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

We've had more than 2" of rain since about 3am this morning, and more to come. It's a very pleasant 69/20, and after three or four months of scorching heat, even at this time of the day, I'm just starting to remember that the windows and the balcony door have an opposite state to 'closed' and that I can actually open them in the morning and get some fresh air in the apartment

I heard something on the radio this morning that I haven't heard since last May - "It's seven o'clock and the temperature is 59°"

70° on my ride into work this morning, short sleeves, bliss.

Looks like we're going to be back in the low 90s over the weekend with night-time temperatures around in the upper 60s before we slide back to the 80s next week.

I'm taking some time off soon - I hope the new El Nino isn't going to scupper the mid- to late-October weather this year. Last year it was just perfect but I was in the UK. This year I'm hoping to take advantage of it.

And there are several advantages to this cooler weather, not the least of which is that once again I can leave my butter out of the fridge without it turning to a runny, greasy mess in the butter dish Not to mention the lower electricity bills! And I can start doing more of the kind of cooking I prefer - baking, roasting, slow-casseroling in the oven

We haven't been above 70F for almost two days now To be honest with you, I could do with a little more warmth. It was a bit chilly in bed this morning and I think it will be tomorrow too.

Even though we're pretty much done with scorchio for the year (fingers crossed) the summer isn't releasing its grip yet. Our aerage temperature for this time of the year is in the mid 80s, but we have forecast highs of 90 for today, then 89 on Monday, 91 on Tuesday and 90 on Wednesday, with a nice dip into the upper 70s and low 80s over the weekend, along with a good possibility of rain. The outlook for October is wetter than average http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/30day/off15_prcp.gif and I heard a local weather forecaster saying this morning that El Nino winters tend to be the ones where we actually get some wintry weather in Texas - cold, ice storms, even snow.

This weekend is my club's annual bike rally. And we're looking at scattered storms through the weekend.

Well, at least it will keep the dust down.

It certainly did that - it turned it into a mudbath. One of the bartenders said to me last week that he'd been in Zilker Park a day or two earlier and that the grass looked amazing - like a professional football field he reckoned. A day later I heard a piece on the radio explaining that it was some of the best grass available for municipal/public lawns. It was chosen to keep down the dust from previous years.

No chance of any dust this year. The organisers of ACL couldn't have chosen a worse weekend to move the festival to (it happened a week or two later this year than before, to avoid the September heat). We haven't had a rainy weekend since last spring... until now. No rain on Friday, 0.67" on Saturday, a trace on Sunday. And all the beautiful new grass is no more They're saying Zilker is going to be closed until at least October 16th, possibly longer. The promoters are suggesting that they'll pay to replace the turf.

Meanwhile, all the clouds and rain meant that about a billion people wanted to come and watch films this weekend and we got ed at work, especially on Saturday afternoon.

Luckily for us the heaviest rain came through before our rally was officially open. We got through our poker run just before some light showers hit so no one had to ride in heavy rain. We had a bit more rain Saturday night but by then everyone was full of beer and frozen windexxx (a secret recipe for a "fortified wine cooler" I make) to really care if it was raining.

I was looking at the radar on Saturday and Sunday and wondering where your rally was - it looked parts of the Gulf coast around Victoria and Houston, and inlying areas, were getting hammered.

We were close to Galveston. Thursday was brutal for the north side of Galveston County where I live. I got absolutely drenched. I left work early but not quite early enough. We had a "scattered" shower that refused to scatter and just sat on us for about 6 hours. We got 1.75 inches that afternoon and then another 2 that night. About 5-10 miles away in League City they got 4 during the afternoon.

I think on Saturday the worst probably went North of us, but that's just a guess as I was away from all media sources out there.

There's a nice autumn chill in the air this morning... well, chilly for Texas. At 8am yesterday it was 77F/25C... in October! That's more like a July temperature for 8am. This morning at the same time - 66/18.9 and I've got all the windows open, allowing a cool breeze to waft through the apartment

Not gonna last though The wind swings around to the south again later today and we'll be at almost 90 on Thursday with plenty of Gulf moisture pushing up the humidity, but that's not going to last either - 76 on Friday and Saturday, 77 on Sunday, 78 on Monday, 80 on Tuesday and 82 on Wednesday

We've had 3 days of 100% humidity and temps in teh 90's. *




*that's sweat, not bawling.

Ooh, rain Ooh, cold

We were supposed to have a 'perfect fall day' today - about 75F and sunny. What we got was grey and a maximum of 60. They're still forecasting a minimum temperature of 62 tonight - a temperature we haven't even achieved yet these past 24 hours, and it's currently 56

Will somebody please remind the weather that it's October, not July Yesterday we got up to 90, and it felt like more because of the humidity, and this morning at 7am it's 76. Bloody hell.

Ughh... It's too hot to walk!

Normally I take a predawn (the only time the temps are bearable) walk around the ponds for about 30 minutes when I get to work. It has been so humid that even though the temps are in the low 80's I'm covered in sweat by the time I get done. Being sweaty first thing in the morning is NOT pleasant. I'm going out after work and I do not want to drive all the way home for a shower.

I hear there's another cold front coming through later today. The weekend looks idyllic - mid 70s and sunny

Mind you, that's what it supposed to be last Saturday. We got 60F and overcast. Sunday was the same with drizzle.

We've had a picture perfect weekend - endless blue skies, mid 70s Exactly the opposite of last weekend - overcast, grey, wet, barely crawling up to 60.

Friday is the first day of my two weeks off. This is what's forecast: "70°, 90% Chance of Showers, Possibly Heavy". But then another gorgeous weekend. I don't mind that too much cos I've no objection to sitting at home all day doing naff-all except watch the rain come down. Well. it wouldn't be going up, would it