Meteorologically speaking, the spring season is from March 1 to May 31 (easier for record-keeping) despite the equinox occurring on March 20 (at 4:37 a.m., to be precise). The season brings more daylight hours, the return of bluebonnets and warmer weather. Of course, this is also the season for severe weather. As winter loosens its grip, there is still plenty of cold air spilling down the Rockies to collide with moist, Gulf air. Skies can go BOOM pretty fast around here.
In fact, the Houston NWS is already advertising a Severe Weather Awareness webinar on Thursday, if you are interested:
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Today’s rain is not exactly coming in like a lion, but we’ll have to keep an eye on Friday’s storm system. Right now, it looks fairly tame, with just a half-inch of rain expected from noon Friday to midnight. Here’s the American Model and you can see how that bowling-ball Low dives right across our area Friday:
I still think, we’ll have to be on our toes for severe weather Friday. Here’s the frontal position for then and while most models are not forecasting severe weather, we are still five days out.
The rest of March
The 30-day forecast for March’s temperatures calls for above-normal (normal is generally highs in the mid-70s and lows in the mid-50s this month).
A warmer-than-normal atmosphere can increase our severe weather odds. On the upside, the monthly forecast for rain is below normal (normal is just under 3.5 inches).
Some of you might remember the big I-10 flood of March 4-5, 1992, when 10 inches of rain in just six hours fell onto the Buffalo Bayou watershed. Thousands of cars went underwater, 1,500 homes were flooded and one person lost their life. March can be a dangerous month. Keep an eye to the sky!
Frank