From the “it’s weather not climate department” – I never thought I’d see this today on the header of the Houston Chronicle:
The snow is the earliest on record. Of note is the fact that in 2008, it snowed in Houston on December 10th. Place your bets for next year.
Houston braces for about 2 inches of snow
Some in Houston area may even see half a foot of the white stuff
By ERIC BERGER and PEGGY O’HARE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Houston this morning broke a record with the earliest snowfall ever recorded in the city’s history.
Forecasters are still hedging their bets on the amount, but say the most likely scenario is 1 to 2 inches of widespread snowfall through the day. Some areas could get up to a half a foot.
Light snow already was falling downtown and in other areas before 8:30 a.m. Other forms of precipitation — such as rain, freezing, rain, sleet and hail — also have been reported. Houston’s main weather recording station at Bush Intercontinental Airport reported at trace of snow at 8 a.m., meaning Dec. 4 will go down as the new record.
But emergency management officials say snow isn’t the biggest concern — it’s icy roads. A 12-hour freeze period is expected to begin after sundown today, continuing into Saturday, which could cause hazardous driving conditions.
A freeze warning has been issued for more than 20 Texas counties, including the coastal counties of Chambers, Galveston, Brazoria, Matagorda and Jackson, extending northward through Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend, Wharton and Liberty counties, then stretching as far northwest as the cities of Bryan and College Station and as far northeast as Trinity and Polk counties.
“Even though we can’t say for sure this weather event is going to occur, we can definitely say our confidence has increased substantially compared to three or four days ago,” said Fred Schmude, a meteorologist with ImpactWeather, a private, Houston-based forecasting service.
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In other news:
Dr. James Hansen is coming to Houston to promote his new book Storms of my Grandchilden.
Is he thinking snowstorms?
Bring in the Apollo engineers. They might correct the Hansen problem!
Ecotretas
The BBC climategate debate this morning can be heard here http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8394000/8394669.stm
Please enlighten me, I am not familiar with the Texas weather, what is considered normal weather this time of year?
The weather report from
(Somewhere in) Colorado
December 4, 2009
All night the blunt fists
Struck at us; the lake’s last eye
Swelled shut by morning.
I live in Houston and left two days ago for the Rep. of Georgia just south of the Caucasus Mountains. I am currently here and it is interesting to see the weather is colder and worse in Houston than here in Georgia…….at least for the next day. In Houston, if you don’t like the weather, wait a day. I wish I was home burning wood and doing my best to warm the world and my home.
Currently watching snow accumulate on my porch just north of Houston. Houston sees snow, on average, every 4 years (I assume this includes years without accumulation) – except for the last four years when we’ve seen it all but 1 year. Poor Al Gore.
Broke a record for a warm December 3rd yesterday in Boston. But I’m not selling my snow blower.
/Mr Lynn
[snip waaaay off topic]
i’m going to try posting this image…it may not work.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28912940@N08/4157452659/
REPLY: I fixed it for you. Note, just type in the URL, don’t add tags. WP will automatically create a link for you. -A
CNN Two Weeks Late in Reporting on Climategate 12-4-08
“Originally scheduled for October 29, the event has been rescheduled because of temporary health issues of Dr. Hansen.”
I wonder if a cosmic being interceded in this rescheduling and timing of the event. I do not wish ill health on anyone, though.
If I would move to Houston I could. Positively balmy, compared to here in Canada.
Its currently -11 deg C here. It was -20 this morning, and its supposed to go to -31 this weekend.
Denbo,
It’s snowing, just not sticking. At best on the traffic cams it’ll be till mid afternoon. Right around rush hour. Glad I don’t have to drive I-45 to get home. All secondary streets for me.
The interesting thing is that the actual temps are colder than the model runs.
And the storms are several hundred miles further South.
Denbo (10:02:18)
There is snow on the ground on your link for some of the Katy (west-side-of-town) cameras.
Actually, try the I-10 Katy west camera at Mason… you can see the snow on the ground there….
We got the negative Farenheit digits in Denver last night. The only thing that was good about it was knowing that Trenberth was experiencing the same in Boulder.
Denbo (10:02:18) :
It might be snowing but nothing it on the ground yet according to the cams.
Looks like there is some “global warming” on the ground IH-45 Gulf at South Loop (S) as at 12:45:04… or perhaps things have been painted white to reflect the heat…
Snow in houston and Louisianna and Missippi.
Hell is freezing over.
I’m keeping a weather eye out for flying pigs too, they are hell on the street wires and branches – and don’t let one perch over your car. EVER.
Frosty the snow MANN predicted it. That is why he tried to hide the decline.
Too bad you can’t hide the white stuff.
18 feet of snow at Whistler B,C. Record for November Evah. .by 19%
We have warned Homeland security to watch for Polar Bears
Imagine how much snow would be in Houston if there were NO global warming!
Thank you global warming!!!
Also, I am enjoying the delicious irony of big puck-up trucks clearing the roads in Houston so that all the Prius owners can get to work! And more trucks pulling said Prius’ out of ditches when the dumb prius owners figured global warming would save them from the snow.
Yuh know, what with Al Gore not going to the meet-and-greet in Hopenhagen and drag his traditional snow storm along with him, I wondered where he would go to inflict himself on the masses yearning to be freed from AGW
Could it have been HOUSTON?!?!
“Is he thinking snowstorms?”
It snowed 20 inches in Houston in 1895.
We have had a very mild fall – only a couple of mild frosts. I was beginning to think winter was canceled this year. Even though it’s snowing, it’s not actually very cold; it’s 35 or so. Chances are it will continue to be a rather mild winter like last year’s was after a little snow on Dec. 10
Look, either global warming is occurring or it isn’t. A couple of numbskulls who seem to have been caught trying to pretty up the evidence doesn’t mean anything. Glaciers disappearing and polar bears starving do. Repeated studies of average temps do. What are you guys going to say when the arctic sea is clear? It was always like that?
Troll alert
Here is picture outside my office window on the West-Side of Houston.
http://www.equivalentdata.com/images/Snow/Houston_Snow.JPG
I heard today that its only snowed here in Houston 36 times since 1894, twenty of those times it was only a trace amount.