Heavy rain likely on Fourth
Celebrators hoping for clear skies in Houston might have to look elsewhere as all of Southeast Texas braces for heavy rainfall on the holiday.
People hoping for clear skies in Houston on the Fourth of July might have to look elsewhere as all of Southeast Texas braces for heavy rainfall on the holiday.
The odds of thunderstorms will increase Tuesday night and Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. The chance of rainfall could reach 90 percent on Wednesday, but the wet stuff should begin to taper off throughout the afternoon.
Lightning strikes and wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph are possible, with rain coming down at 1 to 2 inches per hour, meteorologists said.
Thunderstorms are most likely after midnight Wednesday and should end by the evening, although that could change. Storms with tropical moisture tend to linger, meaning they could stick around longer than anticipated, meteorologists said.
Although the entire Southeast Texas region could expe-
rience heavy rainfall, the threat is highest between Houston and Lake Charles, La.
Isolated heavy rains could cause street flooding and quick rises in bayou levels, although the bayous aren’t expected to go out of their banks, according to meteorologists.
On Monday, the city of Houston activated a heat emergency plan and urged residents to protect themselves against illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The temperatures were in the upper 90s on Monday and are expected to edge into the high 90s again on Tuesday.
In such hot weather, high-risk groups such as adults 55 and older, children under 5 and people with chronic illness are urged to stay inside air-conditioned buildings between 1 and 5 p.m., the hottest part of the day. The city also said in a news release that anyone without access to air conditioning can seek shelter during business hours at city multiservice centers, libraries or recreation centers. Houstonians may call 311 and ask for the nearest open city facility.
Even with the rising chance of wet weather this week, the hurricane risk to the United States has sharply decreased this season, with ocean conditions becoming less favorable for the storms’ formation, according to a closely watched forecast released Monday.
Colorado State University’s Tropical Meteorology Project now calls for four hurricanes this year, compared with 10 last season and a sharp reduction from the university’s April forecast. The probability of a direct hit to the eastern United States stands at 22 percent, compared to the average of 31 percent.
Since hurricane season began June 1, the forecast said, the Atlantic Ocean has developed unusually cold temperatures, depriving developing hurricanes of fuel and the atmospheric instability necessary for their formation.