Weather Blog

Snow in the Forecast

Yes, there is snow in the forecast.  But not here.  The snow is falling on Mars!

The Phoenix lander touched down in the Martian arctic regions last June.  The primary mission has been digging into the soil, analyzing Matian minerals and ices.  But it has also been looking up on a daily basis.

Phoenix has made pictures of ice crystal clouds passing high overhead (like cirrus clouds on earth).  And it has also used LIDAR, (similar to radar, but using laser light) to image those clouds, and here is what it has seen:

Those “Fall Streaks” on the image are clear indications of streaks of ice crstals (snow) falling from the clouds and drifting down.  Of course, they evaporate long before they make it to the ground.  But it is hoped that before the Phoenix mission ends in November, we may actually see snow making it down to the ground.

You can learn a lot more about the Martian snow from The Planetary Society at:

http://www.planetary.org/news/2008/0930_Phoenix_Detects_Falling_Snow_Digs_up.html

Chief Meteorologist David Finfrock

Fall is here

Autumn started officially last Monday, and now meteorologically, the parade of cold fronts has started.

Cold front #1 rolled in early, early this morning, and there will be another weak front before Friday, and another weak front early next week.

These fronts will continue to head our way, and eventually gulf moisture will return and we’ll get some much needed rain with these fronts.  Stay tuned.

Football Forecast

Saturdays in the fall aren’t complete with a full schedule of great college football games.  Here’s a look at the kickoff forecast for nearby games:

Army @ Texas A&M:  College Station, 11:30 AM, Sunny, Low 80s
Arkansas @ Texas:  Austin, 2:30 PM, Sunny, Upper 80s
UNT @ Rice:  Houston, 4:00 PM, Sunny, Upper 80s
TCU @ Oklahoma:  Norman, 6:00 PM, Clear, Low-to-Mid 80s
Troy @ Oklahoma St:  Stillwater, 6:05 PM, Clear, Low-to-Mid 80s

Meteorologist Michael Hammer

2008: Fourth Hottest Year Ever By Steve MacLaughlin

From January 1st to the last day of summer, here are the top five hottest years on record and the average temperature:

2006 – 72.9 (Went on to be the hottest year ever)

2000 – 72.3

1925 – 71.9

2008 – 71.6

1998 – 71.4

Steve Mac

Football Forecast…

TCU at SMU, Dallas, 7pm, Clear and lower 80s
Rice at UT, Austin, 7pm, Clear, mid 80s
Miami at Texas A&M, 2:30pm, Clear, mid 80s
UMass at Texas Tech, 6pm, Clear, mid 70s

Amazing Photos of Ike’s Damage

These photos taken by the staff of the Austin American Statesman are some of the best I have seen, at detailing the magnitude and the extent of the damage left behind after Ike’s disastrous passage through southeast Texas.  There are 273 photos in the slide show, and it is worth looking at them all.

http://www.statesman.com/news/mediahub/media/slideshow/index.jsp?tId=119336

Chief Meteorologist David Finfrock

Aerial Photos After Ike’s Landfall

The local Fort Worth office of the National Weather Service forwarded the following to us, and asked us to pass it along to our viewers.

***View Aerial Photos of Post-Ike Damage Along Texas Coastline***

Now available on NOAA.gov is a collection of aerial photos of the Texas coastline showing the damage caused by Hurricane Ike. This imagery was acquired by NOAA’s Remote Sensing Division to support NOAA’s national security and emergency response activities. More than 4,000 images from Ike have been posted with others added daily to the public Web site as they become available after each flight.

These photos are in the public domain and may be reproduced. Please credit NOAA.

This main site (direct link: < http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/eri_page/ ) provides aerial damage assessment photos for not only Hurricane Ike but also of Hurricane Gustav and a selection of major hurricanes since 2003. The photos are useful to the public who can sometimes get a close up look at their own property if it is the flight path.

Chief Meteorologist David Finfrock

Taste Of Fall As Summer Ends By Steve MacLaughlin

In 2008 the spring was exceptionally stormy and the summer was exceptionally hot in North Texas. But the last week has been incredible. Since Tropical Storm Ike moved through the area on Saturday, our weather has been perfect.

Autumn officially begins Monday at 10:44am.

Today is the 7th straight day below 90 degrees and the 7th straight day with temperatures below normal.

Including Friday, it has now been 36 days since we have hit 100 degrees; that was on August 14th. That was the 30th (and probably final) of the year. The hottest two days this summer got up to 107.

The normal ‘last’ 100 degree day at DFW is August 25th. But the latest ever was October 3rd, 1951. So until October 3rd, there is still that statistical chance. That being said, it doesn’t look likely this year. We will be warming up a bit, but only to just above normal through the weekend. Right now, the normal high is 87; the normal low 66.

Hope everyone has a great weekend,

Steve Mac