This is exactly how fast the weather changed in Houston during the storm on Thursday

[LetMyPeopleVote]

I was on the outer edge of this storm and so things did not get as dark as in this video at my house. This is still scary

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Biophilic]

1. Those are amazing videos. Even then it's hard to imagine it was so fast to change. nt

[AllaN01Bear]

2. eep

[progressoid]

3. Yep. I experienced a derecho in 2020.

It went from calm to 90 mph winds in a matter of seconds.

Fuckin scary.

[ZonkerHarris]

4. Good thing they outlawed climate change in Texas and Florida. That will save them fer sure.

[Bundbuster]

5. Scientists say storms like those that battered Houston could become more intense as the planet warms

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/17/climate/thunderstorms-wind-climate-change.html?unlocked_article_code=1.tU0.F7e5.-yI83APx41sE&smid=url-share

As the planet warms, severe storms of all kinds are likely to deliver even bigger payloads of rain. The reason: Warmer air holds more moisture, which effectively increases a storm’s capacity to carry precipitation.

Because the air can hold more moisture, that also means there is more water vapor in the sky that can condense into liquid, forming clouds. The heat energy released into the atmosphere by this condensation is what feeds thunderstorms. In short, more condensation, stronger storms.

Thunderstorms can also produce strong winds that fan out in straight lines rather than twisters. In a study published last year, Dr. Prein estimated that much larger areas of the central United States were now experiencing these straight-line gusts compared with the early 1980s.

The market for homeowners insurance has been in turmoil in the United States, and not just because of hurricanes and wildfires. As a New York Times investigation documented this week, severe storms are also causing insurers to lose money on homeowner coverage.

[txwhitedove]

6. Great video. Same at my house, just north of Houston still in Harris County, had to hunker down due

to tornado warnings. My daughter works at dialysis clinics and has been working 18-hr days due to power outages at clinics. They are just today bringing in huge generators to get them working again.

[slightlv]

7. I remember having lunch with my mom

at the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio one summer afternoon. We watched as the storm approached us... one of the weirdest things I ever saw was the actual rain sheets in the storm. Had one of those with our latest storms here in KS, but it was nothing like that lunch time storm! I don't think "man" claiming there is no climate change is going to make bit of difference to Mother Nature!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. How Houston's rare derecho was fueled by a Mexican 'heat dome' creating high temps in Texas

Link to tweet

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-weather/article/derecho-heat-dome-mexico-storms-19470656.php

A heat dome in Mexico contributed to Houston’s rare derecho event on May 16, when deadly and destructive winds whipped Southeast Texas, leaving eight dead and much of the nation’s fourth-largest city without electricity, according to the National Weather Service.

The recent derecho event in Houston was only the fifth derecho reported in Texas in the past 40 years. Derechos are widespread storm systems featuring straight-line winds that occur with bands of rapidly moving thunderstorms, such as bow echoes or squall lines.

Although a derecho can produce damage similar to a tornado, two of which also were confirmed in the May 16 storms, the damage typically runs in one direction along a relatively straight swath, the weather service says.

A ridge of high atmospheric pressure has been lingering in Mexico for several weeks. This heat dome has resulted in scorching temperatures across Central America, far South Texas, and southern Florida. Heat index readings exceeded 115 degrees in Key West, marking the highest such temperatures ever recorded there......

Some of the most noteworthy Texas derecho events have occurred in May:

The Texas Boaters Derecho in 1986 was caused by a line of storms that lashed much of Southeast Texas, overturning 65 boats in the Galveston Bay during a fishing tournament and a boat race.
The Texas Derecho of 1989 started in the Panhandle and traveled 900 miles in 15 hours before stopping in Louisiana.
The People Chaser Derecho of 2001 produced 80 mph winds in Fort Worth for more than 10 minutes.
The High Wind Derecho of 2007 in North Texas produced 80 mph winds in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, taking down power lines and leaving a quarter million people without power.