Sunday, December 31, 2017

Dec. 30 17

Northwest Houston, TX, during the early morning.
Northwest Houston, TX, during the early afternoon.
Houston, TX radar, during the late night.


Summary: The day was cool, cloudy, and a little wet. Isolated light to moderate with some moderately heavy rain showers with some light to moderate drizzle looked be scattered across the Houston, TX area, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. I noticed some light drizzle falling as I drove into work, in northwest Houston, TX, during the early morning. A moderate to possibly moderately heavy shower looked to have passed through where I work in northwest Houston, TX, sometime during the late morning, followed by some light to moderate drizzle after that, through the rest of the late morning. Some light to moderate drizzle and possibly rain started to fall at my house in northwest Houston, TX, sometime during the late, or maybe early night and looked to have continued on through the late night. Low stratus clouds looked to cover the whole sky with maybe a few breaks in the clouds, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. The wind speeds looked to be calm with maybe some gentle to moderate gusts and some possible moderately strong gusts. It felt very cool, during the early morning, late evening, and early night. It felt cool, during the mid and late morning, afternoon, and early evening. It felt very cool, almost cold, during the late night. There were no watches, warnings, alerts, advisories, or weather statements/outlooks issued for the Houston, TX area, that I know of. The low temperatures looked to be in the mid to high 40's with maybe some low 40's and the high temperatures looked to be in the low to mid 50's with maybe some high 50's, for the Houston, TX area.


Houston, TX Storm Summary: Isolated light to moderate with some moderately heavy rain showers with some light to moderate drizzle looked be scattered across the Houston, TX area, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. I didn't see, or hear about any reports of flooding, or damage caused by the weather, to any of the locations in the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day.


My Storm Summary: I noticed some light drizzle falling as I drove into work, in northwest Houston, TX, during the early morning. A moderate to possibly moderately heavy shower looked to have passed through where I work in northwest Houston, TX, sometime during the late morning, followed by some light to moderate drizzle after that, through the rest of the late morning. Some light to moderate drizzle and possibly rain started to fall at my house in northwest Houston, TX, sometime during the late, or maybe early night and looked to have continued on through the late night. The roads and ground got wet and then quickly dry after the showers and drizzle, during the late morning, and then got wet again during the showers and drizzle, during the late and maybe early night. I saw only some small puddles form. I didn't see any flooding, or damage caused by the weather, during anytime of the day. I didn't see any flashes of lightning, or hear any rumbles of thunder.


Locations: Northwest and west Houston, TX.


Thoughts: Nothing interesting going on. Just some showers and drizzle mixed in with some cool and cold temps. 

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Dec. 29 17

Northwest Houston, TX, during the early morning.
Northwest Houston, TX, during the mid-morning.
Tomball, TX, during the mid-morning.
Near, or maybe in the Woodlands, TX, during the late morning.
Houston, TX radar, during the early night.


Summary: The day was mostly cloudy, cool, and dry. Maybe some rain for the Houston, TX area, during the night. There looked to be some isolated light showers scattered across the Houston, TX area, on the radar, during the night. I don't remember seeing, feeling, or hearing any drops of precip, during anytime of the day. Stratus clouds looked to cover the whole sky during the day, with a break, during the mid and late morning. The wind speeds looked to be calm with gentle to moderate gusts with maybe some moderately strong gusts. It felt very cool, maybe cold, during the early morning. It felt very cool, during the morning and evening. It felt cool, during the afternoon. It felt cold, during the night. There were no watches, warnings, alerts, advisories, or weather statements/outlooks issued for the Houston, TX area, that I know of. The low temperatures looked to be in the low 40's and the high temperatures looked to be in the mid 50's with maybe some high 50's, for the Houston, TX area


Houston, TX Storm Summary: Maybe some rain for the Houston, TX area, during the night. There looked to be some isolated light showers scattered across the Houston, TX area, on the radar, during the night. I didn't see, or hear about any reports of flooding, or damage caused by the weather, to any of the locations in the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day.


My Storm Summary: I don't remember seeing, feeling, or hearing any drops of precip, during anytime of the day.  The dark stratus clouds looked like they were going to spill some rain drops, but I don't think they ever did. The roads and ground looked to be completely dry. I don't think I saw any puddles. I didn't see any flashes of lightning, or hear rumbles of thunder. I didn't see any flooding, or damage caused by the weather.


Locations: Northwest and west Houston, TX, the heights and galleria area of Houston, TX, Spring, TX, and maybe the Woodlands, TX.


Thoughts: It felt a little bit warmer, but not warm enough.


Area Forecast Discussion 
Issued by NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

Home | Current Version | Previous Version | Text Only | Print | Product List | Glossary Off
Versions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

000
FXUS64 KHGX 300358
AFDHGX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
958 PM CST Fri Dec 29 2017

.DISCUSSION...
Current forecast is in pretty good shape. Only tweak was to
indicate some warming near the coast overnight as the warm front
inches closer. Quick glance at some of the incoming 00z data
doesn`t look like there are many new surprises in store between
now and Monday morning. GFS and NAM12 still indicating dry
conditions as freezing temps arrive.  47

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
College Station (CLL)      47  60  45  47  27 /  10  20  30  20  20
Houston (IAH)              48  59  50  55  31 /  20  20  30  20  20
Galveston (GLS)            57  61  55  57  34 /  20  30  20  20  30

&&

.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...NONE.
GM...NONE.

&&

$$

Friday, December 29, 2017

Dec. 28 17

Northwest Houston, TX, during the early morning.


Summary: The day was cold, cloudy, and mostly dry. Some light drizzle and maybe some light rain, for the Houston, TX area. I don't remember seeing any precip on the radar, over the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day. Some on and off light to moderate drizzle fell, where I was in northwest Houston, TX, during the morning, and maybe afternoon, evening, and night. Thick, low stratus clouds looked to cover the whole sky, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. The wind speeds looked to be calm with maybe some gentle to moderate gusts and some moderately strong gusts. I think it felt very cold, during the morning and evening, and night. I think it felt cold, during the afternoon. There were no watches, warnings, alerts, advisories, or weather statements/outlooks issued for the Houston, TX area, that I know of. The low temperatures looked to be in the low 40's with maybe some high to mid 30's, and the high temperatures looked to be in the mid 40's, I think, for the Houston, TX area.


Houston, TX Storm Summary: Some light drizzle and maybe some light rain, for the Houston, TX area. I don't remember seeing any precip on the radar, over the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day. I didn't see, or hear about any reports of flooding, or damage caused by the weather, in any of the locations in the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day.


My Storm Summary: Some on and off light to moderate drizzle fell, where I was in northwest Houston, TX, during the morning, and maybe afternoon, evening, and night. The roads and ground got a little wet, but I didn't see any puddles. I didn't hear any rumbles of thunder, or see any flashes of lightning. I didn't see any flooding, or damage caused by the weather. My co-worker thought that the drizzle that fell in the morning and maybe early afternon, looked like snow flurries, or some type of winter precip/ It looked like just rain to me, but they could have been sleet, or maybe ice pellets.


Locations: Northwest Houston, TX.


Thoughts: I am wondering if Houston, TX will get more winter precip this weekend.


Area Forecast Discussion 
Issued by NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Home | Current Version | Previous Version | Text Only | Print | Product List | Glossary Off
Versions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 3940 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
000
FXUS64 KHGX 290520
AFDHGX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
1120 PM CST Thu Dec 28 2017

.AVIATION...
MVFR/IFR ceilings should persist through the TAF period with the possible
exception of our northern sites (CLL, UTS and maybe CXO) where some
drier air might get ceilings into VFR levels tomorrow afternoon. Starting
to see some weak radar echoes heading toward southern TAF sites, and
if this trend continues we might to amend and add some -RA and/or -DZ.
Winds are still expected to turn to the E then SE during the day tomorrow,
and this might eventually set the stage for lowering ceilings and/or
visibilities as we head on into tomorrow evening and tomorrow night.
42
&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 917 PM CST Thu Dec 28 2017/

UPDATE...
Though we initially were seeing some breaks in the clouds this
afternoon, it appears that things have gone back over to overcast,
and so the big change in the forecast for tonight is to back off
on cooling tonight in parts of the area, and to nudge hourly
trends to be in line with obs, and to slightly raise low temp
forecasts. It`s not a significant change, but should allow a
little more cushion over freezing well north of Houston.

Another consequence of the clouds is seen in the gradually
decreasing trends in ceilings. We`re largely at MVFR/VFR thanks to
some lower dry air brought in by northeasterly winds. So far our
only ob shows a light shower at Angleton. However, lowering in
ceilings could indicate resaturation of the low levels, and so
will go with the potential for drizzle tonight - a harbinger of
things to come more this weekend. Think that we may manage enough
mixing out of moisture to slip back to clouds and light rain
showers Friday during the day, but in the long run, the trend will
be towards drizzle and - near the coast - fog.

Luchs

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 349 PM CST Thu Dec 28 2017/

DISCUSSION...
Some areas are starting to see a few breaks of sun peak through
late this afternoon, but expect clouds to fill back in overnight.
As pressures fall to the west, look for winds to gradually begin
veering to the east and southeast Friday and Friday night,
bringing the return of patchy drizzle and/or -ra to the southern
parts of the area. Dewpoints will climb offshore - bringing the
threat of sea fog back to the coastal waters Friday night and
Saturday.

The much talked about strong cold front is still on target to
push thru the region on Sunday. Today`s model suite is generally
drier, scouring the bulk of moisture out prior to the onset of
freezing temps Sunday evening and night. Lowered POPs about 10%,
but kept a brief time period of the possibility of some fzra for
areas north of a Cleveland-Brenham line Sunday night. Chances are
low, but want to see another run or two of consistency before
yanking the mention altogether. Unless, something drastic changes,
not expecting frozen precip in the Houston metro area Sunday
night. That said, we always need to keep an eye on any residual
moisture on roads when readings are below freezing, but hopefully
elevated winds will help with drying too. The freezing line will
extend to roughly I-10 by sunrise Monday.

With the exception of the Canadian, models have generally backed
off the threat of precip inland Monday night-Tue morning as an
upper disturbance passes through. To its credit, the Canadian has
been consistent and previous runs of the ECMWF jumped on board
for a while also (it has since dried inland). Will continue to
watch future trends and amend the fcst if necessary, but will
maintain a dry inland fcst for now next week.

The primary wx threats will be the temperatures and wind chills
for the holiday and upcoming week with a few reinforcing surges
of cold air making it in. Wind chills in the teens and 20s will
be an issue at times. Several nights with freezing temps are
expect including a few hard freezes. Beaches may even see freezing
temps Tue and Wed mornings.  47

MARINE...
NE winds will continue to decrease through the evening as high pres-
sure settles over the region. Winds will be veering to the east Fri
afternoon as the high shifts east and a weak trough of low pressure
begins to develop in the lee of the Rockies. The development of the
warm (and moist) onshore flow on Sat will help to set the stage for
sea fog by Sat afternoon and then likely persist on through Sun. No
changes with the model timing(s) of a strong cold front moving into
the coastal waters Sun afternoon and strong NNE winds developing in
its wake. Small Craft Advisories will likely be needed by Sun after-
noon through most of Mon, however, this could be upgraded to a Gale
Warning if some of the progs do verify. 41

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
College Station (CLL)      38  52  46  62  45 /  20  10  10  20  30
Houston (IAH)              40  52  46  63  51 /  20  10  20  20  30
Galveston (GLS)            45  54  53  64  55 /  20  10  20  20  30

&&

.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...NONE.
GM...SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION until 9 AM CST Friday for
     the following zones: Waters from Freeport to the Matagorda
     Ship Channel from 20 to 60 NM...Waters from High Island to
     Freeport from 20 to 60 NM.

&&

$$

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Dec. 27 17


Northwest Houston, TX, during the early morning.
Tully road in west Houston, TX, during the early afternoon.
Houston, TX radar, during the early afternoon.
Northwest Houston, TX, during the late afternoon.
Houston, TX radar, during the early evening.
Northwest, or maybe north Houston, TX, during the early night.
Near the galleria, in Houston, TX, during the early night.


Summary: The day was very cool, wet, and cloudy. Light to moderate and moderately heavy rain and drizzle fell off and on in the Houston, TX area, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. I saw light to moderate and moderately heavy rain and drizzle, where I was in Houston, TX, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. Thick, light to dark grey stratus clouds looked to cover the whole sky, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. The wind speeds looked to be calm with maybe some gentle to moderate gusts and some moderately strong gusts. I think it felt cold, during the morning. I think it felt very cool, during the afternoon and evening. It felt cold, during the early night. It felt cold, maybe very cold, during the night. There were no watches, warnings, alerts, advisories, or weather statements/outlooks issued for the Houston, TX area, that I know of. The low temperatures looked to be in the low 40's and the high temperatures looked to be in the low 40's with maybe some mid 40's, for the Houston, TX area.


Houston, TX Storm Summary: Light to moderate and moderately heavy rain and drizzle fell off and on in the Houston, TX area, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. I didn't see, or hear about any flooding, or damage caused by the weather, at any of the locations in the Houston, TX area.


My Storm Summary:  I saw light to moderate and moderately heavy rain and drizzle, where I was in Houston, TX, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. I saw wet roads, small to big puddles, and wet ground. I didn't see any flashes lightning, or hear any rumbles of thunder. I didn't see any flooding, or damage caused by the weather.


Locations: Northwest and west Houston, TX/


Thoughts; Lots of rain and cool weather. Typical winter weather for the Houston, TX area.


Area Forecast Discussion 
Issued by NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Home | Current Version | Previous Version | Text Only | Print | Product List | Glossary Off
Versions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 3940 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
207
FXUS64 KHGX 272348
AFDHGX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
548 PM CST Wed Dec 27 2017

.AVIATION...
A mix of mainly MVFR/IFR ceilings and visibilities is expected overnight.
Some improvement is possible overnight up north (CLL/UTS areas) and
then south of there during the day tomorrow. Radar is showing most
activity now east of our area TAF sites, but some -RA and/or -DZ
could linger around this evening and maybe even into the day tomorrow
especially at/near the coast. 00Z TAFs have NNE to NE winds at 5 to
10 knots inland and 10 to 15 knots at the coast.  42
&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 356 PM CST Wed Dec 27 2017/

NEAR TERM [Through Tonight]...

Radar continues to show pockets of light rain and drizzle across
SE Texas. High pressure centered over the Midwest extends into
Texas with the cold front out in the central Gulf. Upper air
analysis at 850mb for 12Z shows southwest winds and VAD winds from
the 88D show this flow contributing to isentropic lift supporting
the light rain and drizzle. As a result temperatures have
remained fairly steady in the 40s. Low temperatures overnight into
Thursday may drop into the 30s but cloud cover will limit
radiational cooling. Light rain should be ending overnight.

SHORT TERM [Thursday Through Friday Night]...

Warm air advection through the boundary layer should allow for
temperatures to moderate some and isentropic lift will continue as
a result. Forecast keeps most of the rain chances in the Gulf
waters but rain chances increase Friday into Saturday as warm air
advection and moisture advection increases. Overall this remains
the moist consistent part of the forecast between the models and
hence the most forecast confidence.

LONG TERM [Saturday Through Wednesday]...

This is where the "fun" begins. Saturday may be the "warm" day of
the forecast. Canadian front still on track to push into the area
late Sunday so even on Sunday there may be near normal
temperatures in the low 60s. Ahead of the front there may be
enough warm air advection and moisture advection to support
surface based convection. There should be enough capping from the
elevated mixed layer to limit thunderstorm activity ahead of the
front. Front moves through 12Z Sunday for KCLL and then off the
coast by 00Z Monday. Strong cold air advection is expected 00Z
Monday to 00Z Tuesday. This is when the forecast is a challenge
and the most uncertain.

1 - model differences really pertain to timing of the front and
moisture riding over the shallow frontal surface. The GFS and
ECMWF are most similar in this regard so this at least provides
some confidence that any precipitation will clear out by 18Z
Monday. Boundary layer really dries out after 00Z Tuesday in both
models so think that should end precipitation for the rest of the
week. The problem comes with any weak short wave troughs that the
models do not resolve. GFS and ECMWF show one wave coming across
in the the time frame of interest but relatively weak. The
Canadian shows this wave and then a much stronger trough coming
down the plains on Tuesday. The GFS/ECMWF treat this very
differently so there may be some midlevel moisture to cause
precipitation but again boundary layer should remain dry.

2 - Moisture...already covered this somewhat in section above but
there appears to be a small window where there is moisture over
the frontal surface 03Z to 15Z Monday for precipitation. Model
soundings support saturation from 750mb down to 950mb from 06-12Z
Monday. After that the cold airmass deepens with much drier air
filtering into the region.

3 - Lift...based on GFS/ECMWF there is a weak short wave moving
across the area 06Z-18Z Monday in which there will be some weak
large scale ascent. Cross sections through the frontal surface
from 06Z to 12Z Monday show frontogenetic lift along with some
pockets of CSI. Quite possible there could be some banded
precipitation with the front. After that downward motion takes
over until Tuesday but by the time the next area of ascent moves
over the region, boundary layer moisture looks to be rather
limited.

4 - Temperatures...Cold advection should be strong during the
period and expect temperatures to drop below freezing by Monday
morning. Tuesday morning should be the coldest morning with
temperatures in the 20s. But from 06-12Z Monday, temperatures
mainly north of Harris county will drop below freezing.
Temperatures do increase above freezing during the day Monday but
that increase may be limited by cloud cover. In the end, there
will be a race between freezing temperatures, moisture and lift to
generate frozen precipitation across portions of SE Texas.

5 - Precipitation Type...assuming that the ingredients of
moisture, temperatures and lift come together, top down sounding
analysis shows temperature/moisture profiles will likely support
rain and drizzle. There is a small window when freezing
rain/drizzle will be possible mainly from 06Z to 12Z. Think that
the area outlined in the previous forecast still holds true so
will continue to mention a mix of rain/freezing rain north of a
Brenham/Conroe/Livingston line. Given the relatively low
probabilities of occurrence due to the reasons outlined above,
will also keep out any mention of ice accumulations. This also
give some flexibility to change the forecast as model solutions
change and evolve.

Overpeck

MARINE...

Will extend the SCA into the evening with winds & seas still within
criteria. Think we should be able to taper it down overnight. Winds
will subside on Thursday and veer to the east by Friday as surface
high pressure over the southern Great Lakes shifts east and a weak
trough of low pressure begins to develop in the lee of the Rockies.
A strong cold front will cross the coastal waters Sunday night and a
strong NNE wind will develop in the wake of the front. Another SCA
will be required at that time...and quite possibly a gale warning.
47

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
College Station (CLL)      36  46  36  53  45 /  10  10  10  10  20
Houston (IAH)              37  47  38  53  46 /  20  10  20  10  20
Galveston (GLS)            41  48  44  53  51 /  20  10  20  10  20

&&

.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...NONE.
GM...Small Craft Advisory until 9 PM CST this evening for the
     following zones: Coastal waters from Freeport to the
     Matagorda Ship Channel out 20 NM...Coastal waters from High
     Island to Freeport out 20 NM.

     Small Craft Advisory until midnight CST tonight for the
     following zones: Waters from Freeport to the Matagorda Ship
     Channel from 20 to 60 NM...Waters from High Island to
     Freeport from 20 to 60 NM.

&&

$$

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Dec. 26 17

Houston, TX radar, during the early morning.
Northwest Houston, TX, during the early morning.
Houston, TX radar, during the early afternoon.
Northwest Houston, TX, during the early afternoon.
Houston, TX radar, during the late night.


Summary: The day was cool, cloudy, and wet. Isolated bands of light to moderate and maybe sometimes moderately heavy showers looked to be scattered across the Houston, TX area, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. I saw some light to moderate drizzle where I was in northwest Houston, TX, during the early morning and evening. A band of moderate to possibly moderately heavy showers passed over where I work in northwest Houston, TX, during the early afternoon. A continuous light rain with maybe some moderate rain at times started to fall at my house in northwest Houston, TX, sometime during the early night and continued to fall through the rest of the night. The sky looked to be completely covered in stratus clouds, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. The wind speeds looked to be calm with gentle to moderate gusts and maybe some moderately strong gusts. It felt very cool, during the morning, afternoon, and evening. It felt cold, during the night. There were no watches, warnings, alerts, advisories, or weather statements/outlooks issued for the Houston, TX area, that I know of. The low temperatures looked to be in the low 40's and the high temperatures looked to be in the low 50's with maybe some mid 50's, for the Houston, TX area. 


Houston, TX Storm Summary: Isolated bands of light to moderate and maybe sometimes moderately heavy showers looked to be scattered across the Houston, TX area, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. I didn't see, or hear about any reports of flooding, or damage caused by the weather, at any of the locations in the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day.


My Storm Summary: I saw some light to moderate drizzle where I was in northwest Houston, TX, during the early morning and evening. A band of moderate to possibly moderately heavy showers passed over where I work in northwest Houston, TX, during the early afternoon. A continuous light rain with maybe some moderate rain at times started to fall at my house in northwest Houston, TX, sometime during the early night and continued to fall through the rest of the night. The roads and ground continued to stayed wet with some small puddles. I didn't see any flooding, or damage caused by the weather. I didn't see any lightning strikes, but I may have heard some low rumbles of thunder, but I wasn't sure if it was thunder, or some other loud noise. 


Locations: Northwest Houston, TX.


Thoughts: Just another dreary wet winter day, for the Houston, TX area.

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Dec. 25 17

Northwest Houston, TX, during the mid-afternoon.


Summary: The day was cool, mostly cloudy, and dry. No rain for any of the locations in the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day, that I know of. There may have been some isolated light showers in some of the Houston, TX locations. I saw some isolated light showers just to the north and south of the Houston, TX area, on the radar, during afternoon, evening, and night. I didn't feel, see, or hear any drops of precip, at my house, where I was, during the day. Wavy and thick alto stratus clouds looked to be scattered across the sky, during the morning. Thick, white with maybe some grey, stratus clouds looked to cover most of the sky, from sometime during the mid, or maybe early afternoon and continued to cover most of the sky, through the night. The wind speeds looked to be calm with maybe some gentle to moderate gusts and some occasional moderately strong gusts. It felt cold, during the early morning. It felt very cool, during the mid-morning, late evening and night. It felt cool, during the late morning, afternoon, and early evening. There were no watches, warnings, alerts, advisories, or weather statements/outlooks issued for the Houston, TX area, that I know of.


Houston, TX Storm Summary: No rain for any of the locations in the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day, that I know of. There may have been some isolated light showers in some of the Houston, TX locations. I saw some isolated light showers just to the north and south of the Houston, TX area, on the radar, during afternoon, evening, and night. I didn't see, or hear about any flooding, or damage caused by the weather, to any of the locations in the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day.


My Storm Summary: I didn't feel, see, or hear any drops of precip, at my house, where I was, during the day. I saw some precip producing type clouds, during the afternoon, evening, and night. I didn't see any flooding, or damage caused the weather. I didn't see any flashes of lightning, or hear any rumbles of thunder. I didn't see any wet roads, puddles, or wet ground, caused by the weather.


Locations: Northwest Houston, TX.


Thoughts: It felt a little warmer than it did the day before. It was a cool Christmas Day!

Monday, December 25, 2017

Dec. 24 17

Northwest Houston, TX, during the early afternoon.


Summary: The day was cool, sunny, and windy. There didn't look to be any precip for any of the locations in the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day. I didn't see any precip on the radar, over any of the locations in the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day. I didn't feel, see, or hear any drops of precip, at any of the locations that I was in, during anytime of the day. Wavy and thick alto stratus clouds looked to be scattered across the sky, during the morning, afternoon, evening, and maybe night. The wind speeds looked to be gentle with moderate to moderately strong gusts and some really strong 20 to 25 mph gusts, with maybe some very occasional 30+ mph gusts. It felt very cold, during the early morning. It felt cold, during the mid-morning and night. It felt very cool, during the late morning and late evening. It felt cool, almost warm, during the afternoon. It felt cool, during the early evening. There were no watches, warnings, alerts, advisories, or weather statements/outlooks issued for the Houston, TX area, that I know of. The low temperatures looked to be in the low 40's and the high temperatures looked to be in the high 60's, for the Houston, TX area.


Houston, TX Storm Summary: There didn't look to be any precip for any of the locations in the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day. I didn't see any precip on the radar, over any of the locations in the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day. I didn't see, or hear about any reports of flooding, or damage to any of the locations in the Houston, TX area, during anytime of the day, caused by the weather.


My Storm Summary: I didn't feel, see, or hear any drops of precip, at any of the locations that I was in, during anytime of the day. I didn't see any precip producing, or thunderstorm type clouds. I didn't see any wet roads, puddles, or wet ground caused by the weather. I didn't see any flooding, or damage caused by the weather. I didn't see any flashes of lightning, or hear any rumbles of thunder.


Locations: Northwest Houston, TX.


Thoughts: Great Chrismast eve weather!


Area Forecast Discussion 
Issued by NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Home | Current Version | Previous Version | Text Only | Print | Product List | Glossary Off
Versions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 3940 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
000
FXUS64 KHGX 250524
AFDHGX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
1124 PM CST Sun Dec 24 2017

.AVIATION...
VFR conditions are expected throughout the period. N winds will
gradually become E to ESE by tomorrow afternoon. KCXO has started
to have some very patchy fog set it, but this should dissipate
soon as drier air continues to filter into the area in the wake of
today`s front. 11

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 809 PM CST Sun Dec 24 2017/

UPDATE...
The dry cold front is through, and gusty north winds are coming up
in its wake. Wind gusts near the coast are edging near the
advisory threshold, but think things will generally hold below
outside of some isolated gusts. Those winds will very gradually
diminish, but it should be breezy through much of the night.
Unclear at this time whether the cold air advection causing temps
to fall is due to the post-frontal airmass (more likely) or the
presence of sleighs and flying reindeer (probably not, but who
knows?).

Christmas Day should be cooler than seasonal averages and largely
dry. The main question will be how soon rain chances do start to
develop as a warm front/coastal trough begins to set up. Some
guidance suggests as early as the evening, but for now the
consensus among us and neighboring offices is to trend towards the
later guidance and focus more on the late overnight hours into
Tuesday. However, that will be something to keep an eye on
tomorrow.

Luchs

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 301 PM CST Sun Dec 24 2017/

DISCUSSION...
A dry cold front is continuing to push through the region this
afternoon, currently draped just north of our coastal counties.
The wind shift associated with the front has reached the coast out
ahead of the actual front slightly faster than originally
expected, and winds along the coast are now out of west northwest
this afternoon. Although wind speeds are expected to increase
behind the main boundary shortly after sunset, forecast
conditions look to remain below threshold for a Wind Advisory and
therefore, will hold off at this time. Regardless, windy
conditions can be expected across much of the region tonight until
the pressure gradient slackens.

Cold air will continue to filter in behind this feature with
conditions tonight expected to dip an additional 5 to 10 degrees.
Low temperatures tonight are expected to fall into the low 30s in
the northern zones, and remain a tad warmer in the mid 40s along
the coast. Surface high pressure will fill in behind the cold
front this evening, allowing drier air to drain into SE TX. Dew
points should bottom out in the upper 20s to low 40s across the
forecast area by Monday morning. Christmas day will bring below
normal temperatures with highs in the mid 50s and lows that night
in the upper 30s to low 50s along the coast. Additionally, Monday
will also provide mostly clear skies, with clouds building in
from the west in the early evening hours. Moisture will be on the
rise by midday Monday as the ridge shifts east, and by Tuesday
morning precipitable water values will rise slightly above 1.0
inch.

An unsettled pattern sets up Tuesday and should remain through
mid-week. Cloudy conditions will expand across the region early
Tuesday as moisture values continue to climb. A coastal trough
sets up by early Tuesday morning, and should retreat northward
transitioning into a warm front. By Tuesday afternoon precipitable
water values will reach between 1.2-1.3 inches. Global models are
picking up on decent lift along this feature as the boundary
shifts northward through the coastal waters and along the coast.
The 850mb pattern shows winds out of the west southwest with a
region of higher pressure located to the east of the region, which
should allow for potential upglide through much of the day Tuesday
and into Wednesday. Therefore, a chance for showers will
begin just before sunrise Tuesday, with better coverage possible
as we roll into the afternoon and evening hours. Another weak
cold front moves in from the north early Wednesday which should
drop temperatures a few degrees and bring in slightly drier air.
As a result, the chance for showers will lower Wednesday and into
early Thursday. The cloud cover Tuesday through Thursday will help
to regulate temperatures, with highs remaining in the 50s to low
60s, and lows mostly in the 40s to low 50s.

The next strong cold front is not expected until the Friday
through Sunday time frame. At this time there is plenty of
uncertain with the timing of this system. The ECMWF sweeps this
frontal boundary off the SE TX coast on Saturday while the GFS
lags behind and does not push the front off the coast until late
Sunday. Will need to continue to monitor trends in these model
solutions, with hopes that the overall pattern will become more
clear in the coming of days. For now, have indicated a chance for
showers associated with this system the Saturday into Sunday
before the new year.

Hathaway

MARINE...
Increasing north to northeast winds and building seas
can be expected through tonight in the wake of a cold
frontal passage. Overnight, caution flags will be up
for the Bays, and Small Craft Advisories will be in
effect for the 00-60 nm waters. Winds and seas will
be coming down on Monday, but some flags might be
needed for the 00-60 nm waters in the morning. Mainly
east to northeast winds are expected beginning Monday
night and should persist for much of the upcoming week.
Another front is forecast to move off the coast Tuesday
night or Wednesday morning with increasing winds and
waves anticipated behind the boundary. Periods of rain
are anticipated beginning Monday night and continuing
throughout most of the week. 42

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
College Station (CLL)      30  54  43  52  41 /   0   0  30  50  50
Houston (IAH)              35  55  44  56  43 /   0   0  30  60  50
Galveston (GLS)            43  57  55  63  50 /   0   0  30  60  40

&&

.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...NONE.
GM...Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM CST Monday for the following
     zones: Coastal waters from Freeport to the Matagorda Ship
     Channel out 20 NM...Coastal waters from High Island to
     Freeport out 20 NM...Galveston Bay...Matagorda Bay...Waters
     from Freeport to the Matagorda Ship Channel from 20 to 60
     NM...Waters from High Island to Freeport from 20 to 60 NM.

&&

$$

Discussion...25
Aviation/Marine...11