Today

Today started with a quick check of the tube to see about Lee, the current famous tropical media darling. There wasn't much to report from my side, which is west of the center. From the radar loops, it looked as Lee was almost onshore, which usually means rapid acceleration to the north and an end to the disturbance. Not this time.

Outside, it was in the mid 70's, which can only be described as pleasant. It's been in the lower 80's with high humidities. Since Lee was bringing drier air from the drought stricken areas, the influx of rain cooled dry air around the system made it almost seem like Fall.

There were heavy clouds to the east, but overhead there were only a few fast moving, wispy cumulus that had were producing an occasional mist. The wind was brisk, with gusts to around 25 mph. Mostly, the sky was clear and a deep blue.

I had some errands to run, so I looked at the weather as I drove. The clouds to the east were becoming increasingly darker. The occasional cumulus were becoming more numerous and producing rain shafts that barely reached the ground. Most of the rain was evaporating due to the dry air. 

After an hour, the cloud deck had moved in. There was a constant drizzle that changed from heavy to just a few small drops; almost as if there was no rain at all. The winds were increasing, although they were far from anything that could be considered threatening. Weather reports had the sustained winds of Lee at 60 mph, but that was probably in a narrow area on the northeast edge of the eye. Since I was over 100 miles from the eye, the winds couldn't even be described as tropical storm force.

I looked at the radar at noon. Lee hadn't moved much, if at all. The rain bands were increasing on the west side, so now the precipitation varied between drizzle and rain. The clouds had now lowered to thick, low stratus racing overhead.

Now, it's a little after 8:00 pm and nothing has changed in the last 5 hours, except Lee has moved a few miles northwest and the rain band are now stretching into a large section of Southeast, Texas, including the Houston Metroplex.

Lee is forecast to move little over the next 24 hours, so the weather will not change - which is good. The only way it could be better is if Lee scoots off to the west and gives the rest of Texas some rain. It's needed and it's time for some relief from the drought.