Category Archives: Weather/Climate

Big storms

Posted on April 13, 2007 | Comments Off on Big storms

The storms that rolled through the rancho seem to be over. A friend emails from Florida hoping we weren’t in the place where the baseball-size hail knocked a Texas TV station off the air. Not that I can find on Google news. Probably Dallas-Fort Worth area. Not in Austin. We got the southern tail end of this big one, a once-in-twenty-years storm that’s already bringing heavy spring snows elsewhere and will rake the South next before turning to the Northeast with flooding rains. It was a wimp here, although we’re still under a tornado watch until 2 a.m. It looked on the weather service radar like San Antone got it worse, including some super cells.

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Dodging thunderstorms

Posted on April 12, 2007 | Comments Off on Dodging thunderstorms

The Muckdogs already were looking at a vicious weekend schedule of three games, two of them makeup games from rain days. Now meteorologist Troy Kimmel emails that it looks like they’ll be dodging more thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon at the opening game of the trio, caused by the conjunction of a rogue Pacific low and a cold front. At least it won’t rain out the Sunday game, which Mr. B. tells me is all important, being as it’s against the Rockhounds. If the Muckdogs beat them, he says, the Muckdogs will be No. 1.

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No snow or ice

Posted on April 8, 2007 | Comments Off on No snow or ice

The ground’s wet at the rancho, but the temperature is rising. The sun is not expected to reappear until Wednesday, when spring should return. Meanwhile we’re off to the Hill Country to see the oceans of blue(bonnets) and other wild flowers.

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Weather deteriorating

Posted on April 7, 2007 | Comments Off on Weather deteriorating

"The weather situation appears to be deteriorating.. especially for areas west of [Interstate 35] for later today into tonight and all local interests should be monitoring this situation very closely…" —KVET/KASE meteorologist Troy Kimmel at 1:20 p.m., passing on the latest from the weather service’s Storm Prediction Center.

It was colder than anticipated when we woke up this morning, 20 degrees colder than yesterday, and four or five degrees warmer than it is now, in the mid-30s. The egg decorators are at it, and the smell of dye pervades the rancho. It’s a good day to have a warm place to be.

UPDATE  Sleeting now at 3:30 p.m. Icing and snowing at 9:30 p.m. All expected to be gone by mid-morning Sunday.

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Posted in Weather/Climate

Sleet & snow…

Posted on April 6, 2007 | Comments Off on Sleet & snow…

…by tomorrow night, thanks to a shift in the northern jet bringing arctic Canadian air in tomorrow morning through Monday colliding with a low pressure trough moving in from the west and drawing in moisture from the Pacific and the Gulf, says the LCRA’s Bob Rose:

"Long-term climate records indicate sleet and freezing temperatures this late into April are unprecedented in this part of Texas, so this weekend’s weather has the potential to be a record-setting event!"

Fortunately none of it is expected to stick as the ground is too warm, but the Panhandle could get an inch or more. We’ll be luckier, with just a wet, cold and windy Saturday with a wind chill in the 20s. Mom and Mr. B. will have fun decorating Easter eggs, and making cookies and chili. Sunday it’s supposed to warm up a little and more on Monday. We had planned a drive into the Hills Sunday to see the wildflowers, and we may do it yet.

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Ice scrapers on Easter?

Posted on April 6, 2007 | Comments Off on Ice scrapers on Easter?

Accuweather’s Joe Bastardi is pretty much saying Central Texans should get out their ice scrapers for what could be an ice storm of sorts on Easter Sunday. KVUE’s Mark Murray emails that he isn’t so sure:

"I don’t know exactly what to make of this cold air coming in for the weekend…But, models do have a VERY hard time with this time of the year.  They work best in the middle of winter and the middle of summer…[Today’s] forecast will be a good one!"

UPDATE  Early forecasts say the ice and snow (!) will stay north of the Austin area. It’ll just be cold. 

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Chilly nights

Posted on April 5, 2007 | Comments Off on Chilly nights

While folks in the Northeast labor under new inches of snow, winter gets a last gasp in Central Texas. Lots of Canadian air has settled in to keep our nights chilly through Sunday. KVUE’s Mark Murray, looking ahead, sees a 49 percent chance of a Texas coast hurricane this year. Early times.

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