With the arrival of noticeably muggier Gulf Coast level 70-degree dew points in the
next day, the atmospheric stage is being set for another rare big September rain. Only
12 times in the past 138 years -- just 9 percent of Septembers on record here since
1871 -- has the month produced three 1-inch-plus rain events. Computer models
boost the air's moisture content (precipitable water) to more than 2 inches Friday into
Saturday. Thunderstorms have the unique ability to sweep moisture from the
environment and concentrate it in especially heavy downpours. This makes projections
of local 2-inch totals from now through Monday in the hardest hit areas look
reasonable. Rain won't be continuous, arriving instead in clusters or waves -- the first
due late Thursday night and early Friday. Saturday's t-storm frequency appears the
greatest of the next three days.
IKE COULD BE REAL TROUBLE FOR HOUSTON/GALVESTON AREAS
A hurricane hasn't hit the Houston/Galveston area since Chantal came ashore in 1989.
The city's last Category 3 storm was Alicia in 1983 -- a devastating $2-billion
Category 3 storm. Ike could give the area and the Texas Coast quite a blow, piling Gulf
water onto the shoreline in powerhouse east winds.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
