches south of Magnolia. Lots of sound and fury signifying very little. Very sustained flashes of lightning. Small amount of rain but grateful nonetheless. Maybe better chances for more next week?

[jasons2k]

Posted on Eric Berger's blog on Chron.com - from Fred Schmude @ Impactweather. Not as optimistic for next week as I had hoped:

We’re of course at that time of the year when the northern storm track starts to become considerably more active over the U.S. driving fast moving disturbances and cold fronts from the Pacific to Atlantic Coast. We’re highly confident that one such storm system will strengthen over the Rockies during the first week of October bringing much colder and unsettled weather conditions with a risk of lowland rain and even high mountain snow.

The big question for southeast Texas is, will this developing storm system over the Rockies be strong enough to bring some much needed widespread and heavy rain by the end of the first week of October? Before I answer that question please note this is the type of weather pattern we need to start seeing in order to get some much needed rain into the area as the flow pattern buckles over the western U.S. allowing Gulf moisture to surge over the region.

Unfortunately with this storm system, it’s not forecast to deepen into the lower latitudes, so for right now we’re probably at best only going to see a quick burst of showers and maybe, if we’re fortunate, a few thunderstorms centered on the 7th or 8th as a weak cold front moves by the area. Ahead of the front we may even see a few showers and thunderstorms on the 5th and 6th as Gulf moisture surges northward out ahead of the cold front and interacts with weak disturbances.

We can always hope that one of these disturbances turns out to be stronger, but from our vantage point now we don’t see anything out of the ordinary that would bring widespread heavy rain to the Houston area. The cold front on the 7th or 8th will likely be followed by 2 or 3 days of cooler and drier air before our next chance of rain materializes by the middle of the month.

The only good news to report is the normal southward shift of the northern storm track is well on its way as evident by next week’s weather pattern. We’ll just have to wait until the latter half of October and November for the northern storm track to have more of an effect on the Texas weather pattern, increasing the likelihood for more rainfall.

PS - thanks for the pics Southerngale!! Sure is green over there!

Also, I don't recall seeing tumbleweeds until you get to West Texas.

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

No pics from me either. Nothing as exciting as Kelly's pics. However we did get 0.98" of rain from out two sets of storms. there was a disturbance in my neighborhood-something about a fat old man dancing in the middle of the street- Anyway, with that I am up to a little over 1.5" for the month which is twice what I have had in the previous 3 months!! Is there hope?? Who knows, but I take the rain any way I can get it these days. Did have one CG strike that nearly caused both the wife and I to need to change clothes.

Now what a picture that would've been (pssst Mrs. Vbhoutex please remember the camera the next time it rains ). Sounds like the dust/spider webs/dead bugs in the rain gauge, dead grass and the more exotic dead tropical trees are the most sighted signs of drought in a tropical metro city (and sadly smoke from forest fires). As well as the sounds of peeps screaming when their hands are branded by the steering wheel.

I recently saw a post from a Houstonian who had paid $40,000 for landscaping and who refused to cut back on watering. I imagine she too will be heard far and wide if she is limited to hand watering only (or is reported on if rationing is already started).

Grasshoppers/locusts I'm guessing are a West Texas curse as well?

[vbhoutex]

No pics from me either. Nothing as exciting as Kelly's pics. However we did get 0.98" of rain from out two sets of storms. there was a disturbance in my neighborhood-something about a fat old man dancing in the middle of the street- Anyway, with that I am up to a little over 1.5" for the month which is twice what I have had in the previous 3 months!! Is there hope?? Who knows, but I take the rain any way I can get it these days. Did have one CG strike that nearly caused both the wife and I to need to change clothes.

Now what a picture that would've been (pssst Mrs. Vbhoutex please remember the camera the next time it rains ). Sounds like the dust/spider webs/dead bugs in the rain gauge, dead grass and the more exotic dead tropical trees are the most sighted signs of drought in a tropical metro city (and sadly smoke from forest fires). As well as the sounds of peeps screaming when their hands are branded by the steering wheel.

I recently saw a post from a Houstonian who had paid $40,000 for landscaping and who refused to cut back on watering. I imagine she too will be heard far and wide if she is limited to hand watering only (or is reported on if rationing is already started).

Grasshoppers/locusts I'm guessing are a West Texas curse as well?

MUST remember to not let Mrs. Vbhoutex see SS post!!
We are already on a water rationing schedule. I'm pretty sure I would violate it if I had spent that much on landscaping. We had talked about doing a good amount of landscaping, but fortunately(actually unfortunately)the drought reared its' head before we bought anything.
I am looking forward to the next week temps wise. We aren't supposed to get out of the 80s for highs(96f yesterday for another record). Lows are supposed to be in the 50's and 60's. DEFINITELY A WELCOME CHANGE!!!

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

Russia's/Eastern Europe's Drought (we had a similar infestation in 2002)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-iptMNZMdA&feature=related[/youtube]

Enjoy those cooler temps and thank your lucky stars these fellows haven't moved into SE Texas!

And then there is the Congo
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxHOxCmbs-8&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube]

[CajunMama]

Those videos gave me the heebie jeebies! I can't stand grasshoppers/locusts.

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

Those videos gave me the heebie jeebies! I can't stand grasshoppers/locusts.

Nor can I!!! I don't mind the little ones too much but when the big migratory ones come......

I found a letter written by a Texan, who lived in Boerne, that talked about an infestation there (written/published in the 1860's)
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0917F83B59107B93C3AA178BD95F438684F9
************************************

A Texan in Australia: A Texan farmer goes to Australia for a vacation. There he meets an Aussie farmer and gets to talkin. The Aussie shows off his big wheat field and the Texan says, “Oh! We have wheat fields that are at least twice that big”! They walk around the ranch a little, and the Aussie shows off his herd of cattle. The Texan immediately says, “We have longhorns that are at least twice as big as your cows”. The conversation has, meanwhile, almost died when the Texan sees a herd of kangaroos hopping through the field. He asks, “And what are those”? The Aussie replies with an incredulous look,
“Don’t you have any grasshoppers in Texas”?
(his reply is in this interesting blog from a Texan)

http://theforkintheroad.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/the-grasshopper-and-the-cow/
***************************

And some *fun* stats:
"I got that statistic from Jeffery Lockwood, entomology professor at the University of Wyoming: a knowledgeable guy with a flair for memorable quotes. I asked Jeff how he computed the figure after I read your question.

Jeff says a cow eats 30 pounds in a day. So, first we calculate how many grasshoppers eat as much as a cow. A decent-sized grasshopper eats at least 0.1 grams (0.0002188 lb) of food per day. Thus, for one day, thirty pounds of food supports 137,111 grasshoppers (30 lb / 0.0002188 lb). That's a lot of grasshoppers.

Then we look at densities and areas. If one grasshopper eats 0.1 g, then a density of 6 or 7 grasshoppers per sq. yd. eat 0.6 or 0.7 grams per sq. yd. But note: we're talking about a small area-- 1 square yard. That's the misleading lurk.

However, we're really interested in the area needed to feed that big number (137,111) of grasshoppers. At a density of 6.5 grasshoppers per square yard, that grasshopper horde needs an area of 21,094 square yards (137,111 grasshoppers / 6.5 grasshoppers / sq. yd.) or 4.36 acres of the voracious pests.

Jeff lives in Wyoming where it takes about 5 acres to support a cow with the required 30 pounds of fodder, but 5 acres of grasshoppers (at a density of 6.5 per sq. yd.) will eat 34 pounds of food (30 x 5 / 4.36). So the grasshoppers do eat more than the cow. "
http://www.wonderquest.com/grasshopper-stats.htm
*****************************

Oh how they'd love the yards of those Houstonians that aren't rationing water!

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

p.s. What an informative blog entry (explains the quietness down there so well)
http://theforkintheroad.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/never-talk-about-the-weather/

[vbhoutex]

I can take this BEAUTIFUL FALL WEATHER all year long with one exception. We still NEED RAIN!!!
Definitely my kind of weather temp wise!!!

[southerngale]

I say this every time, but this is just beyond unreal. Even worse!!

88% of Texas in the worst possible category and 97% in the worst 2 categories.

[gboudx]

That map will change for portions of west TX after this weekend. 5+ inches of rain will do the trick.

[vbhoutex]

We had a couple of short lived showers late this afternoon. Only amounted to about 0.10" so far so no drought buster, but every drop counts.

[Ptarmigan]

I notice storms forming west of San Antonio.

[vbhoutex]

I notice rain pouring down at my house!!! *vb swoons and faints* And I notice rain moving in from the West also with another disturbance behind it!!! Have I drowned and gone to heaven? This is the first time in over a year that I have been awakened by a thunderstorm. What a glorious awakening it was!! So far since last nights rains we have had 1.13".

[sequoyah101]

Wonderful rain. Thank the Lord. The woods are now damp for about the first time in a year.

Too late for at least one of my favorite oaks though.

WunderMap doesn't appear correct for all reporting stations. We have gauged much more than reported.

More rain please.

[Dean4Storms]

Congrats on the MUCH needed rain in TX!!!!

[vbhoutex]

:uarrow: I notice rain pouring down at my house!!! *vb swoons and faints* And I notice rain moving in from the West also with another disturbance behind it!!! Have I drowned and gone to heaven? This is the first time in over a year that I have been awakened by a thunderstorm. What a glorious awakening it was!! So far since last nights rains we have had 1.13".

Now up over 2" !!! Radar appears to show a stalled or very slow moving trough which is setting up training over W Houston. Not complaining unless we start to flood and that doesn't look likely. This is more rain than I have at one time since January!!! It will also be the first month since February in which we have had 2" or rain or more. KEEP ON POURING!!!(and it is)