Tropical Storm Don: 

Desperately seeking drought-stricken Texas

5:00 PM EDT Thu 7/28/11 Update: 
There many interesting weather stories around the country today, including our forecasts for the "Hydroplane Races" this weekend along the Columbia River in  southeast Washington, covered by Lead Forecaster Mark Ingalls and posted in his website: mizweather.blogspot.com. The boat races are just one of many venues that will need good weather this weekend to make the 46th annual event a success. 

No water follies in Texas though; it is the real deal this weekend. Mother Nature has found a way to fill the wells and fields of the Lone Star State with a dose of welcome rain from Tropical Storm Don. Our latest reports on this system are posted in our Tropical Zone on facebook, with a followup on additional details  in the "Tropical Forecasts" tab above. However, residents will also have to content with wind. As you would expect, Tropical Storm Warnings and Watches are now in effect for virtually all of the Texas coastline. The NWS Brownsville Office has graphics to lay out the projected path of the storm, though concentrated, as you can see on the radar above. We also applaud the NWS Brownsville staff for excellent use of social media to inform the public of impending hazards: Take a look at their facebook page for comparison.

5:00 PM EDT Wed 7/27/2011 

The National Hurricane Center has issued the first advisory for newly-minted Tropical Storm Don. We hope this is just what the doctor ordered for the drought-stricken southern states, and Forecaster Daniel Ross has posted the latest details in our Tropical Zone facebook page. 

Compare the NHC's projected path of the storm  with the current U.S. Drought Monitor and you'll see why we sure do hope this time, drought relief can be spelled D-O-N. The best outcome would be a "Goldilocks" storm: Not too strong, rain not too heavy (so as to not induce flash flooding), but rather a gentle soaking rain deep into the heart of Texas. Many a Texan farmer may not be able to salvage this year's crop, but at least T.S. Don can help make a dent before the dog days of August arrive.  

"There is life...in the red letters."

-Lyrics from the Christian rock band DC Talk  

10:00 AM EDT Wed 7/27/2011 In some part of the Northeast and Pacific Northwest, today is the kind of smashing blue sky day that forces you to look up and say “Wow, THAT is a BLUE sky.” We wish there was better news for our sweltering colleagues in the Central Plains. Nearly two weeks of unrelenting heat, with temperatures in the low 100’s and little or no rain have devastated thousands of hectares of the crucial summer and fall harvests of corn, soybean and alfalfa in numerous states. 

It's great for some to see a blue sky like this, as observed in Northwest Pennsylvania, but others who depend gray (meaning rain clouds) would prefer to see more of the latter heading into August.

Across the central and southern Mississippi Valley, an on-going bullseye of the 2011 heat wave, we are saddened to see acres and acres of withered corn stalks. In this and many other hard hit areas, it must feel like one can’t win for losing. So far this year, portions of these states have gone from too much snow to too much rain, leading to widespread flooding this Spring. Many farmers in this region report that rapid arrival of extreme heat made soil and atmospheric conditions too dry for effective crop yields. 

Hope from the Tropics?  

Meteorologist Randall J. posted an overnight report on this system in our Tropical Zone on facebook and in the "Tropical Forecasts" section of this site. When the National Hurricane Center denotes a disturbed area in the high probability range for development, the band DC Talk might agree that “there is life in the red letters.” That life for drought-parched area could  arrive  in the form of a slow-moving tropical system, which is designated with red letters and colors if the system reaches 70% or greater probability. To bring relief to heat-stricken areas, ideally the system would merge with a frontal boundary and deliver a multi-day soaking to the Southern U.S. Upper level steering currents indicate this system has the potential to move in a northerly direction into the Gulf of Mexico.