Houstonist Weather Watch

Well, we got our first official tropical scare of the year this week. Hurr...er...Tropical Storm Ernesto (his friends call him Ernie) has been blustering across the Caribbean since the middle of the weak. But, Ernie clearly has his sights set on Florida, so we can breathe a sigh of relief, that is IF we can breathe in the stifling heat and humidity.

Monday Through Thursday

A weak Canadian frontal boundry has been lingering across Texas causing rain throughout the state. While it has brought us rain, that same trough helped push Ernesto eastward, so it isn't all bad. The front should push through by the middle of the week and bring us increased chances of rain between Monday and Wednesday with high temperatures in the lower 90's.

End of the Week and Weekend

By the end of the week, the air will likely be drier if only for a few days. But, it will be hot with highs in the mid to upper 90's. If a dry heat really is better, we'll find out to a tiny degree late in the week, but don't expect Arizona. Think more like Dallas. On second thought, don't think about Dallas if you can help it. Bottom line is it will be hot and should remain relatively dry.

Tropical Update

Well, Debby died a quiet death over the open Atlantic Ocean, but Ernesto is still churning its way toward Florida. Ernie was our first Atlantic hurricane of the season and the fifth named storm. As you have no doubt been reminded by news outlets everywhere, this week is the anniversary of Katrina and smack dab in the middle of thed busiest portion of hurricane season.

Ernie's original forecast track had it aiming right at the Houston/Galveston area with a potential strength approaching that of Rita or Katrina. Houstonist was prepared with plenty of plywood, bottled water and cat carriers. Fortunately, Ernie took a turn to the east and is now aiming at Southern Florida. Maybe he has a party to go to in South Beach. We aren't sure.

The best news for everyone is that its interaction with Hispanola yesterday and with Cuba later today and tomorrow means the hurricane will likely struggle to regain hurricane status before coming onshore in Florida. Obviously, folks in the Keys and those on cruises in the area will need to adjust, but it could've been a lot worse with some projections in the middle of last week showing Ernie making landfall along the central Gulf Coast as a category 4 storm. Yikes!

For now, other than our pal, Ernie, the rest of the tropics are generally quiet. Long-range forecasts are predicting the development of several tropical waves in the southern Atlantic. Given the time of year, everything has a chance of developing and we still have roughly six weeks of the busiest part of the hurricane season remaining.

Have a great weekend and remember, we may have six weeks of the worst part of hurricane season left, but in six weeks, we'll be in October and starting the best time of year in Houston when it comes to weather. Woo hoo!