Rain not over yet/I met the oldest person/allergy shot that works

WEATHER
Cool air (highs in the 40s) is dipping southward over the Rockies on Wednesday with balmy conditions over the southeast US and highs in the 70s and even 80s. There is a slight risk for severe storms from Kansas to Missouri and southeastward to the northern Gulf coast. There will be some showers Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies with snow in the higher elevations.

Houston hit 80 on Tuesday...and I have to admit that I switched from heat to a/c in my house...it ws feeling rather stuffy. On Wed. afternoon there could be some thunderstorms as a weak cold front (maybe just a trough passage) early on Thursday. I saw a trough passage because although the mornings will be cool (in the 40s) te afternoons should still reach about 70. Humidity will be lower. Then the real cold front arrives on Friday...so can't rule out some clouds and rain on Friday afternoon although it shouldn't be much. The weekend is looking very pleasant with lows in the 40s and highs in the 60s to 70.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do a phrase: allergy shot or vacuna para alergia, pronounced vah-COO-nah PAR-ah ah-lair-HEE-ah. Guess what is in my vacuna para alergia? See the AND MORE sectionn for details.

On Friday, we got another big order from our distributor. See what all the excitement is about while helping your children learn to love language by ordering our award winning DVDs, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco. They are on the shelf (in the education section) at Barnes & Noble stores or you can order them from http://www.frankandpaco.com, http://www.amazon.com, http://www.bn.com, http://www.bestbuy.com, or http://www.ebay.com/. Our ESL (English as a Second Language) version can be found at http://www.frankypaco.com

AND MORE
I put up the new drought monitor and drought outlook figures at right. It is amazing to look at Texas as consider how much drought there was a year or so ago. Now almost all of the state is drought free. Looks like the west is the area most widely dealing with drought. The outlook through May shows some peristence of improve for most locations.

Today, the Houston Chronicle ran a story about 2 of the oldest people in the world dieing. Years ago, while working at FOX 26, I had the opportunity to meet a woman named Maude Conic. Now at the time, she was 113. But she couldn't bring it because her birth record ahd been destroyed during the storm. I figured out that she was 11 in 1900. Someone in the newsroom showed me a press release touting her as the oldest registered Republican. But what caught my eye was that she had lived through the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900. Well, I just had to meet her. So, we headed down to the nursing home where she lived in Wharton. She was a huge Fritos fan...loved the product and had lots of their stuff hanging in her room. She asked me if I could get her a bag of Fritos after the interview. The nurse took me aside and begged me not to get her any. She said she had already had several bags and it gave her indigestion...made her feel bad. Well, she didn't seem too concerned about that when she talked to me.

The interview was hit and miss...she had lots of stories about hurricanes (I think she had been through several and was mixing up the details). But, I did talk to her daughter and she confirmed that Maude and her family had fled the island by foot over a bridge and that soon after they passed the bridge had been destroyed by the rough ocean waters. Now, you might be wondering just how old her daughter was...well she was only 60 when I spoke to her. How is that you say? Maude had 2 biological children. Then, when she was 60, her much younger 40 year old sister died, leaving 6 children. Maude took in those 6 children and worked 2 jobs to take care of them. What an amazing woman!!! I was sad to hear a year or so later that she had passed away--and she never got credit for being the oldest woman in the United States.

Got my annual allergy shot today. It is a cocktail of kenalog and depomedrol, a 3 month time release that keeps me going through tree pollen season. My 3 choices are take the shot, get extremely sick (there are not enough tissued in Texas to get me through one season) or leave the area for a couple months. So, of course, I get the shot. If you know someone who is suffering, tell them to ask their doctor about getting it. By the way, tree pollen levels are heavy in the Houston area. For the latest report, call the City of Houston Health Department Allergy Line 713-247-5846.

Finally, the Houston National Weather Service is now providing a multimedia weather briefing through their web site. I love it because they discuss weather maps. Check it out!
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/?n=briefing

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman