Texas 2024

[Chester B]

15 hours ago, ahosey01 said:

For what it's worth down here I think we're well above our normal annual totals.  20" since the 1st of May I've recorded at my house.

Yeah it seems your in one of the only areas that is showing normal precipitation.  

Good palm growing weather this week here.

[Xenon]

On 11/3/2024 at 10:48 AM, Chester B said:

I got rain on Wednesday of about half an inch.  A decent amount yesterday and today I've had three downpours so far.  The ground is soaking it all up like a sponge, no soggy spots, no standing water, and no runoff.  

I totally agree with you it feels like spring to me.  The smells and the birds singing is just like spring.  I can't wait to see what this does for my garden, especially the palms.

It looks like a reasonable chance of some more rain Monday/Tuesday

Picked up another 2"+ today. W/SW Houston has been winning the rain lottery lately 

Bye bye drought 

[Jimbean]

This is a bit off topic, but are there any threads on Texas hardiness zones?

[kinzyjr]

21 minutes ago, Jimbean said:

This is a bit off topic, but are there any threads on Texas hardiness zones?

Here is a link to @Teegurr's hand-drawn map:

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/68572-my-new-hardiness-zone-map-of-texas-handmade

Page 2 of this thread has a few comments from @Xenon in regard to the Houston area:

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/81924-2023-usda-plant-hardiness-zone-maps-out/?do=findComment&comment=1140653

There was a discussion on the Florida Freeze and Weather Station Data thread about doing the same for Texas.  The link is to a general map by @Xenon:

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/66320-florida-freeze-and-weather-station-data/#comment-971477

A discussion about making a zone map for subtropical TX on the South Padre Island thread:

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/21932-south-padre-island/?do=findComment&comment=373417

A zone map thread started by @Jimbean where @Xenon asks about a map for TX.

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/22621-zone-maps/#comment-377346

A coconut palm thread for Texas:

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/39346-coconut-palms-in-texas/#comment-610139

 

If anyone is interested in grabbing the weather data from NOAA and making a map, I'll be glad to have a Zoom call to show you how to set up a database for analytics.  It starts out fairly simple, but it can get fairly involved to sanitize data for a state with such a wide temperature range.

[Chester B]

Coldest temps since last winter that last two nights.  Lake Houston sensor.

11/21 low of 44.1

11/22 low of 48

[RedRabbit]

57 minutes ago, Chester B said:

Coldest temps since last winter that last two nights.  Lake Houston sensor.

11/21 low of 44.1

11/22 low of 48

I noticed this too. Lake Houston does seem to provide a nice little microclimate. 👍

[ahosey01]

50F yesterday morning, 52F this morning.  Humidity has been low - almost feels like an Arizona winter!

[Xenon]

Hot today in Htown with the UHI boost 😆

[_nevi]

On 10/17/2024 at 10:38 AM, Xenon said:

The consistently warmest part of town away from the water is the area around Midtown/Medical Center/Museum District/Rice/East Montrose. 

I'm surprised that area is warmer than the actual Downtown.

[RedRabbit]

4 hours ago, _nevi said:

I'm surprised that area is warmer than the actual Downtown.

It’s plenty warm there too. I remember taking my son to Discovery Green around 8pm this summer and it was brutally hot still. Downtown’s UHI is every bit as strong as other areas.

I’m still learning the various microclimates here. So far my impression is the whole loop area has a strong UHI, but there’s an enhancement close to the highways like 59 cutting between Upper Kirby and West U. I’m pretty sure the north side of West U is materially warmer than the south side. That’s just one of a number of observations I’ve made, but it will take a few more cold mornings to me to draw any conclusions. 

[Xenon]

7 am airport temps (freezer Flaridah this morning 😝)

[flplantguy]

I will take the 27 degrees here at christams in 2022 over the feb 2021 event in Texas any day!  Im hoping its out of the way for a while after this, but at least its sunny unlike last year.  I watch there and lousiana for an idea of what to expect here in major events but this one is avoiding texas so that didnt help (it didnt help the forecasters either apparently lol)

[_nevi]

4 hours ago, Xenon said:

7 am airport temps (freezer Flaridah this morning 😝)

You mean Flo Rida?

[_nevi]

2 hours ago, flplantguy said:

I will take the 27 degrees here at christams in 2022 over the feb 2021 event in Texas any day!  Im hoping its out of the way for a while after this, but at least its sunny unlike last year.  I watch there and lousiana for an idea of what to expect here in major events but this one is avoiding texas so that didnt help (it didnt help the forecasters either apparently lol)

From what I see, the cold outbreaks that focus more Southeast stem more from "Clipper" systems. Whereas the cold outbreaks that focus more on Texas/western parts of the South get borne out of "Cutter" systems.

[flplantguy]

The two types of nor'easters have differing formation locations too that have similar impact differences.  Last minute freezes in spring tend to be storms like that, and less so the dry air fronts and polar vortex events of the last few years.  All of them push a front through, but the direction the air travels over is key. The worse ones curve around the pressure systems in such a way they avoid water beforehand; 89 was a good example of that perfect trajectory for Miami.  Texas gets screwed every time a big one comes by the rockies, living on the plains there and experiencing a blue norther was a shock coming from las vegas (NV). It doesnt seem to matter there with the geography, they always take a toll, but at least these ones are not massive systems.  A return to the 90s pattern with no/infrequent big freezes in texas is good for everyone, hopefully this year goes back to it and stays that way.  It can stay cool here though lol

[Xenon]

42 minutes ago, flplantguy said:

  A return to the 90s pattern with no/infrequent big freezes in texas is good for everyone, hopefully this year goes back to it and stays that way.  It can stay cool here though lol

Interesting that the late 90s and the entirety of the 2000s was a period of unparalleled mild winters for TX while the same doesn't seem to have been the case for north/central FL. The last decade or so in FL seems to be the most mild stretch in recorded history there. 

 

[ahosey01]

8 hours ago, Xenon said:

7 am airport temps (freezer Flaridah this morning 😝)

Same temps in Laredo and Key West in December lol

[_nevi]

16 hours ago, Xenon said:

The last decade or so in FL seems to be the most mild stretch in recorded history there. 

It appears to be the same as well for other SE locales: coastal MS and AL, as well as coastal GA and SC/NC.

[Chester B]

I'm back in drought again, I'm in the narrow slice in Houston.  The 2" of rain they were calling for this weekend has now been downgraded to a quarter inch, which generally means I'll get trace amounts at my location.  

It has been a bit of an adjustment having to water plants so late in the year, but its all part of the learning process.

[ahosey01]

7 hours ago, Chester B said:

I'm back in drought again, I'm in the narrow slice in Houston.  The 2" of rain they were calling for this weekend has now been downgraded to a quarter inch, which generally means I'll get trace amounts at my location.  

It has been a bit of an adjustment having to water plants so late in the year, but its all part of the learning process.

Once again it's the opposite down here.  We got 4" today and in my heavy ass soil with things slowing down for the winter I'm wondering what will wind up having a rot problem, if anything.  My xeric things like Beaucarnea are all in pots so anything that rots will be palms or my Ceiba insignis.

[Xenon]

This one is a real nail biter...will Houston hold on to zone 11 into 2025? (lol)

[RedRabbit]

Chilly tonight in Houston, but not too bad yet:

 

[Chester B]

I'm hoping that these next two nights are 38/39 and we can avoid any frost.  I've been watching it for the last week the predictions seem to be pretty stable.

[Xenon]

Doubt there will be much ground frost at all, the forecast is calling for pretty steady wind into the night. Not looking to be one of those dead calm super cooling frost events. Local NWS didn't even post any frost watches or warnings. 

[flplantguy]

They missed the forecast here on the last one a bit but not by much, hopefully this is better. Or no cold out breaks at all lol.  Same expected temps here later in the week so nothing like the last cross polar flow pattern either.

[Xenon]

About to get chilly down south...

 

 

[Chester B]

1 hour ago, Xenon said:

Doubt there will be much ground frost at all, the forecast is calling for pretty steady wind into the night. Not looking to be one of those dead calm super cooling frost events. Local NWS didn't even post any frost watches or warnings. 

I saw they were saying there was going to be wind.  I hope it sticks around.

[Xenon]

Oh no my garden in the west Houston tundra has been downgraded to 36F and "patchy frost" 😅. We'll see if the wall of melon vines pulls through

[Xenon]

Temps at sunrise

40-41F urban core from downtown-UH-NRG-Uptown/Galleria, southeast Houston, south of Clear Lake

42-44F along Galveston Bay and Galveston Island

Freezing mark far far n/nw surburbs 

Chilly 37F in tha garden in west Houston (brrr)

 

[Chester B]

I went down to 37F.  Aside from the downtown core temps seemed pretty consistent around the city.  No frost at my location hopefully tonight goes the same.

[RedRabbit]

37f this morning! It appears The Loop has a pretty nice advantage over my current area.

Here are a few screenshots I took:

[flplantguy]

These maps show just how bad that temp reading was in South Padre in 2021 compared to how they normally fare.  Like almost nothing going on while its chilly everywhere else. Lucky most of the time doesnt help that one event though.

[Xenon]

9 minutes ago, flplantguy said:

These maps show just how bad that temp reading was in South Padre in 2021 compared to how they normally fare.  Like almost nothing going on while its chilly everywhere else. Lucky most of the time doesnt help that one event though.

Yep 2021 was preceded by two zone 11 winters 

[Chester B]

I left Katy at 11:45 pm and it was 40 degrees. The temps through the core were as high as 48F on my drive. I got home and at 1 am it’s 38F and I see the ice crystals sparkling on the grass with the backyard floodlight. It’s dead calm too which doesn’t help. Hopefully the bananas and such still look good in the morning. Big warm up on the way. 

[Xenon]

Oh wow, the cold overperformed. 34F this morning near Katy.  Freezing mark in Alvin @Robert Cade Ross

The above 40F central zone retracted too, only the innermost core this time - downtown, Rice Military, Midtown, Montrose, Museum District

[flplantguy]

The same thing is happening here this year with colder than expected mornings. I think mine is just microclimate data errors, but maybe not if they missed it there too. Its not that far off though either, but when its freeze or no freeze it really counts! 

[Xenon]

11 minutes ago, flplantguy said:

The same thing is happening here this year with colder than expected mornings. I think mine is just microclimate data errors, but maybe not if they missed it there too. Its not that far off though either, but when its freeze or no freeze it really counts! 

The onshore breeze (southeast flow) didn't arrive as early as predicted and it's actually still dead calm. Big warmup on the way any minute now lol 

[RedRabbit]

1 hour ago, Xenon said:

Oh wow, the cold overperformed. 34F this morning near Katy.  Freezing mark in Alvin @Robert Cade Ross

The above 40F central zone retracted too, only the innermost core this time - downtown, Rice Military, Midtown, Montrose, Museum District

That was surprising. I didn’t check until 7:45 and it was still 37f with frost on the car. It seems like Rice Military and Montrose did the best this morning.  

 

[Chester B]

I slept in, but based on what I'm seeing on Weather Underground and the Government website I made it down to 34 as well.  I'm already at 50F as of 9 am.

[RedRabbit]

I thought this was an interesting post from the NWS speaking to what a difference elevation can make.