They may be getting a break in the drought soon:
A significant shift in the atmospheric circulation is predicted for the region, with the ridge of high pressure that has brought Texas its record heat and drought predicted to shift eastwards and allow a flow of moist, tropical air into the state. A low pressure region is forecast to develop in the Gulf near the coast of Texas on Wednesday or Thursday, and this low will need to be watched for tropical development. The shift in the large scale weather pattern does not signal a permanent end to the Texas drought, but it should bring welcome rains and cooler temperatures to the Lone Star state beginning on Thursday. This will be a relief to the residents of Austin, where the temperature topped out at 112°F yesterday–the hottest day in Austin’s recorded history, tied with September 5, 2000. By Labor Day, hot and dry weather will settle back in over the state, but the new ridge of high pressure will be weaker, and temperatures will not be as hot as this week’s.
From what I understand, it’s been brutal. It’s one of the reasons that I’m glad I’m in coastal CA and not TX.
Yes, CA has crappier taxes and an overall higher cost of living, but… I pay far less to cool my house than my Texas friends, and the only natural phenomenon I ever need worry about is an earthquake. Also, I don’t need to do any of those odd-seeming home-upkeep procedures common among TX homes, like watering the foundation.
From what I understand, it’s been brutal. It’s one of the reasons that I’m glad I’m in coastal CA and not TX.
Daily highs have consistently reached 103-104 for the past few weeks. No big deal. I really felt the heat in Daytona Beach, where the thermometer only reached 95. You coasties can keep the humidity.
I washed my car for the first time in over a year and half yesterday. So, naturally it decided to ran a little bit this morning. Don’t all thank me at once 😛
But looking outside right now you can’t even tell it rained. It all soaked up in an instant.
Edward said: You coasties can keep the humidity.
High temps at the SoCal beaches this weekend still didn’t top eighty, and even a few miles inland, it’s fine without A/C. And it was significantly more humid than usual too.
Yes, we don’t have A/C in our house, and there’s only been a day or two in the last couple years when it would have been nice to have.
Too late. Virtually all un-irrigated crops have long since died.
My parents live in San Angelo and it has been brutal there and all over the state. I went back for 5 days early this month and brought some needed rain with me. It rained 3 out of 5 days in San Angelo, but according to my brother by Friday, it looked like it had not rained almost 4 inches the previous week.
Here in central TX, we have had one day under 100 this month, the 13th ironically. It was 108 yesterday.
The sun is a fiery harbinger of death, no doubt, but if we actually start getting some real rain within a week then at least Austin won’t have gotten quite as bad as the drought two years ago. Unirrigated bermuda grass landscaping currently has light green patches in shady spots, with yellow and brown everywhere else. By the end of summer 2009 it was yellow in shady spots, with brown and gray-black moonscape everywhere else.
Here in central TX, we have had one day under 100 this month, the 13th ironically. It was 108 yesterday.
Dante Alighieri never saw this much heat.
The drought in Texas and the heavy snowfall last winter makes me wonder if we are entering another Bond Event.
http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/intermediate-period-half-bond-events/
Intermediate Period Half Bond Events
22 February 2011 by E.M.Smith
If so things could get interesting in the next decade or so, especially for the farmers in the Midwest and Europe.
Call me a skeptic, but I blame the increased activity of “El Sol”.
Leland,
Yes, perhaps a long solar cycle would be one explanation of Bond Events. It will be interesting to get ice cores from Mars and see if there is a match.
“It’s one of the reasons that I’m glad I’m in coastal CA and not TX.”
Everyone loves something different. I prefer Puget Sound to both, and I’ve lived for years in all three.