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

Galveston is evacuating and Houston is staying put because of the nightmare that was evacuation before Rita. They got it wrong that time... I hope they haven't got it wrong in the opposite direction this time.

Thursday - scorchio minus one, no rain.

I'm going to head over to my uncle's. He's in South Houston.

No, the response this time is correct. The people along the coast should evacuate but those inland who aren't in a low area are better off staying where they are. This is still going to be at most a 3 so most buildings should be able to withstand the winds even on the coast, but the storm surge and waves are much more dangerous than the winds. The authorities did stress for those who don't need to evacuate to shelter in place so that prevented the fiasco on the freeways they had during Rita. They also did NOT shut down the exit ramps like they did then. I'd probably be fine staying here as my home is on an elevated ridge but I don't have my windows boarded up so I'll just play it safe and go for higher ground.

Our Houston offices closed yesterday at noon and the shuttle flights stopped last night. Stay dry, CZ.

As far as I'm aware we haven't cancelled Mad Max in the car park this evening.

Yet.

Yea... looks like the Hill Country is dodging the rain again.

I hope we get some... just not when I'm on my way to or from work either tonight or tomorrow.

Why has no-one but me taken their damn wind chimes down?

Friday - scorchio minus three, no rain... yet. Breezy.

I think I might be about to see something I haven't seen since I started watching the weather here. I'll explain more tomorrow, and I'm not talking about a hurricane/tropical storm.

Hell, I slept right through the '87 'hurricane' that devastated southern England. Woke up and just felt that something wasn't quite right. Looked at the radio alarm - nuthin'. Dead as a dodo. Looked out of the window - trees lying on their side. 'That ain't quite right' I thought to myself. 'Something must have happened'. And by Jove it had.

Saturday - scorchio minus three, highest wind gust 28mph, not one drop of rain. Was there really a major hurricane 150 miles to the east? You could have fooled me.

On a serious note I am concerned about CZ and his home and property. I'm sure he's okay but I hope he's still got a home and contents to come back to. Looking at the storm totals radar, parts of Houston got 12" of rain in a very short time. Not to mention the winds of course.

I note that there's a gap in the data here http://www.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KIAH.html between 04.53 and 13.53, and some of the data after that time is missing.

Oh, and that thing I mentioned in the previous post? I saw the local pressure here drop below 1000mb. I don't know if I've ever seen that before.

I've turned the PC back on (at 11.54pm) to say that it's raining!

Just a brief shower.

How you doing Gosho, just found this (don't ask me how, it's late and I am tired!) but I know you were worried about Count Zero. Any news anyone?

Websailor

I'm doing just fine thanks. This weekend had been just like almost every day for the past four or five months - baking hot, sunny, no rain. I wish this summer would end.

Why does whether never do anything by halves. You would like some of ours, and I would like some of yours

Our summer lasted just a few days and they weren't that hot either

Take care,

Websailor

If I was a religionist I might say that my prayers have been answered. A cold front (cold being a relative term in this instance) came through last night and our highest temperature today (and for the next few days) isn't likely to be more than about 85F/29.4C and tonight we might dip down into the 50s I've got the balcony door open right now and there's some wonderfully cold air (currently 68/20) is washing around my feet

By the weekend we should be back up to around 90.

Sunday - scorchio minus six, no rain, pressure back up to 1021mb.

That same front dropped the temp here in NE Oklahoma to the high 40's and our high today is supposed to be in the low 70's. It was frosty in the house when I woke up this morning.

Nice We're currently sitting at 78° and 38% humidity.

I may cry

Monday - scorchio minus 21

Still no rain, still no word from CZ. I do hope that he's getting along okay.

I use this web page for most of my figures http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/obhistory/KATT.html

There's one of those for Houston International Airport too http://www.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KIAH.html It shows a gap of 11 hours between 04.53 and 13.53 on September 15th. The last wind reading before the hiatus was northerly 55mph gusting to 72, 1.63" of rain had fallen in the previous four hours and the pressure was 960.9mb.

There's another page for Galveston http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/obhistory/KGLS.html The last reading from that weather station was at 11.52 on September 12th - north-easterly wind 28mph gusting to 38. There have been no more readings for Galveston since then.

We have a board behind the bar at work where we note any beers or wines that we've run out of - it's called the '86 list' (86 being restaurant terminology for something that's no longer available, either temporarily or permanently). Some wag has written on it 'Galveston'

I meant September 13th for Houston of course.

If CZ's property has survived he may well be without electricity for a while perhaps? We take so much for granted until something like this happens. i am sure he is ok, as he seemed ready to evacuate, which many weren't.

Take care,

Websailor

He said that he was going to stay with a relative, so he'll probably find a fridge full of nasty-smelling science projects when he comes back. I hope it's nothing worse than that.

This morning I woke up... and felt rather chilly for the first time in months. We dipped do 63/17.2 last night and there's a chance we'll go down into the 50s tonight! If those cooler temperatures are also happening in Houston (and it seems they are http://www.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KIAH.html ) that's got to be better for any houses left unattended and closed up with no electricity to power the a/c.