h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Rain! Almost an inch overnight It's still raining heavily, and should continue to do so for a few hours to come, judging by the radar. Which is a bit of a drag because I planned on going to the supermarket soon after 8am, in about 30 minutes But rain is always welcome here, regardless.

And now we've achieved Thursdayness, what's the final forecast for tonight? 39° 40% Rain.

How cold can it get where you are, Lanza? Is that around average or colder than usual for the time of year?

That's one big difference between your part of Texas and mine. This year we've had plenty of rain so far. Our ground has been saturated for the last couple of weeks by days of heavy drizzle to medium heavy rain. Today it we expect a couple of inches. The grassy end of my driveway is rutted. It was just begining to dry out. We may have to get a load of crushed concrete and extend it out to the street.

And it's not as if we're at opposite ends of the state - only about 150 miles between the two. I guess it's the coastal influence that makes such a big difference to your weather.

We're up to 1.52" since it started raining yesterday afternoon, but that's misleading because it hasn't been raining steadily. We might have had only a few hundredths of an inch during some hour-long periods, and a quarter of an inch or more in others.

And I managed to stay relatively dry on my trip to the shops, but it's not at all pleasant out there. There's a gusty wind that'll take your brolly off you if you're not hanging onto it with a tight grip, or turn it inside out if it's a folding brolly. And it's cold.

So definitely not January. November again I reckon. But come the weekend their forecasting June again*

That's British June, November and August, by the way.

Oh good grief, I did it, didn't I. Their/they're.

I reckon their [intentional] putting something in the water. Or the air. Maybe the con trails really are a gubbinment plot to dumb us all down.

This morning just after 4:30, I checked the hourly weather predictions on my weather app. It called for 0% precipitation for the hours up to 9:00 where it then called for 100%. Sure enough, at 9:00, I thought I might see if I could squeeze a mile walk in before the rain. I stepped outside and the first drops were hitting the sidewalks. I've never seen such a punctual rainstorm.

I knew it - the gubbinment's controlling the weather too

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Special Weather Statement

Locally heavy rainfall and breezy winds are forecast for Thursday.

Occasional periods of light rain will begin this Wednesday evening. As a surface low pressure develops near the Texas coast periods of moderate to occasionally heavy rain are likely Thursday. The best opportunity for heavier rains is between 10AM and 6PM on Thursday. Total rainfall from this event will average between 1.75 and 2.25 inches in the JSC vicinity. Some isolated areas could see up to 3 inches, primarily off to the northwest of JSC and Houston. Winds will be in the 15 to 25 mph range on Thursday with gusts to 30 mph possible. An isolated thunderstorm is also possible Thursday afternoon.

Impacts:
Since this likely heavy rain will be mostly a long duration/low intensity event tomorrow, flash flooding is not expected. Ponding of water and nuisance street flooding is likely at times especially Thursday afternoon. Be alert at streets and intersections where heavy rains have caused minor flooding before.

Breezy winds will likely exceed some safety limits for outdoor work in lifts, cranes and temporary platforms. Check your specific safety guidelines for details.

One or two lightning strikes are possible within 6 miles of JSC but the probability is very low at this time.
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Officially, this is supposed to be the subtopics, so lows are meant to be no less than 15°C. But since I have been here, roughly a decade, we've had much more winter rain and cold nights.

if I wasn't suffering from a virus, I'd be up in them thar hills admiring the wild flowers. You're not on FB so I can't share any friend's photos. You could google if you wanted to see the transformation. Add in our goat herds, and it's like an Alpine meadow. Just swap ice and snow for blasting, searing summer heat and drought. These flowers will all shrivel in a week or two.

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Flash Flood Warning

The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Warning that includes the JSC area until 3:00PM.

As of 1:04PM CST 1.59 inches of rain has fallen at JSC. Radar is indicating additional moderate to occasionally heavy precipitation moving toward JSC. Rainfall amounts over 2 inches have occurred west of JSC expecially in the Friendswood and Alvin areas. Another 1 to 1.5 inches of rain is possible this afternoon. Rainfall is still expected to taper off considerably around 4:30 to 5:30 at JSC.

Flooding of low lying areas and highways can be expected in normally flood prone areas. Drive with caution.
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Judging by the radar you're about to lose the rain very soon, and we'll lose it here a little while later after what looks like another moderate downpour (yellow rather than red).

The forecasters say we got e record 2.24" of rain yesterday, and adding it all up since it began raining (it still is and will be for some hours yet), we're at 2.34", and the radar's showing a big area of blue (snow) with rather fetching pink (sleet) fringes not far to the west, in the Hill Country, and possibly moving this way, although they're saying we shouldn't expect to be throwing any today or making a

Bloody cold and unpleasant right now (38F/3.3C, raining), but tomorrow's forecast is for 62, and then back to the low 70s Sunday and all next week

We got 3.6 inches yesterday. Today we're getting the lightest of rain so we'll call it a trace. It's just a miserably, bitterly wet & windy 44°F.

Rather Accrington, one might say.

We've actually got some sunshine streaming in through the arrow slits at Castle Gosho now, and have had for an hour or so. Not long until it dips down below that building over there, but it's nice to see it all the same, and a portent of changing weather

The first of the 70° days (tomorrow, Sunday) has already been demoted to 68. Monday to Thursday still at or slightly above 70.

76 here, completely ridiculously unseasonably warm. Oh well. Might as well play bocce ball.


rainy day,
come and chase the
sun away

Up in the northeast they're having (yet another) storm of the century with feet of snow and gale/storm/hurricane force winds.

Meanwhile, in Texas, I've been in shorts and a t-shirt all day

We tied a record yesterday with 83F/28.3C, and might break one today if the temperature goes above 79. The forecast is for 82/28.

Here's the weather map for the US.

http://medium.com/the-nib/americas-beautiful-weather-zones-357c6bf9b911

Shake, Rattle and Roll...
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc72387946#general_summary