Weatherwise, the Lone Star State will hit its miserable peak today
Welcome to Texas’ most miserable day of the year — statistically speaking.
Ezvid Wiki, a software and media company, polled 3,000 internet users and found January to be Texas’ gloomiest month of the year based on historical weather data. Jan. 18 is historically wet and cold, according to 36 years of data.
The Lone Star State’s most miserable day comes a few weeks before our neighbors; Louisiana’s is predicted to occur on Feb. 1, while Oklahoma and Arkansas will experience their most miserable days on Feb. 14, according to the report.
Houstonians are used to a fair amount of sunshine year-round. According to the National Climatic Data Center, Houston received an annual average of 58 percent of sunshine between 1961 and 1990, meaning the total time that sunshine reaches the Earth from sunrise to sunset with clear sky conditions.
The “percent of possible sunshine” is a metric that was calculated at various spots, but much fewer than rain accumulation, according to Matt Lanza, meteorologist for Space City Weather.
“The caveat here is that these are older normals, so we can’t account for anything in recent years,” Lanza said. “And I don’t believe any Houston area sites tabulate percentage of possible sunshine anymore.”
There is good news, though. Jan. 18 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday that is observed by Texas public schools and many industries.
Jan. 18’s forecast, according to Space City Weather, will be mostly sunny skies and highs in the low 60s.