Houston/Galveston Zone Changes for 2018

Public and Fire Weather Zone Changes

An important feature to the weather in Southeast Texas is the influence of the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf has a profound ability to impact winds, humidity, precipitation, and fog potential. There are also hazards unique to the coast, like storm surge. As part of our continuous efforts to bring the best weather and forecast information to the residents of this area, the Houston/Galveston forecast office proposes to change the structure of our public and fire weather zones to better reflect the unique influences of the Gulf on our weather. This involves the creation of several "coastal zones", or areas that are near the Gulf and most strongly affected by its influences on the weather. This change will help us provide more specific forecast information and provide warnings to those that need them the most. This change will become effective on May 1, 2018.

This image shows the old configuration of the zones along the coast in our forecast area. Each zone is matched to an entire county:

New NWS Houston/Galveston Coastal Forecast Zone Configuration

This image shows the proposed structure of our forecast zones along the coast. Coastal counties now have multiple zones based on how close they are to the coast:

When the new zones take effect on May 1, you will see references to these new zones. The zones you may be familiar with will change to these new names. Click on the thumbnail image for an enlarged map of how each zone will change.

Liberty becomes Northern Liberty and Southern Liberty	Harris becomes Inland Harris and Coastal Harris
Jackson becomes Inland Jackson and Coastal Jackson	Matagorda becomes Inland Matagorda, Coastal Matagorda, and Matagorda Islands
Brazoria becomes Inland Brazoria, Coastal Brazoria, and Brazoria Islands	Galveston becomes Inland Galveston, Coastal Galveston, as well as Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula

For more details, see the official Service Change Notice (SCN) at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/scn18-15hgx_zones.htm