Houston, TX – You may have started last weekend with a windy, dusty start. I got this email from a Cypress viewer:
Friday around 3 pm we had a wind storm--well, mostly sand storm. Wind was blowing, I want to say, around 60 mph and it was like a dust storm, then some heavy rain. Do you have any idea why we had a dust storm? First time it has ever happened here. Patricia L.
I certainly can. Look first at the synoptic maps from Friday morning to Friday afternoon and look at the placement of that cold front from north of Dallas (in Denton) to the coast in just ten hours. That’s 350miles in ten hours--35miles an hour!
So for a front to move consistently that quickly, wind obviously is pushing it. IAH maxed out at winds of 40mph, Hobby 41mph, Conroe 35mph, Tomball 31mph, Pearland 30mph and Galveston 25mph. So there’s the wind and I wouldn’t be surprised if Cypress had gusts to 50mph.
Why? The temperature contrast. The cold front that came through was indeed cold (Dallas had a high of only 74°) and before the front arrived we had our highest temperatures all week at 91°. That means the hot air went quickly upward over the cool air causing it to release its energy and come BACK toward the surface as cold, rushing air. So the gusts were impressive along with the clouds. Look at this click2pin from shand12 in League City!
That wasn’t a rotating funnel but sure looked like one (just scud clouds), and so did this from West U Rob in Texas City:
As for the dust, the front was indeed a dry front for the most part. Dallas had almost an inch of rain, but we had hardly more than a quarter to a half inch. So we got Oklahoma dust to make up for it. This does happen and occasionally we get muddy rain on the cars because of it. I’ve highlighted the heavier precip amounts:
And as for this being a cold front...we dropped from our high of 91° Friday afternoon to our coldest low all month on Saturday of 54°! THAT is quite a drop.
SO WHAT WAS IT?
Conclusion: a fast moving, very cold, very dry front moved through last Friday into a very hot atmosphere. That temperature contrast created strong downburst winds. Fortunately, damage was minimal:
As for today, a breezy, damp cold front has arrived and will bring a blustery evening and Thursday, but will set the stage for a spooktacular Halloween weekend!
Frank
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October 29, 2020 at 12:08AM
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What Happened Last Friday? - KPRC Click2Houston
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