Texas 2024

[Chester B]

My ground is still damp when I dig, so plants are doing well.  The one good thing is we will get a week of rain and that should hold us over for at least another week or two, so there is that.  I just hope we have no more damaging winds.  The last storm snapped one of my neighbor's giant robustas in half that are viewed from my backyard.  Since January he's lost two and my palmy view is getting eroded.  I actually saw the moment it broke and fell, it snapped about 15 feet above ground or 1/3 of the way up the palm.

The fertilization idea sounds good, but I'm afraid its all going to get washed away.

[Xenon]

1 hour ago, Chester B said:

 

The fertilization idea sounds good, but I'm afraid its all going to get washed away.

That's the blessing of clay soil (high CEC). We don't have the major nutrient runoff issues like in Florida sand. And it retains water quite well if you keep the organic matter content up. People are always complaining about their clay soil but I love it and so do most of the tropicals. Add a bunch of organic matter on top and it's a great medium imo 

[Chester B]

We’re getting slammed at our location by Hurricane Beryl.  Based on what I’m seeing on the news I’ve been one of the areas most impacted by wind being on the dirty side. Wind gusts approaching 70 mph.  Rain totals are definitely lower than areas in the south and SW of Houston but still seeing a lot of flooding in the backyard.  Hardly any sleep last night as the wind woke me up, it sounded like a freight train.  
 

Power was lost around 5 am and internet a couple of hours after that. It’s going to be a long day.  The storm should be out of here by 3 or 4 pm thankfully. At this time it’s still a Cat 1 Hurricane and the first one I’ve been through, so wasn’t sure what to expect.  Not as scary as the forest fires out west, at least to me.  Now if it were a stronger storm like a Cat 4, I may change my tune. 

[PA-TX2024]

7 hours ago, Chester B said:

We’re getting slammed at our location by Hurricane Beryl.  Based on what I’m seeing on the news I’ve been one of the areas most impacted by wind being on the dirty side. Wind gusts approaching 70 mph.  Rain totals are definitely lower than areas in the south and SW of Houston but still seeing a lot of flooding in the backyard.  Hardly any sleep last night as the wind woke me up, it sounded like a freight train.  
 

Power was lost around 5 am and internet a couple of hours after that. It’s going to be a long day.  The storm should be out of here by 3 or 4 pm thankfully. At this time it’s still a Cat 1 Hurricane and the first one I’ve been through, so wasn’t sure what to expect.  Not as scary as the forest fires out west, at least to me.  Now if it were a stronger storm like a Cat 4, I may change my tune. 

Anything to not have another Harvey again at least.

[Chester B]

Well as some of you may have seen the storm was far worse than anyone thought a Cat 1 could be.  Things got worse at my place since my last post.  Lots of damage around, but I haven't been further than a couple of streets in the neighborhood.  I have no need to go out, we were pretty prepared based on lessons learned in dealing with other severe weather events.  I have backup power as well, but only needed it for about 29 hours.  We were one of the fortunate few who got power back pretty quickly.   I didn't get the extreme rain totals like other areas of the cities, but I did get the worst of the wind.  I would have preferred the other way around.

[JLM]

On 7/10/2024 at 8:08 AM, Chester B said:

Well as some of you may have seen the storm was far worse than anyone thought a Cat 1 could be.  Things got worse at my place since my last post.  Lots of damage around, but I haven't been further than a couple of streets in the neighborhood.  I have no need to go out, we were pretty prepared based on lessons learned in dealing with other severe weather events.  I have backup power as well, but only needed it for about 29 hours.  We were one of the fortunate few who got power back pretty quickly.   I didn't get the extreme rain totals like other areas of the cities, but I did get the worst of the wind.  I would have preferred the other way around.

Beryl was exactly what is to be expected of a Cat 1 in reality. The difference is that it hit a city with a population in the millions, and that city was in the path of the highest winds. A wind gust of 89 mph was measured in Houston, with widespread gusts of 75-80 mph throughout the city. This is standard category 1 winds. Anybody that tries to tell you that Beryl was stronger than Cat 1 is misinformed, as surface observations, aircraft data, and satellite & radar data all suggest that Beryl was a Cat 1 at landfall in Texas, not this this has been disputed here but just putting that out there.

People focus too much on the category number instead individual impacts. A lot of people will say "Oh its just a one so its not gonna be that bad", well, the category is only one factor here. The category correlates to wind speeds ONLY, as you likely already know. People tend to leave out the inland flooding, storm surge, and tornado threat that also accompanies tropical cyclones. I am not saying that this is what you did, but just explaining that what you are hearing may not be particularly true.

Regardless, hopefully everything begins recovering quicker than it has been so far, and im glad that yall are okay over there. You are very lucky to have electricity over there especially based on the new "Whataburger Outage Tracker" which is creative and hilarious! And also, cant forget about the plants either, hoping those all pulled through okay as well, hurricane force wind gusts of any extent is not a great experience for any plant.

[Robert Cade Ross]

Welp lots of palms have lost their crowns in the Houston area due to hurricane beryl 😞😂

 

 

particularly the robusta haha as expected tho …. Moody gardens lost 15 Dactylifera sadly 

[Robert Cade Ross]

Kinda blurry due to it raining at the time of these pics but the palm tree farm in Alvin /manvel faired pretty well I don’t see any that snapped in half here .

[lesliestone]

While the current forecast shows 17-19°F, it's possible it could dip even lower. 12°F or lower in Dallas wouldn't be out of the question either.

[Xenon]

It's been an absolutely amazing growing season so far...the rain has been relatively plentiful and more seems to be on the way. Definitely the best growing season since spring/summer 2021 and a complete 180 from the horrible horrible hottest on record summer of 2023. Seems like a return to the typical Houston summer? 

Coupled with the horrible super below average lows of the past 3 out of 4 winters...this is the greatest period in Houston gardening history since pre-2021 😆. Gotta celebrate what we can! Now we hope for a benign winter...

[Chester B]

@JLM all good points.  This was my first time experiencing a hurricane so it was all new to me.  Unfortunately, our officials and most notably the power company kind of brushed this one off and got caught with their pants down.

@Xenon the rain has been very consistent, which is a good thing, but the deluges have killed a few plants for me.  The ground was just too wet and hot.  I'm doing my best to elevate and add drainage every time I plant.  I found a website that tracks rainfall totals and its saying 45" so far for my area, which I totally believe.

[Xenon]

4 hours ago, Chester B said:

@JLM all good points.  This was my first time experiencing a hurricane so it was all new to me.  Unfortunately, our officials and most notably the power company kind of brushed this one off and got caught with their pants down.

@Xenon the rain has been very consistent, which is a good thing, but the deluges have killed a few plants for me.  The ground was just too wet and hot.  I'm doing my best to elevate and add drainage every time I plant.  I found a website that tracks rainfall totals and its saying 45" so far for my area, which I totally believe.

Knock on wood but I haven't had anything die from too much rain, even when we got more than 40" of rain in one week from Harvey. Things just seem to grow faster, especially the grass 😅

I know you were trialing some temperate stuff from New Zealand, south Australia, etc. How is that stuff faring in the sauna-bayou? 

[Chester B]

5 minutes ago, Xenon said:

Knock on wood but I haven't had anything die from too much rain, even when we got more than 40" of rain in one week from Harvey. Things just seem to grow faster, especially the grass 😅

I know you were trialing some temperate stuff from New Zealand, south Australia, etc. How is that stuff faring in the sauna-bayou? 

Don't even get me started on the grass. its ridiculous.  The hotter it gets the faster it grows and it takes me a couple of hours to do it.

Cordylines definitely need some shade here, I had to pull the one I planted as it was getting bleached out.  I do still plan on getting some Pseudopanax and want to try some Phormiums (there are multiple species), since Dianella seems to be ubiquitous.  Tetrapanax "Steroidal giant" seems to be doing ok in the ground, with late day shade.  Older leaves have burnt off but newer ones are holding their own, but I'm having issues with insect predation.  

I have been trying to be brave and buy some of the more tropical things, that I have been told are hardy in a typical winter and root hardy in a bad one.  Lots of experimentation going on for me right now.  I will say I have killed a lot of plants already, for various reasons. 

So far I am pleasantly surprised at how well Trachycarpus are doing for me.  Latisectus started to burn a bit in July but I moved it so it doesn't get all day sun.  Princeps is handling everything and is actually growing at a decent clip.

[Robert Cade Ross]

Can’t beat a deal of 5 gallon pindos for $29 each 😛

[Xenon]

Can't believe what I'm seeing....is this the COLDEST July in Houston on record? 🤣🤣 One sub-90F day is rare enough but for a whole WEEK? UNBELIEVABLE! 😂 No complains here... grow plants grow grow grow

[Chester B]

I've been watching those temps that start with an 8!  Wouldn't be at all bad to get a bit of a cool down.  Even yesterday didn't feel all that hot, compared to recent weeks.  I had a 30 minute storm here today, but waiting on the bigger stuff tomorrow and wednesday.

[Robert Cade Ross]

Some Houston palms today.

 

highlight is the Bellaire queen 2021 survivor a good size queen that’s survived since the December freeze of 2022 thankfully hurricane beryl didn’t snap these “Tall” robustas for Houston standards  

[Chester B]

[Xenon]

Still a long way aways from topping Harvey and the ~80 inch rainfall total in 2017 😆 more rain please, best summer ever so far !!!

2023 was the worst year ever imo 

[Robert Cade Ross]

On 7/29/2024 at 1:59 PM, Xenon said:

Still a long way aways from topping Harvey and the ~80 inch rainfall total in 2017 😆 more rain please, best summer ever so far !!!

2023 was the worst year ever imo 

2023 was horrible haha toooo damn hot even the native crap died 

[Xenon]

Ughhhhh the heat is back 😭 rain rain rain where have you gone

[Chester B]

Yep it’s toasty out there. It’s the first time I’ve felt the heat radiating back at me off the lawn. Hardly a cloud or breeze too. 
Tonight I took my dog for a walk after dark. He was pretty hot and so was I. It was still 90 and quite humid. 

[Xenon]

21 hours ago, Chester B said:

Yep it’s toasty out there. It’s the first time I’ve felt the heat radiating back at me off the lawn. Hardly a cloud or breeze too. 
Tonight I took my dog for a walk after dark. He was pretty hot and so was I. It was still 90 and quite humid. 

Count your blessings you weren't here last July/August😬

Let's hope the high pressure goes away soon....c'mon rain

[Dwarf Fan]

Late summer 2023 was brutal I would get a heat headache from being outside too long watering (which was usually everyday).

Taking a week break from my daily or every other day watering cycle this summer was very nice! All the intermittent rain this year has made gardening much less of a constant chore. Especially since it takes me about an hour to completely water my front and backyard zones. (Yes I will eventually automate but I actually like watering with a hose and nozzle so I can time watering each Palm individually down to the second).

I have the unique advantage/disadvantage of ALL sand and NO clay, so I gain FAST drainage but the downside is mandatory frequent watering especially during summer.

Several species are really moving quickly now in the warmer daytime temps. I am also learning a lot about how certain positions in my front and backyard have the perfect balance of morning sun and afternoon shade through out the day. I have a few areas that have become very densely planted due to their unusually favorable conditions. I just wish I had more of these perfectly situated growing zones…

 

[Chester B]

18 hours ago, Dwarf Fan said:

I actually like watering with a hose and nozzle so I can time watering each Palm individually

Me too.   However,  I bought some soaker hoses, its a lazy way to water deep and easy to move around.  It's a pretty cost effective way to avoid putting in drip irrigation.

[Dwarf Fan]

1 hour ago, Chester B said:

Me too.   However,  I bought some soaker hoses, its a lazy way to water deep and easy to move around.  It's a pretty cost effective way to avoid putting in drip irrigation.

I was running a soaker hose on a timer to my Bamboo privacy wall and it worked great… until the local opossum chewed too many holes in my hose.

I will eventually get another as I believe he got taken out by a car while crossing the street few months ago. (He hasn’t been making his usual “shortcut” through my backyard late at night). Hopefully the gophers I have currently been battling aren’t also into chewing soaker hoses as well. 🤔

[_nevi]

On 8/6/2024 at 8:56 PM, Xenon said:

Count your blessings you weren't here last July/August😬

Let's hope the high pressure goes away soon....c'mon rain

The July, while not ideal, at least had an amount of rain recorded. The 4th of July period brought totals, as did some sea-breeze storms in a period later that month.

But that August with record heat was brutal. Same with rain as a "trace" (which I believe is a rainfall amount less than the .01 cutoff, otherwise it would have been "0.00"). Similar to the 1999/2000 heatwave and dry spell that affected SE Texas into Louisiana (and gave "trace" to Beaumont/Port Arthur and Lake Charles).

And it was a "skin of teeth" thing for Houston IAH to keep the 109°F record, considering that Beaumont/Port Arthur hit 111°F, and Lafayette in Louisiana hit 110°F, 

[_nevi]

And yes, this year has been a wonderful reprieve. No need for any lingering high pressure "heat domes" like last year.

[Chester B]

Well, I guess I might've spoken too soon, a little rain would be appreciated about now.  Tomorrow will be 2 weeks without rain.  There are pop up thunderstorms almost every afternoon, but they almost always swing to the south or west of me.  I can hear them and see them, but no dice.  In July we had 10,89" when the average is 3.77" so you can see why I was getting a little tired of it all.

[RedRabbit]

It’s kind of interesting to see Houston’s urban heat island on a summer night.

[kinzyjr]

17 hours ago, RedRabbit said:

It’s kind of interesting to see Houston’s urban heat island on a summer night.

That's a really intense UHI!

[Xenon]

Hottest day of the year yesterday! Looks like 12 Davis stations in Houston's inner Loop 610 recorded an overnight low 84-87F with a mode of 86F. The overnight low at Hobby was 84F. The overnight lows at IAH and Sugar Land were both 82F. The overnight low at Galveston was 86F. 

Sugar Land recorded the highest heat index yesterday, 100F with a dew point of 77F for heat index of 116F. 

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[Chester B]

it may have been the hottest day but it sure didn't feel like it to me.  I think it was last Saturday that was really intense.

[Chester B]

It's been over 25 days without rain for me now.  Weather forecast for the past couple of days and the week or so looking ahead shows lot of showers.  Where my house is we miss a lot of the rain and storms, I can hear them and see them, but they always move just east of me.  I think it might be due to Trinity Bay and the counterclockwise spin of the clouds.  During the hurricane I had some of the highest winds but the lowest rainfall totals.  Anyone else getting rain yet?

[Xerarch]

8 hours ago, Chester B said:

It's been over 25 days without rain for me now.  Weather forecast for the past couple of days and the week or so looking ahead shows lot of showers.  Where my house is we miss a lot of the rain and storms, I can hear them and see them, but they always move just east of me.  I think it might be due to Trinity Bay and the counterclockwise spin of the clouds.  During the hurricane I had some of the highest winds but the lowest rainfall totals.  Anyone else getting rain yet?

Down here in Corpus is rained hard today at my workplace which is on the north side of CC bay, but nearly nothing at my house which had .01"

[Chester B]

Still nothing here.  They were saying by Friday we would have accumulated about 4". Weather forecasts keep showing high chances since last Sunday.  

[Chester B]

Finally got some rain yesterday for about 45 minutes.  A few minutes of downpours and then light rain after that.  This morning is quite cloudy and some precipitation, but it could hardly be classified as rain.  The ground soaked up every bit of the rain, and no pooling or running water anywhere.    The long range forecast is still showing good chances for rain every day and much cooler temps in the upper 80s.

[Xenon]

The "cold front" is here but summer in Houston hasn't ended just yet...not until the first sub 70 degree night (official rule). Seems like half of the Houston Area will dip into the upper 60s tonight and tomorrow night.

Remains to be seen if central and south Houston will narrowly hang on...current forecast is showing a range of 68-71F for the next two nights. Then back to the mid 70s next week. 

The immediate bay and coastal areas will hang on for another few weeks probably. 

 

 

[ChrisA]

It’s been breezy/windy for several days here in San Antonio. When I woke up this morning and saw that it was 75F I had to go right outside to see how that felt! Coolest morning we’ve had in a long time. Supposed to be 66 tomorrow morning and then 63 on Monday morning before warming back up again. But more rain in the forecast later in the week which we could use. Happy Cold front!!

[Xenon]

After midnight and it's already in the upper 60s/low 70s to the west and southwest of Houston

 

central and south Houston holding on to the mid 70s...7 more hours to go, will the heat island hold up? Will summer prevail? 😜