Rick Remnants and Heavy Houston Rain

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Rick is weakening but it is going to affect the weather for a lot of geography. As its weakens and moves into Mexico on Wednesday, much of its moisture will get caught up in an advancing upper trough and this will bring heavy rain to parts of the south including Texas Wednesday through Thursday. In the Atlantic, there is one small area just off the Central American coast that will bring rain to the at area.

Temperatures on Wednesday will certainly reflect the upper trough pushing eastward (along with its associated surface cold front). Highs will be in the 40s and even upper 30s with some snow mixes in the higher elevations from Colorado into the Great Lakes states. Also, expect upper 40s in northern New England. There will be some showers and thunderstorms from Texas to Wisconsin. Highs in the southeast will be in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Highs out west and in the Pacific Northwest will be in the 50s to the 70s.

Houston can expect more than 3 inches, maybe even 4 to 5 inches in spots. National Weather Service might issue a Flash Flood Watch but they are saying that we should be able to handle 3.5 inches. Getting closer to 5 in a widespread way will cause trouble. Notice that as I write this post, the area around Waco and up to Dallas is under a Flood Watch. Timing of heavy rain will be Wednesday late afternoon into midday Thursday. Then a pleasantly cool and dry weekend is on the way. Remember the rule of thumb, "Turn around, don't drown" when you encounter a flooded roadway or area either in a car or on foot.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do wet or mojado, pronounced mow-HA-dough. It will be very wet in east Texas Wednesday and Thursday.

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AND MORE
I have posted the new drought figures and Climate Prediction Center outlooks for November through January. The recent rains in Texas show a vastly improved drought situation, especially along the upper Texas coast and extreme south Texas. Still a big drought concern for the Coastal Bend. Outlook shows improving conditions expected through January of 2010. This has a lot to do with the fact that we are going into an El Nino winter. And as the Climate Prediction Center outlooks for November through January show, this area is expected to have above normal rainfall and below normal temperatures.

Happy Wednesday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman