List of Things I Really Hate
We live dangerously close to Houston. All the rest of my family lives there.
Our 500 year flood plain has become become an annual event. Luckily, my family all live in the old parts of Houston in or near the Heights (which were called that for a reason). We now live in a house that has never flooded since 1936. We should be okay. We will probably be trapped, but dry.
However, I have many, many friends who were flooded out during Harvey. I am keeping them in my good thoughts.
Climate change is real. It’s in my backyard.
The worst part – we have tickets to a ballgame tonight.
Bread, peanut butter and canned tuna. Survival rations.
1There should be no rain in the juice box. But driving away might be more adventuresome. From what I’ve read, though, Wed and Thur nights will probably be worse than tonight. Good luck with the game. I don’t follow the Astros that closely because I grew up a Cards fan, and there were no MLB teams further west than St Louis back then. I’m too old to change now. But the Astros have a very good team again this year, so maybe we’ll meet in the Series, started by the old New York World newspaper, so thus called the World Series (not the world’s series).
2Take an umbrella to the game – it’ll be a good insurance policy against getting wet!
3The good news, as I saw on the tee-vee machine the other night, is that more and more people [even **gasp!** Republicans!] are admitting that, yes, climate change is real and yes, we’re creating it.
Of course, that won’t help you at the game tonight. You’re still on your own, there.
But people are starting to wake up and, if they’ll vote for their own self-interest, we might find a way out of the mess we’re in. Eventually.
4Make sure Little Bubba is safe and dry. He has been doing some important work lately.
5This was my daily check before Dorian waved at us as it went by. Use as necessary. Freeze plastic quarts of water 4/5 to keep food if juice goes out. Melts less quickly.
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?start#contents
34-knot Wind Speed Probability
Wind Speed Probabilities- Earliest Reasonable Time of Arrival of 34-knot winds
Arrival Time of Winds – Wind History
Google Maps API Warnings/Cone
Interactive Map Warnings and 5-Day Cone
Warnings/Cone Static Images
Surface Wind Field Warnings and Surface Wind
Key Messages
6Thinking about all of you in Houston area…hang tough
7We should all be ok as long as we have a good supply of sharpies.
8Meanwhile, in other parts of the country the rain has stopped. Like here.
9Stay safe!!!
10Should we be watching those 4 dams that were scheduled to be drained but court case prevented it.
From map it appears that they are in the area threatened ( you know in Aladamna) by these storms.
https://www.ksat.com/news/video-aerial-footage-shows-beauty-of-4-gbra-lakes-as-deal-postpones-draining
11J.J.: Worst case scenario as it stands now, boxes of things are more efficient for elevating possessions just in case. Stay safe and dry.
12Sandridge: Hope you’re good. Let us know.
K @11, Those man-made [90 yrs ago] Guadalupe River impoundments/lakes are all on the dry side, the ‘west’ side, of former Tropical Storm Imelda, which has been downgraded to a TD, a tropical depression. There have been a few outer rainband thunder/rain storms that just barely made it near those lakes. But with the local drought conditions, they’ve had no effect, just a trace of precip.
https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/radar_lite.php?rid=ewx&product=NTP&loop=no
There is, though, a massive legal storm ongoing over the GBRA wanting to probably permanently drain the lakes because the dams are kaput, versus the people who’ve built expensive ‘lakefront’ homes on the shore and are going to be stuck with large weedy yards from where their boat docks are to the riverbed.
https://therivardreport.com/guadalupe-river-lakes-to-be-closed-not-drained-for-now/
The GBRA has no money for, and no way to raise it, to repair or replace the dams. The property owners have never paid a nickle towards lake/river maintenance, but had been looking for a taxpayer bailout. Now that they’ve realized that ain’t happening they’re looking at maybe taxing-assessing themselves for the multimillion$ needed.
.
P.P. @12,
OK here, on the [very] dry and hot side of TS Imelda. Only effects have been a breezy E/NE/N/NW windshift starting yesterday, lower humidity, and hotter temps in the area [95 to near 100 today regionally– S TX/Coastal Bend/ Brush Country. I’ve been following this system since last week, when it crossed Floriduh and entered the GOM.
I’ve captured CRP/EWX/HGX radar loops of it [gifs] since yesterday.
I picked up on its’ cyclogenesis yesterday/early this morning ~midnight on, way before the NHC got serious about it. It began to have obvious LLC [low level closed circulation] when it was ~due east of Corpus Christi about 100-150 miles, about the same distance south of Matagorda-Freeport-Galveston. Was watching various coastal weather stations, Gulf buoys, and oil platforms too, which readings were indicating the barometric pressure drops and wind shifts consistent with tropical cyclone development.
https://www.americanwx.com/bb/topic/52532-tropical-depression-imelda/?tab=comments#comment-5318289
At 10PM, the NHC issued Imelda’s last advisory, the WPC continues it for precip. First TD 11 advisory was issued at 12PM today/Tuesday, then upgraded to a TS at 1245PM, forty five minutes later.
13Now she’s fini, a less than ten hour long named storm, sheesh. The Houston East TX area is getting a lot of rain though.
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT1+shtml/180248.shtml
@Sandridge #13
“The GBRA has no money for, and no way to raise it, to repair or replace the dams. The property owners have never paid a nickle towards lake/river maintenance, but had been looking for a taxpayer bailout.”
Wonder how many are hoping for a “small failure/disaster” ( you know like a tactical nuclear war) with the idea then they could use federal (FEMA) money for rebuild.
Remember the West Seattle Bridge.
14K @14,
Two of the six or seven lake dams have failed, one a year or two ago, the other, Lake Dunlap, recently and on video [which has been all over the media and internet].
The manner in which these old hydropower dams fail [they are all similar] is very unlikely to be “catastrophic”. Basically, the old iron spillway gates have deteriorated, not the bulk of the dam.
This failure results in a lot of water outflow over a period of time, and the lake level seriously lowered; but with little chance of downstream property damage.
They’re all pretty small ‘lakes’ too, just long flooded river valley sections.
Besides, most of the lakeside homes have now been designed to avoid a flood condition.
Floods have happened many times before there, due to rainfall [TS’s, hurricanes, frontal systems], and the residents have learned to cope.
The big kahuna lake is nearby Canyon Lake, well upstream the Guadalupe; US gubmint property. If that sucker ever goes, several cities go with it. Two major overflow [planned spillway] floods at Canyon, 1998 & 2002, took out a bunch of New Braunfel$ real estate. If the big dam went…damn!
This area is known as ‘the flash flood alley of the world’ for a reason.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyon_Lake_Gorge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalupe-Blanco_River_Authority
[my family has used the Guadalupe and Blanco rivers for years, although we live[d] on the San Antonio River. Where we are well downstream the SA river is pretty dirty.
15Oops, forgot-
The Guadalupe and Blanco rivers, compared to the [mid-lower] San Antonio River, are very clear, cold, and clean most of the time, especially the upper reaches.
The great little Comal and San Marcos Rivers too. Lots of tourists spend big bucks to visit them. Check out the Blanco around San Marcos, some nice swimming holes around weirs [dangerous though].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comal_River
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marcos_River
16Meanwhile, TD Imelda has actually been sort of intensifying as she crawls over the Houston area, ouch.
https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/radar_lite.php?rid=hgx&product=NCR&loop=yes
.
And baby Tropical Storm Jerry has just hatched, way out in the Atlantic. While Humberto is fixing to flatten Bermuda.
In the East Pacific, there are Kiko, Lorena, Mario, and a developing area which may get named soon [5day/40%].
Factoid that most don’t realize– those East Pacific tropical cyclones are often much closer to Texas than most Atlantic storms, they just usually move west, away; although some do go N/NE and affect Texas and the SW US.
PS- We are only a day or two past the effen middle of ‘hurricane season’, going to run out of 2019 storm names [not to worry, there’s an ‘extra’ list].
Noooo such thing as climate change-global heating, nooosirree…
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
17@18,
Forgot, the Atlantic tropical status isn’t just Humberto, Imelda and Jerry, there are also two tropical waves with a 5day/20-30% chance of developing.
So we may have Karen and Lorenzo soon… hellzapoppin.
Lessee, possible 9-10 systems A&P going a few days out?
Those NHC guys and gals are earning their paychecks [except those Donnei sharpie apologists].
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo.php?basin=atlc&fdays=5
18The storms went east of us. Beaumont is getting hammered, but we’ve only had a nice rain. Watched the game onteevee and it was a good one.
19