Preview of Autumn Continues

Discussion:
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The big weather story continues to be Hurricane Harvey or Tropical Depression Harvey. Yes, the focus has been on the rains in the Houston, Texas area.  Yes, it is terrible. It is very serious. The folks there need our prayers and support to get through this. 

But I must rant for a moment:  Are all the media folks who are televising this tragedy doing anything to help except to show the plight of the people of Houston?  Or are they looking for the worst stories to get the better ratings?  I ask this because of the all the sensational headlines regarding the “whole city of Houston is a lake” and stuff like that.  Simply google ‘Houston traffic cams’ and you can take a look yourself. Some cameras show devastating flooding. But even more show it wet with puddles at the worst!

In fact, some traffic cam pics that made the go around on social media highlighted one that had the water levels almost at camera level (failed to note that it was an underpass which floods most easily) but note a peep yet today showing the same underpass drained of all water!  Yes, other cameras show the water draining in some areas as well. 
This is not to take away from the plight of those in the lowest lying areas that are flooded severely and will take some time to drain.  But when reporting, please note that the whole city is NOT underwater, and that some flood waters are receding. Report the WHOLE story please.  

Thousands of Houston residents need help.  The situation for many is very serious. The water will not drain for many for several or more days.  So, keep them in your prayers. But also remember the residents who were slammed with the devastating winds of the hurricane. There are too many who have lost their homes and businesses.  But it seems they have been forgotten as the story is all about Houston.  The same thing happened with Katrina in 2005. Yes, New Orleans was flooded badly. It was horrible. But what about the other coastal towns/cities that were obliterated?  Much of the media went to the more sensational story. The same thing is happening again. Ok, end of rant.


Closer to home, I spoke of the coastal/tropical storm that would develop along the SE US coastline. It is doing so, and is likely to become a named tropical storm, although it is not entirely tropical according to the classic definition. Anyway, moving on.

This system will try to push some rain into our area for Tuesday, esp. later in the day.  I warned of this in my previous forecast.  It appears that a damp forecast is the way to go.  I am not expecting a lot of rain, just some light rain/showers and a cool breeze from the E/NE.

As the system then moves east late Tue, an upper level disturbance may help kick off a shower on Wed, but nothing to really worry about.  A strong cold front looks to drop south across our area late Thu/Thu night with a few showers. Again, not a big deal.  A reinforcing push of cool air will drop south and keep our temperatures on the cooler side through the weekend.

But what of Harvey?  Sat’s scenario 3 seems to be the way to go.  (3) First front simply misses Harvey, and second is slower and some moisture from Harvey is pulled north enhancing the rain Labor Day).  A cold front will approach on Sun/Sun night into Labor Day. This will have some rain with it, which will be enhanced by the moisture and perhaps some energy from Harvey.  A soaking rain, but nothing excessive, is quite possible. 

Looking ahead … a strong trough develops and delivers some very chilly air to the northern portions of the US, but how far south does the cold push?  Northern areas could be looking at early frost threats with this coming cool air. This is over a week away, so things may change some. But no heatwave is seen coming in the near future; certainly very different than last year.
 
Dailies:
Tuesday: Mostly cloudy. Chilly breeze. Some light rain/showers likely.        
Wednesday: Partly to mostly sunny. Slight chance for a shower. Breeze out of the NE.   
Thursday: Sun and clouds. Showers likely late into the early overnight.  
Friday: Sun and clouds. Refreshingly cool with a breeze.
Saturday: Sun and clouds. Beautiful but cool.
Sunday: Sun then increasing clouds. Chance for rain late.     
Monday: Rain/showers ending, then clearing. Cool.