Tuesday's storms: trees down, lights out

Well, those storms we mentioned yesterday morning ended up blowing through the area — and though Houstonist didn't notice much aside from gray skies and the occasional burst of rain, the weather did impact a lot of people.

In Waller, winds that gusted up to 60 mph knocked some trees over and sheared others off halfway up their trunks; nearby, a barn under construction was destroyed. And in La Marque, a rogue lightning strike this morning left about 35,000 customers in League City, Alvin, Friendswood and Texas City without electricity for nearly an hour. The biggest problem for most people who were out and about was a lack of traffic lights; police officers had to be sent to major intersections to direct traffic. "We had to do it the old-fashioned way," an Alvin police dispatcher told the Chronicle.

Things ought to be different today: Expect a low chance of rain with moderate humidity and a high of about 91 (the record, 93, was set in 1962). The rain will move back in on Thursday night, with temperatures falling into the 50s by Friday morning leading to a cloudy, but cooler, weekend.