STORM SIGNALS
Summer 1996, Vol. 42
CONTENTS
This edition of Storm Signals was printed by AMOCO, Texas City, Texas as a service to the citizens of Southeast Texas and The Upper Texas Coastal area.
So, you think it's dry? It is! Not since the 1950's has Southeast Texas experienced such a dry six to nine-month period! If you can't remember back that far, maybe 1988 rings a bell. Rainfall amounts in Southeast Texas received some much needed relief in June. At Houston's Intercontinental Airport more than 8 inches of rain fell in June (8.38 inches to be exact). This total was 3.42 inches above the normal breakdown or monthly average for June. However, this did little to alleviate the drought conditions. The year-to-date rainfall total was 12.38 inches, which was 10.20 below normal for the first six months of the 1996 Calendar year. More than 2/3rds of the yearly rainfall for the period fell in June.
The city of Houston was not alone in this dilemma. Twelve stations across the Southeast Texas area reported more rainfall in the month of June, than the rain gauge totaled for the first five months of the year. Of these 12 locations, six were in the Houston Metropolitan area, five on the coastal plain along the Colorado . . . Lavaca-Navidad River basins. Even with this widespread and generous rainfall in June, every reporting station continued to show a below normal rainfall for the first half of the year.
Even with a 10-inch deficit for the first six months, it's not a record breaking year, but 1996 was the 9th driest on record. The driest half year (Jan-June) on record was 1917 when only 8.84 inches of rain fell. To add to this infamous record, the year 1917 was the driest in Houston (17.66 inches of rain) since records have been kept. Other dry years occurred in 1901 (27.09"), 1956 (28.32") and 1988 (22.93").
When compared with other areas of Southeast Texas this year the city of Houston was far from the worst hit area. By far the city of Sealy has been the worst hit community for the first half of 1996, accumulating only 4.84 inches of rainfall or about 24 % of the normal and some 15.06 inches of rain behind for the year. Not far behind was the city of Madisonville with a total of 5.86 inches, or about 27% of normal and some 15.59 inches of rain behind the normal.
On the other hand, communities like El Campo, Danevang, New Gulf, Pierce Ranch, Bay City, and Baytown all received 10" or more in the month of June. The greatest amount fell at Baytown with 15.34" and El Campo with 15.30 inches making a large dent in the deficit at those sites.
So...if you thought it was abnormally dry, you were absolutely correct. Drought is one of those meteorological phenomenons that is extremely difficult to reverse, as we have seen from history. "Hit and Miss" showers and thunderstorms, although beneficial in the short term, will just not make a dent in the drought. How do we break the drought? The weather pattern . . . namely the high pressure ridge aloft over us must be replaced by a trough over the midsection of the country. Historically, 2/3rds of years when the first six months have been dry, the dry conditions continued through the summer. It may . . . just may . . . come down to a tropical depression, storm, or minimal hurricane. In any case keep the faith and watch for the next update.
The 1996 hurricane season has had three named systems through August 1. Tropical Storm Arthur formed on June 17 in the Bahamas and moved to the north across the outer banks of North Carolina on the 19th and 20th. The system then moved across the North Atlantic. Arthur's peak winds were only about 40 mph.
Bertha formed on the 4th of July in the Atlantic Ocean between the African coast and the Lesser Antilles. She strengthened to a hurricane and passed over the northern Leeward and Virgin Islands. Bertha then moved around the western edge of the Bermuda High eventually making landfall on the North Carolina coast. The weakening system then moved up the east coast of the United States toward Newfoundland.
Cesar formed in the extreme southern Caribbean Sea along the northern coast of South America and moved west toward Nicaragua. After crossing Central America, a weakened Cesar emerged in the eastern Pacific Ocean where it restrengthened and was named the fourth eastern Pacific season's named storm, Douglas.
The following is preliminary data on the Atlantic season's storms through August 1:
Name Dates Wind Death Damage
Tr. Storm Arthur Jun 17-21 40 mph - minor
Hurricane Bertha Jul 5-14 115 mph 8 $250 mil
Hurricane Cesar Jul 25-28 80 mph 51 *
(* denotes information still to be determined)
1996 HURRICANE SEASON FORECAST
Dr. William Gray, professor at Colorado State University, forecasts tropical cyclone activity for the Atlantic basin. His forecast as of August 7 is for 11 named storms, 7 of which will become hurricanes. Of those 7 hurricanes, 3 will be intense (category 3 or higher). For more information about Dr. Gray's forecast, please contact your National Weather Service Office.
With the summer months returning to southeast Texas, heat related health problems become a major concern. Heat and humidity can greatly affect daily activities during the summer. The human has a line of defense in dealing with the summer heat. This defense is sweating and the associated evaporative cooling. Evaporation, by definition, is a cooling process. When the atmosphere is dry (i.e. low relative humidities), sweat has little problem evaporating, thus cooling the body efficiently. However as air becomes moist (high relative humidities), evaporation is inhibited and cooling of the body becomes a problem. With increased heat and increased relative humidities the body can no longer efficiently maintain its proper body temperature. Problems such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke occur at this time. On the average, about 175 deaths per year in the United States can be directly attributed to heat-related health problems.
To help quantify values for identifying this problem, the term Heat Index (or apparent temperature) was established. The Heat Index is a combination of temperature and humidity and is described as "how hot it feels" in certain given conditions. The Heat Index is calculated as if standing in a well ventilated, shady place. If standing in the sun, one could easily add 15 degrees to the Heat Index value. Heat Indices from 80 to 90 degrees represents conditions of possible fatigue if exposure is prolonged. Indices from 90 to 105 degrees represent the possibility of heat cramps and heat exhaustion if exposure is prolonged. From 105 to 130 degrees, heat cramps and heat exhaustion are likely and heat stroke is possible with prolonged exposure. Indices greater than 130 degrees represent dangerously fatal conditions with prolonged exposure with heat stroke likely.
Several safety tips should be followed to help reduce the possibility of heat related health problems. When experiencing high Heat Indices, slow down. The body will have a better chance to recover with less physical stress. Wear loose fitting and light colored clothes to help allow circulation of air around the body and reflection of sunlight. Remember to drink plenty of clear, non-alcoholic fluids to help replenish the body's resources. If possible, spend more time in air conditioned places. Also if possible, schedule any strenuous outdoor activities in the early morning and late evening hours to help minimize exposure to the hottest part of the day.
FOR INTERCONTINENTAL AIRPORT THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR:
| JULY | 92.7 |
| AUGUST | 92.5 |
| SEPTEMBER | 88.4 |
THE ALL-TIME MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR:
| JULY | 105 SET IN 1939 |
| AUGUST | 107 SET IN 1980 |
| SEPTEMBER | 102 SET IN 1985 |
As an integral part of its mission, the NWS recognizes the need to provide the emergency management community access to a set of basic NWS warnings, watches, forecasts, and other products at no recurring cost. EMWIN is now evolving into a fully operational and supported NWS service, in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other public and private organizations.
EMWIN is a low-speed data broadcast capable of using an audio signal. It was designed as a non-proprietary system to run at a minimal cost to the NWS and at no recurring costs to any user in range of the signal. The EMWIN data stream consists of real-time weather watches and warnings, advisories, forecasts, a subset of alphanumeric products for each state, a limited suite of alarms, auto-print, etc. from a personal computer. The computer must be on to receive ongoing information. Currently, the EMWIN sends data at a non-compressed, and some compressed, 1200-bps rate which, although slow, produces more than 5000 pages of data per day.
EMWIN is a suite of methods of making available a live datastream of basic weather data, and providing access to stored sets of basic unenhanced data, using a variety of techniques and technologies. Each method has advantages and disadvantages over the others, hence this multilayered approach to enable multiple methods of availability.
EMWIN's present methods in use or under development for disseminating the basic datastream include:
Currently there is no broadcast of the EMWIN data via radio in the southeast Texas area. It would require a user to acquire the data via satellite and re-transmit this data over a radio frequency that could then be received by radio receivers within the listening range of the transmitter. This is the least costly to the end user of all the methods currently being used.
If you have Internet capability you can access the Interactive Weather Information Network (IWIN). The Internet address is http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov. The Internet version is very similar to the Radio and Satellite version except the data is not automatically updated and of course you have to be logged onto the Internet to access the data. Another drawback to this method is that the Internet and the IWIN home page, especially during major weather events, may be difficult or impossible to access because of weather server overloads. You can also access the data via FTP. FTP access: open iwin.nws.noaa.gov; login as "anonymous", with your e-mail name as password; cd to data, and then to graphics or text. Under graphics are AFOS UTF charts; under text are product subdirectories.
Satellite is the other method used by the NWS for disseminating the EMWIN datastream. Although satellite broadcast permits broad geographic coverage, the receiving equipment currently can be more expensive than other methods for individual users. In certain areas groups of users pool their resources to downlink the data then rebroadcast it via radio broadcast. The EMWIN datastream is currently being broadcast on the PBS Telstar 401 satellite, GOES 8 and GOES 9 satellites and is also being uplinked to the Galaxy 4 satellite by Spacecom Systems of Tulsa, OK as a public service.
The NWS is supplying the datastream of data that feeds the EMWIN system but you must acquire the proper hardware to access the data via radio or satellite in your area. After your hardware is configured and you have the proper software to receive the data, you will have no recurring costs. Listed below are a few commercial vendors that are supplying EMWIN products.
Maryland Radio Center, Inc
8576 Laureldale Drive
Laurel, Md 20724
301 725-1212
800 447-7489
Swagur Enterprises.
P.O. Box 620035
Middleton, WI 53562-0035
608 592-7409
SkyWalker Data Systems, Inc.
7303 West 35th Str.
Tulsa, OK 74107
918 445-1488
Wilmanco
5350 Kazuko Court
Moorpark, CA
805 523-2390
Zephyrus Electronics, Ltd
171 S. 122 E. Avenue
Tulsa, OK 74128-2405
918 437-3333
Handie-Base and More Inc.
27270 E 75th St S
Broken Arrow, OK 74104
918 357-2139
If you are interested in more information concerning EMWIN, or would like to see a demonstration please contact Gene Hafele at the Houston/Galveston NWS office at (281) 337-5074. We currently have a satellite system working and collecting data in our office.
It has been one of those Hot-Dry-Dusty summers, the kind that makes people gravitate towards the shade or air-conditioner. At least, Jim Maxwell and I have used about all the available excuses we could think of to do just that. However, we did get out and visit some of our Coop-Observers and attend a retirement and move equipment around at a few sights.
I want to give a hardy "Welcome Aboard" to our newest observers. We now have the Personal Service Group at Angleton, John Dunman at Bryan 17 NE, Kelly Kitkowski at Richards 3E, and Roy Huff at Madisonville.
With almost 40 years of service, Ross Madole of Madisonville retired in April. He has been a model observer through the years and his shoes will be hard to fill. Ross and wife Mattee have always been a delight to visit (one of those places you have to force yourself to leave). All of us wish Ross and Mattee the very best.
T. O. Dunman and his wife retired after 6 years. They finally got the opportunity to travel so they are off seeing the country. We hope they will have a great time and wish them the best.
In June, Mickey Christensen our observer in Danevang invited us to their Danish Heritage Day. This Danish Community has been involved with the Coop Program for over 100 years and was the first Weather Station in Wharton County. Mickey and his wife Elsie put together a great scrap-book with pictures of all the past and present observers and interesting weather stories from the area and along with talent from the community created a beautiful graph of the monthly rainfall for the past 100 years. Bill Read, our Meteorologist-in-Charge gave a presentation on hurricanes that have affected the area and this years big topic "The 1996 DROUGHT". The following week, Danevang had thunderstorms that produced eight inches of rainfall. At the office, we are still debating over whether it was the drought talk or the good food that was responsible for the rain. Bill, Max, Cooper, and I all had a Great Time at the Danevang's Danish Heritage Day. Thanks again for the invitation and hospitality.
How Dry has it been? It's been so dry most of us have probably gotten a little rusty on how to send rainfall reports to the computer. Please review how to send these reports in (remember you can use 9999 to test the system at any time) and check to see if the phone numbers and your phones are still working. If you do have any trouble getting in or any questions about taking observations, just give Max or I a call. Hopefully in the next few months we will get a lot more rain than we have had in the past three or four.
We as a country can never say thanks enough for all the time and effort you have put into getting your weather reports in. They are used in a variety of ways, one is to establish normal conditions across the area, then we can use this to evaluate how much rainfall an area can take before it begins to flood, and like this year evaluate the extent of the drought. Jim Maxwell has been using your rainfall data or lack of it to track and verify the drought and drought severity. He has produced some great maps that have been used to brief many county and state officials and to give talks. In the future there is hope of getting a computer system upgraded and asking if you could send in rain reports each day even when there is no rain and also trying to get Max and Min Temperatures. Keep up the good work!
Nature never stops amazing me! It's hard to imagine a little Cottonwood shelter not more than 20 yards from a large pecan tree and only 50 yards from a big steel bridge being struck by lighting. But that's what happened on the banks of the Colorado river. The cottonwood shelter had many of the slats on the west side splintered, and was burned on the metal leg. It's a reminder to use good judgement when dealing with nature!
PORTS is an information acquisition and dissemination technology developed by the National Ocean Service (NOS) in cooperation with the Houston/Galveston Navigation Safety Committee (HOGANSAC). PORTS was deployed in Galveston Bay during 1995 and 1996. The system is managed, operated and maintained by the Texas A&M University at Galveston under a grant from NOS.
Houston/Galveston Bay PORTS includes the integration of real-time currents, water levels, winds, air and water temperatures at multiple locations with a data dissemination system that includes telephone voice response as well as modem dial-up and fax on demand capability. Houston/Galveston PORTS consists of three acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) with water temperature sensors, five water level gauges, three anemometers (wind sensors), packet radio transmission equipment, a data acquisition system and an information dissemination system (IDS).
The tide prediction tables that are generated annually by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provide information about the astronomical tides and currents but do not include the effects of the wind, river flow and other meteorological forces. Non-tidal forces in Galveston Bay sometimes result in deviation from published tidal predictions. Real-time measurements were identified as critical requirements for safe navigation in Galveston Bay.
PORTS is a public information system that provides essential real-time information for safe and cost-effective navigation, hazardous material and oil spill prevention and response, search and rescue, and scientific research. PORTS measures real-time data with six minute updates at eight strategic locations in Galveston Bay. PORTS also provides NOAA with coastal ocean measurements and dissemination components.
When a vigorous high pressure system produces a strong northerly wind component (mainly from late fall to early spring) across Galveston Bay, data from PORTS will be utilized by the National Weather Service. This information, along with marine weather spotter reports, will be broadcasted on NOAA weather radio warning boaters of low tide levels. Galveston PORTS data are available on a priority basis for trajectory modeling supporting U.S. Coast Guard spill response. All data are continuously archived and are available on the Internet.
Houston/Galveston Bay PORTS provides real-time information via an easy to use telephone voice data response system or modem dial-up. Communications software should be set at 9600 baud rates (2400 and 1200 baud rates are also supported), 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity and full duplex. Simply follow the prompt for "ports" log on. Enter "hgports" for a text screen or "hgfax" for obtaining Graphic Data Displays by fax.
Telephone Voice Response System
(409) 740-4975
(409) 740-4976
Modem Dial-Up
(409) 740-4973
Telnet Access
telnet ceob.nos.noaa.gov
login:hgports
Homepage
http://www.ceob.nos.noaa.gov/houston.html
http://www.hgports2.tamug.tamu.edu
Note: PORTS information has been provided by Captain Stephen F. Ford. He can be reached at (409) 740-4471. Mailing address is - Texas A&M University at Galveston, 200 Seawolf Parkway, Galveston, TX 77553.
Since its inception, weather information has been a popular subject on the Internet. Over the years, there have been plenty of sites on the World Wide Web (WWW) one could surf to and get the weather information that they needed, but there was never really one organized site to get a lot of data at one time. As time went on and its usage increased, so have the demands of users on the Net. One of the first National Weather Service Offices to go on-line was the office in Tallahassee, FLA (TLH). The TLH Homepage was one of the first sites to provide an organized list of useful and informative data for a specific user community.
Along that line, the Houston National Weather Service has moved onto the WWW. Our Homepage was designed with the residents of Southeast Texas in mind. From drought information to severe weather reports to tide heights along Galveston Bay, this Homepage strives to cover all the various and relevant interests of this unique region. We are also an excellent jumping off point to other weather-related sites.
At present, we are at a temporary site until there is official approval of the final address. Until then, please drop by and give us a visit. Any and all comments are welcomed! Our goal to provide the best and most up-to date information possible on our Homepage, and you are an important part of this process.
http://nwselp.epcc.edu/hgx/Homey1.htm
Please address e-mail, comments and questions concerning the Homepage (or anything else WWW weather-related) to: wendy.wong@noaa.gov
It's hard to report a lot of severe weather when much of Southeast Texas is 10+ inches of rainfall below normal so far this year. The National Weather Service in Houston has issued 131 Severe Thunderstorm/Tornado Warnings in the six month period. Fifty-eight of those warnings were issued in June alone! At the same time last year (Jan.-June), 285 Warnings were issued.
Unlike last year, winter and spring did not have much severe weather associated with it. Not until late spring/early summer did the severe storms arrive.
June has been the most active month of the year so far. Numerous reports of hail and damaging winds were associated with the storms. Grapefruit sized hail was reported in the town of Egypt in Wharton County on June 20th. Major structural damage to homes and cars occurred as well as a significant agricultural loss. Lightning also caused major problems in the month of June. House fires, as well as an explosion at a refinery in Texas City (Galveston County), were caused by lightning strikes. A Stafford woman was killed when struck by lightning on the afternoon of the 3rd.
Over half (31 of 54) severe events reported in June occurred in Harris County. Harris County is also the leader in severe weather events in the six month period. Forty reports of severe weather were noted, with the next closest of 10 being reported by spotters in Fort Bend County.
Many thanks to all the spotters, especially in Harris and Fort Bend Counties, who make our job a lot easier! If you witness severe weather, please report it to your local sheriffs office or call the National Weather Service in Houston at (281) 337-5074 Mon.-Fri. 830 am-430 pm.
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