Local Climate Investigation Climate Investigation

Local Climate Investigation

Climate Investigation of Houston, Texas

Houston: temperature profile

The average low temperature in Houston is 72°F (22°C) in the summer and 40°F (4°C) in the winter. The average high temperature is 93°F (34°C) in the summer and 61°F (16°C) in the winter ("Houston," 2008, EPA). The highest recorded temperature in Houston was 106°F in 1962 and the lowest recorded temperature was 9°F in 1989 ("Monthly weather for Houston," 2008, the Weather Channel). The temperature rarely sinks below the freezing mark. The climate is classified as subtropical and humid, and is influenced by the winds that come from the Gulf of Mexico.

Houston: precipitation

Houston receives an annual average rainfall of about 50 inches ("Houston," 2008, EPA). The most precipitation on average occurs in June ("Monthly weather for Houston," 2008, the Weather Channel). It almost never snows in Houston, and on average snowfalls occur only ever few years, rather than on a regular basis. Exceptions do occur, of course, and in 2004 there was a legendary Christmas Eve snowstorm, which resulted in approximately 1-3 inches coating the city ("The Great Christmas Eve Snow Storm," 2004, NWS).

Closest NWS office

Houston is located in the Southwest region of the United States, and the nearest National Weather Service serves the Houston/Galveston area. The NWS office has its origins in the region as early as 1870, and in 1960, one of the first WSR-57, Weather Surveillance Radars was installed. "After the installation of the radar, the Galveston office was the site of the first live television broadcast of a hurricane (by Dan Rather at CBS) in September of 1961 when Hurricane Carla struck the Texas coast" ("About our office," 2008, NWS).

Is there any special phenomenon either in the weather or related to the weather that affects your town?

Houston, because of its unstable climate and Gulf Coast location, is uniquely prone to damage from hurricanes. Its normally hot, humid weather makes flooding a frequent problem during storms as the ground may have trouble absorbing the moisture. The humid, volatile air mass also means that extreme weather may result when a strong cold front collides with the hot air mass, making the area prone to tornados.

For example, in 2002, Tropical Storm Allison caused 36 inches of rain to fall during a short span of time, killed 22 people and caused more than $5 billion in damage, (Turner 2004). However, the worst storm to hit Houston was on September 8, 1900, the year of the Great Storm that came raging out of the Gulf Coast and hit the Houston and Galveston region. "The Great Storm reigns today as the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Between 10,000 and 12,000 people died during the storm...the added toll on commercial structures created a monetary loss of $30 million, about $700 million in today's dollars" (Smith 2003).