Hurricane Rick threatens Houston with Heavy Rain

HURRICANE AND WEATHER
Tropical Atlantic is quiet but look out, here comes Hurricane Rick (from the Pacific)! As I write this post, Rick is off the west coast of Mexico, a Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph winds...should be a Category 2 or 3 when it hits the southern Baja California peninsula. But the big story for Texas is that moisture is going to get drawn up into an approaching upper trough and bring some heavy rain Wednesday through Friday! Some locations will get several inches.

Well I couldn't help noticing what looked like a blizzard as the Titans/Patriots game aired this afternoon. Sure enough, they were having heavy, wet snow with the temperature close to freezing in Foxboro, Massachusetts. A part of the state is under a Winter Weather Advisory. In the late 80s, I was living in Danbury, CT and went to Boston for the weekend early in October. We had a heavy wet snow storm. The snow broke the limbs trees laden with fall leaves, downing power lines. The winters there can be very raw because of the humidity due to proximity to the Atlantic. Most snowfalls were wet...only a few were very dry.

On Monday, highs will be in the 40s and 50s across the northern states and 60s and 70s across the southern half--maybe a high of 80 in Miami. There will be rain and thunderstorms across the Rockies and Intermountain West, a part of the northern plains and extreme southern Arizona and New Mexico.

Houston, Monday will be another pleasant day with slightly higher humidity and highs in the 70s. It won't warm up all that much this week due to increasing clouds cover from Pacific moisture but it will be humid. Look for heavy rain (3 inches + possible), especially Thursday into Friday as the remnants of Hurricane Rick get pulled into the approaching upper trough. Next weekend, look for more Chamber of Commerce weather!


SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Let's do dike or dique, pronounced DEE-kay. What kind of dique would be most helpful to Galveston, which was hit so hard by Ike last hurricane season. Find out about a special Ike Dike talk in the AND MORE section.

Time to order Volume 2 of our award winning series, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco. YOu can get it through our web site www.frankandpaco.com or at www.amazon.com. If you order through Amazon, please help us out and put in some positive comments. It makes a great birthday or holiday gift. Volume 2 has three chapters (and about 50 words/phrases) My Day, My Body, My Feelings. You can also order the award winning Volume 1 about Home, Family, Eating/Drinking and Play.

AND MORE
What a perfect weekend for an outdoor festival. So, of course, we headed to the annual fall bazaar at St. Laurence in Sugar Land. As you can see, Sarah really enjoyed dancing it up! There were also lots of bouncees, bungee jumping, rock wall climbing, games and of course lots of food and music and bingo. New this year was a washer tournament. I had never even heard of that but Gordy and my stepdad Gerry had. They were throwing these round washers and trying to get them in this small holes. Looked like there was a lot of participation.

Friday night, Sarah and I headed to the monthly opry in Rosenberg. It was a packed house with Tommy Horton performing. Tommy is son of the famous Johnny Horton...see link below. When I googled Tommy, I found some web site that insisted there is a Tommy Horton who is not the son of Johnny. But I am telling you, the man I met and the photos of Johnny Horton are just about spitting images. I spoke to Tommy and he lives it the Brownwood area near Abilene. He just drove in earlier in the day. I was teasing him about some of his CD covers...one in particular he looked rather windblown in his jacket leaning against a tree. I asked him...what were you thinking when that picture was taken? He answered "I was thinking, daw-gone it's cold. Let's finish this and get inside!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpUJZ92JkAY&feature=related

The November show will have Moses Rangel, Jeff Woosey, Jimmy Calhoun and Arnold Parker and of course once again, my very talented stepdad Gerry Payne on saxophone, keyboard, violing, mandoline or whatever is needed! The Rosenberg opry is held in the community center at 1330 Band Road in Rosenberg--right next to where the Fort Bend Fairgrounds are located.

Our poll on what you all thought about President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize is closed. The results were as follows:
10% thought is was wonderful
40% couldn't believe it
70% didn't think it should have happened
40% want to know why it happened
0% think he will earn it
0% think he has already earned it
20% think he won't earn it

More than one answer was allowed. Thanks to all who participated.

Our new poll is Halloween? This year it falls on a Saturday. How will you spend it this year or will you celebrate it at all. More than one answer is allowed. Thanks in advance for answering.

The next meeting of the Houston Chapter of the AMS will be this Tuesday, October 20th. The following comes directly from chapter president and my buddy, Lew Fincher
Bill King and Jim Blackburn will be doing presentations addressing the idea of the "Ike Dike". I have met both gentlemen, and have seen both of their presentations on the subject of the Ike Dike idea in meetings that have attracted large crowds. If you haven't had time to make a meeting in a while for whatever reason, the next two are meetings that you should seriously try to attend.

And it's me again...here is the chapter link with location information.
http://www.amshouston.net/

These meetings are so good! And anyone may attend (not just members). If you want to become a member, you don't have to be a meteorologist and dues are very reasonable.

Have a great week!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman