Finally…A Change!!!

The weather pattern for South Texas appears to be changing. After many days with triple digit heat, a change is on the horizon for South Texas. The high pressure system that has been in control of our weather for a very long time is finally getting out of here.  The latest computer model trends indicate the high pressure system will begin to move to the western parts of the United States. This will allow weaknesses in the atmosphere to approach from the north.  Sometimes like we saw in 2007 (when it rained all summer) we get these disturbances called Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCS) that approach from the north and destabilize our atmosphere causing showers and thunderstorms.  We saw round after round of storms and it looked like it was never going to end…but as we all know it did late August/early September.   MCS’s create their own unstable environment as they trek across the country. They are influenced by upper level winds. Wherever the winds go…the MCS will follow. Sometimes they are hard to forecast. Not many models can pick up on them. For us here in S. Texas we watch areas like the Texas Panhandle, North Texas around Dallas to San Angelo and see if something is headed our way. They typically arrive in the overnight hours here in SA but sometimes you’ll get them during the day.

However, the long term is still up in the air. One long range computer model indicates the high will eventually go away all together. If this happens to be true, then we’ll get more showers with more frequency around our area. If the model is wrong and the high comes back, we’ll see much like we are seeing now…hot…humid…100°+ . Eughhh!!!

Our area is hurting bad for rain. Much of the area including San Antonio is still in the “Exceptional” category according to the Drought Monitor by the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. There are numerous burn bans still in effect, many cities and towns are under some kind of water restrictions and extreme temperatures have been deadly here in San Antonio and elsewhere.

I’m trying to recall everything this weather pattern has affected, aside from the aforementioned items, water main breaks, many heat advisories issued, a few grass/brush fires, many tire blowouts on highways, high energy bills, low water levels at rivers and lakes, agriculture, and record temperatures.  Am I forgetting anything? We don’t need a massive flood just an occasional good downpour every now and then.

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Tags: Drought, Justweather.com, ksat 12, ksat.com, san antonio, south texas, Weather, wxprobrian

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