More Tolerable Humidity/Poll Results/New Poll

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Invest 92L is still being watched but it is now over cold enough water that it can't become tropical. Still, I will watch it as it heads toward Portugal/Spain or even France. Could be a "fun" storm for them.

On Thursday, very tropical across the extreme southeast but some less humid air moving into the southern plains and much of the eastern US. Lots of highs in the 70s with the coolest spots being the northeast and much of the Great Lakes and California with highs in the 60s. 100+ for Phoenix with plenty of 90s in south Texas and the southwest. Look for thunderstorms in the southeast and over the Intermountain Region and Rockies.

Some heavy downpours today in exteme southeast Harris County today...more than 2 inches just south of Baytown. "Cold" front will arrive early Thursday and dry air will filter into the Houston area during the day. Much more pleasant on Friday as many kids enjoy their first full day of summer. Morning temps Friday will be in the middle 60s with highs reaching about 90. More humid...back to heat and humidity for the weekend but no rain expected. Make plans to hit the pool.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do expert or experto, pronounced ehx-PAIR-tow. Guess which hurricane expert will come to Houston for the 2nd annual Groundhog Day gala? See And More section for the details.

We all love experts, and we used several of them while making our award winning Let's Learn Frank & Paco, Volume 1--thus the awards. Order your copy today from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/,http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, got to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
Our hurricane season poll has closed. 20% said they now know everything they need to know about hurricanes. 30% said they will prepare more this year. 10% said they will prepare less. 40% said they will evacuate if an Ike like storm approaches. 40% said they will not evacuate if an Ike like storm approaches. 10% said they are afraid. 30% said they are not afraid. 20% said they wish they could move. 10% think they still have much to learn. More than one answer was allowed. Thanks to all who participated.

Our new poll is about how you feel about flying in the aftermath of the AirFrance crash in the Atlantic. More than one answer is allowed.

The 2nd annual Groundhog Day Gala benefitting the education programs offered by the John C. Freeman weather museum will be held on Feb. 2, 2010. Several Houston weather celebrities have agreed to attend and just tonight, Dr. Steve Lyons, hurricane expert from the Weather Channel has agreed to come. Yay!!! The gala will be held at the Rice Hotel. If you are interested in going, send me an email to cecilia_sinclair@yahoo.com.

Happy Thursday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Heavy Downpours Developing

Check figure at right for latest radar and advisories. Have a safe afternoon/evening. Remember...turn around, don't drown.

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

More Heavy Rain/Updated Gray Hurricane Forecast

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Dr. William Gray/Dr. Philip Klotzbach have issued their June update to the 2009 hurricane season forecast. For the report, see the AND MORE section.

Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center is noting that the area of low pressure in the northeast Atlantic has had some tropical thunderstorms close to the center. However, the water is quite chilly and going to get chillier as the storm continues to move. Interestingly, some models track it toward Portugal/Spain or possibly France. So, I'll watch that and keep you posted. Hurricane Center is calling this Invest92L.

Very hot and steamy across the southeast US on Wednesday with highs in the 80s and 90s. Over the century mark in Phoenix. 50s, 60s, 70s for highs across most of the northern tier of states, northern New England and western California. 80s for highs in the interior west. Pleasant in the midwest with highs in the 60s and 70s and lower humidity. Thunderstorms from Texas to the eastern seaboard and through Florida. Also some storms over the Intermountain Region.

Houston, there were some coastal thunderstorms this afternoon. I think there will be some big gully washers on Wednesday...especially late afternoon, early evening. So keep that in mind for the evening commute. When it rains in Houston, it can really, really, really pour!!! But, after another stifling day, Thursday and Friday will be noticeably less humid and cooler in the mornings...still hot in the afternoons. Weekend will be hot and humid and that heat and humidity will continue into the coming week.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do scientist or científico, pronounced see-ehn-TEE-fee-coh. Find out the hurricane forecasts from some of the most well known atmospheric científicos in the AND MORE section.

Scientist and researchers have studied the effects of language and music learning and the results are astounding. Children reap tremendous rewards from both including enhanced neurological development. Introduce your child to the world of language. Order our award winning Let's Learn Frank & Paco, Volume 1 from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/,http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, got to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
Speaking of hurricane season and The National Hurricane Center, I saw my good buddy and director of the hurricane center, Bill Read, at the event. Bill certainly got the initiation by fire with last year's hurricane season (being his first at the helm). Ike is now being called the 3rd most costly storm on record (after 2005's Katrina and 1992's Andrew). You'll be happy to know that Bill was vigorous, clear-eyed and ready to take on the upcoming season. We've got a steady, capable man at the helm. And, his successor to leading the Houston/Galveston National Weather Service office is another dear friend, Gene Hafele, a very smart and hard working man. Gene was Bill's head warning meteorologist when Bill was the head of the local NWS office. Gene did a great job of guiding us through Ike in 2008. I feel very good about and grateful for these weather leaders.

By the way, Katrina officially made landfall as a high end Category 3 and Andrew was reclassified about a decade after it hit as one of the 3 known Category 5's to hit the US. But back to Ike...it was also a very large storm...second only to Carla (the famous Category 4 storm--the center of which hit Port O'Connor in 1961 but brought the highest tides measured thus far to Galveston Bay). And it was larger than Katrina...and Katrina was a very big storm. There are many factors to consider about hurricanes. In fact, the size, wind speed, forward speed, angle of impact, location of impact, and timing of impact all affect the size of the storm surge. I mention timing, because timing of high tide matters too. If the surge arrives with high tide, then the water level will be even higher.

When talking about the forecast from Dr. William Gray, I am going to include Dr. Phil Klotzback, because he is now a big part of that forecast. Dr. Gray is trying hard to retire, but it is hard to give him up. In any event, their forecast comes to you from Colorado State University and they have lowered the number of storms expected in the Atlantic basin to 11 named storms, 5 of those hurricanes and 2 of those major hurricanes. The average (1950 to 2000) is 10, 6 and 2 respectively. Keep in mind, that average is higher if you take into account the period from 1994 to present. They lowered the number because of the unusually cool waters in the Atlantic and the possibility that we are transitioning to an El Nino pattern (which could be in place by the height of the upcoming hurricane season). As you may recall during El Nino years, there is more wind shear (which inhibits development and destroys storms). For the US coast from Florida to Brownsville, TX, they are forecasting a 28% chance for a major hurricane strike (the average is 30%). Here is the link to their site.
http://tropical.atmos.colostate.edu/forecasts/

NOAA is predicting a fairly average season and the local Weather Resarch Center is predicting a below normal season.

Please remember that you should prepare every season regardless of how many storms are predicted. The last officially "major" hurricane to hit the upper Texas coast was Alicia in 1983 (and there were only 4 storms that year).

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

A Break Coming/What is Cocorahs?

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Well, just for the June 1st start of hurricane season, there is an area of low pressure in the northeastern Atlantic producing strong winds. However, it is a non-tropical system. According to the hurricane season, it has less than a 30% chance of developing into a "subtropical cyclone in less than 48 hour".

A trough over the western US will drop temperatures over the northern plains, Rockies and Great Lakes to northern New England...highs will be in the 50s and 60s there. Also, it will only reach the 60s along coastal California. Hot and steamy across the southeast with lots of 80s and 90s. Also warm in Washington and Oregon. There will be some storms over the Rockies and from Texas to Ohio.

Houston will be hot and sticky again on Tuesday, but there will be a very welcome dip in humidity early on Thursday. There is about a 30% chance for showers and thunderstorms late Wednesday into early Thursday but it looks like most of the action will be in Oklahoma. Back to hot and humid over the weekend.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do collaborate or colaborar, pronounced coh-lah-bore-AHR. Do you like to colaborar? You can do just that while helping the world of science...check out the AND MORE section.

It was the collaboration of 2 bilingual educators, 1 linguist, 1 producer, 1 creative director, and 2 musical geniuses (and you know who you are) which led to the development of our Award Winning DVD, Let's Learn Frank & Paco, Volume 1. You can order your copy at www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/,http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, got to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
Love weather and want to be part of something big...why not join Cocorahs?! Cocorahs is The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network. It is endorsed by NOAA and the National Weather Service as well as Colorado State University and consists of a a network of people across the United States who volunteerarily collect and report precipitation totals. Training is available. This weather data is accessible to the public.

http://cocorahs.org/

Happy Measuring!

Have a terrific Tuesday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Weather This Week/Hurricane Workshop Celebrity Sightings/Technology Recommendations

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Hurricane Season (for the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico) begins Monday, June 1st. One thing you should know is that when the FCC change to digital occurs this month, you will no longer be able to use the traditional analog battery powered TVs during a hurricane. If it is TV you want, then you need to invest in a digital battery powered TV (from a place like Radio Shack). According to one of the weather celebrities at the Houston Galveston hurricane workshop, these will run you about $300, but the prices should be dropping. At a minimum, have a battery powered and/or hand-crack radio and plenty of batteries. Also, I would recommend that you invest in a way to charge your cell phone. There are lots of options here. Even when phone lines don't work, you can often text on your cell. And with Twitter now popular, texting is going to become even more important.

Very tropical across the southeast US on Monday with high humidity and lots of 80s and 90s. Cool spots will be the northeast, Rockies and west coast with highs primarily in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Severe weather is a threat from the central plains to Ohio.

Houston will be hot and humid on Monday (although it will more humid by mid-week). Look for some thunderstorms starting Tuesday and on and off Wednesday and then early Thursday. It will be drier but still warm by the end of the week and over the weekend.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do celebrity or celebridad, pronounced seh-leh-bree-DAHD. Whom do I consider a weather celebridad? Find out in my AND MORE section.

We have 5 celebrities in our Award Winning series, Let's Learn Frank & Paco. They are Frank the Horse (a puppet who by the way has his own Facebook page) and Paco the Rooster as well as hosts Hannah, Megan and Christina. Go to our web site to see fun clips of all of them. And of course, you can order our award winning Volume 1 DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/,http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, got to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
Saturday, the annual Houston-Galveston workshop was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center--this time on the 1st floor due to the expected number of attendees. There were about 2500 attendees, double the number from last year. I was the moderator for two sessions of "Ask Your TV Meteorologist" at the annual Houston-Galveston Hurricane Workshop. The chiefs of the 5 main English speaking stations answered audience questions in 2 one hour sessions. In the photo from left to right are Frank Billingsley of KPRC, Channel 2, Gene Norman of KHOU Channel 11, Tim Heller (with microphone) of KTRK Channel 13, Keith Monahan of CW Channel 39 and Dr. Jim Siebert of FOX 26. This was the 2nd year of offering this sort of workshop and it was very popular with the public...lots of folks seated and standing. All of the chiefs are friends of mine and I was so proud of their intelligent answers and the way they took turns. If you missed it this year, make sure you attend next year.

Other "weather celebrities" who stopped by included Bill Read, Director of the National Hurricane Center, Gene Hafele, head of the Houston National Weather Service office, Frank Brody, head of the NASA Space Flight Meteorology Group, and Lew Fincher, well known hurricane historian and industry hurricane preparation specialist. I also saw Kristi Powers, John Dawson and Mike Iscovitz of FOX 26 and their new weather reporting, state of the art weather equipment loaded H2.

I have been asked to share with you that St. Andrew Roman Catholic Church will hold its First Annual Mini Health Fair on Sunday, June 21, 2009 from 9 am to 2:30 pm. The church is located at 827 Sheldon Rd. in Channelview, TX 7530 281-452-9865. This chuch and its parishioners were adversely impacted by Hurricane Ike and continue to work hard to recover.

Have a great week everyone and remember...this is the time to be preparing your home and family for hurricane season.

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Weekend Weather/Hurricane Workshop and Outlooks/El Nino Coming?

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Tropical Depression One (which formed around midday Thursday in the western Atlantic) is no longer tropical. So, we won't get our Tropical Storm Ana (not yet) anyway.

Hot across much of the country on Saturday. The cool spots will be the northeast and Great Lakes with highs in the 50s to 70s and the west coast with highs in the 60s. Look for at least 100 for the high in Phoenix. There is a slight risk of severe weather from Missouri to Tennessee. There will also be some thunderstorms over south Texas and along the Rockies. Ridge over the western half of the US will begin to flatten in the next couple days. That will allow the Gulf to "open up" and that means more humidity on the way.

Houston, the weather is warming up! Highs Saturday and Sunday will be in the low 90s but morning lows will be in the 60s...(so get out an enjoy early). Humidity will be slightly higher on Sunday. Rain is not expected again until Tuesday.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do storm or tormenta, pronounced tore-MEHN-tah. Tropical Depression #1 did not make it to being a tropical tormenta.

Some exciting news from our editor about Volume 2. He is about to lay in the animating text and the music. I will let you know as soon as it is ready. In the meantime, you can order our award winning Volume 1 DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/,http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, got to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
Saturday, come out to the George R. Brown Convention Center for the free Houston Galveston Hurricane Workshop (theme: Ready or Not). The event runs from 10 am to 2 pm and will have several excellent speakers and numerous informative booths. There is also an activity area for kids. I will be moderating the media panel sessions at 11 am and 1 pm.

The Weather Research Center has released its 2009 hurricane outlook:
http://www.wxresearch.com/outlook/
They are predicting 7 named storms, 4 of these being hurricanes. The numbers for an average season are 11 and 6. So that is below average. They also give Louisiana/Alabama a 70% chance of a storm strike (average is 68%) with Texas only having a 40% chance (average is 61%). till, don't forget to be prepared...there are still chances and it only takes one storm to make life miserable as we found out from Ike.

Interesting development...we were in a La Nina and trending toward a neutral pattern. Now, the waters of the eastern Pacific are warming so much that the thinking is there might be a new El Nino developing in time to add wind shear which will decrease the number of hurricanes (and lower intensities) for the 2009 hurricane season. Unfortunately, for the upper Texas coast, historically, we have had some of our most intense hurricane strikes occur during El Nino seasons or the seasons following an episode.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Pleasant Weather/Wedding Video/Becoming the Older Generation

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Friday, there could be some severe weather on the east coast...thunderstorms are possible over south Texas. Pleasantly cool in the northeast and on the California coast with highs in the 60s. Hot across the southwest and south with highs in the 90s.

Houston will be sunny and dry...cool mornings in the 60s and highs in the low 90s into the weekend.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do summer or verano, pronounced vair-AH-noh. It's almost time for verano break.

And I know you are thinking...what can I do to keep my kids minds engaged during the summer? Well, here's an easy answer--order our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/,http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. Volume 2 is almost ready for release and Volume 3 will follow soon thereafter!!! For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, got to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
I finished editing my niece's wedding video--a labor of love to be sure. I realized that I really, really enjoyed the wedding. It was so neat seeing all 5 of my siblings, long lost relatives and old friends. It was also a milestone...marrying off the next generation and looking around at people I grew up with...realizing that we are now the older generation. It was bittersweet.

I am really enjoying this time in my life. The intense struggles of my youth are behind me. I intensely enjoy the small pleasures of every day.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman