A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
Every event with a place to put it; 33 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS HGX wrote it up.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 5, 11:34 AM UTC, 5 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX 634 AM CDT Tue Sep 5 2023 ...New AVIATION... .SHORT TERM... (Today through Wednesday Night) Issued at 344 AM CDT Tue Sep 5 2023 Deep, low-level onshore flow will keep the mid/lower atmosphere very moist today. PWs are expected to range from 1.60-1.70" in our northern counties to near 2.0" at the coast. Meanwhile, a weak shortwave over south-central Texas will slowly crawl eastward, introducing modest lift over our region today. Current CAMs guidance suggest only isolated to maybe scattered shower/thunderstorm activity. This doesn't seem unreasonable given the weak mid-level capping in the forecast soundings. However, CAMs generally underestimated rainfall coverage yesterday and the atmospheric set- up of today is similar. Therefore, today's PoPs are a compromise between the generally drier CAMs and the wetter NBM guidance, ranging from as low as ~20% over our CWA's western fringes to ~50% from the I-45 corridor points east. By Wednesday, the upper-air pattern will be transitioning to a more ridge dominant regime, acting to suppress PoPs and increase temperatures. However, residual PVA will keep PoPs at least slight. There exists model discrepancies regarding the PW amounts. In addition, onshore flow will gradually become less deep throughout the day with NE flow prevailing above 925MB by the afternoon. Given the potential for PWs to remain high along with the NBM guidance's insistence on higher rain chances, we opted to not go too low with PoPs. However, PoPs are generally lower for tomorrow, ranging from 10-20% in our northern counties to 20-35% across the southern CWA. Regarding temperatures, afternoon inland highs are expected to be in the 95F to 100F range today and 96F to 102F range tomorrow with low 90s near the coast. Due to the more deep onshore flow today, dew points are likely to remain quite high into the afternoon. The current blend used for our forecast dew points lead to widespread apparent temperatures of 106F to 108F with locally higher values, especially over our coastal and eastern counties. Therefore, conditions will be very close to Heat Advisory criteria this afternoon and may warrant the issuance of an advisory later today. Dew points appear a little lower tomorrow but with temperatures a degree or two hotter. Therefore, we could be flirting with advisory criteria once again on Wednesday. Self && .LONG TERM... (Thursday through Monday) Issued at 344 AM CDT Tue Sep 5 2023 Mid/upper level ridging building back into the area from the west will allow inland high temperatures to rise back into the low 100s, and these values in combination with persistent onshore winds and elevated dew points will support the need for a Heat Advisory for much of the area. Some spots could get very close or exceed a high of 105 degrees (especially on Friday), and this would support an Excessive Heat Warning. A few isolated showers/storms could develop (embedded weak shortwaves/disturbances), but expecting the ridge to win out and keep a majority of the area dry. All heat safety precautions should be taken areawide. The pattern begins to change over the weekend as the ridge retreats to the west. Decreasing heights will allow for a drop in high temperatures, but we look to still be flirting with 100 degrees for both Saturday (heat index values could support another Heat Advisory) and Sunday (heat index values below advisory levels). Rain chances are back in the forecast starting on Saturday and continuing into Sunday and possibly Monday as heights lower and shortwaves on the eastern fringes of the ridge edge toward/into the area from the north. Will keep rain chances on the low side for now as timing these shortwaves is difficult this far out. If the rains/storms timing is right, we could end up with ever so slightly cooler afternoon highs. 42 && .AVIATION... (12Z TAF Issuance) Issued at 627 AM CDT Tue Sep 5 2023 Southerly winds this morning will become more southeasterly this afternoon. Afternoon sustained winds are expected to peak 10-12 kts with higher gusts. Showers streaming in from the Gulf will continue this morning and push northward. There is still a possibility of TS activity. However, any TS activity will be isolated and doesn't warrant VCTS as of this update. Therefore, VCTS was replaced with VCSH for the afternoon time frame. Winds decrease overnight with mixed guidance support for MVFR cigs for our northern terminals. Seeing that our northern terminals managed periodic MVFR this morning, we lean towards cigs dropping to MVFR levels late tonight into early tomorrow morning at CLL, UTS, and potentially CXO. && .MARINE... Issued at 344 AM CDT Tue Sep 5 2023 Light to moderate onshore winds will prevail through mid week, with wind speeds at times approaching caution thresholds. Winds will diminish slightly by the end of the week and then persist into the weekend. There will be a daily chance of isolated thunderstorms, which may at times produce stronger wind gusts and elevated seas. 42 && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 344 AM CDT Tue Sep 5 2023 Afternoon RH values will gradually decline through Friday, resulting in a corresponding increase in the fire risk as we approach week's end. By Thursday and especially Friday, Brazos Valley and Piney Woods afternoon RH could drop below 30 percent. There is a chance of isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms today and tomorrow. However, many locations will not receive any rain. In addition, those lucky enough to receive a beneficial downpour are unlikely to see a fundamental change in the state of the dry fuels that have been in place this summer. So generally speaking, there remains an enhanced fire risk through the forecast period, with the highest risk occurring on Thursday and Friday. Burn bans remain in effect for all of SE TX. Self && .CLIMATE... Issued at 344 AM CDT Tue Sep 5 2023 Yesterday's high temperature at Houston IAH was only 96 degrees. The last time IAH recorded a high temperature of only 96 degrees was on July 9th. This streak of 57 consecutive days of 96 degrees or higher beats the old record of 36 straight days in July-August 1993. 42 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... College Station (CLL) 101 77 101 77 / 30 10 10 10 Houston (IAH) 97 79 99 78 / 50 10 30 0 Galveston (GLS) 91 83 91 81 / 50 10 30 10 && .HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...High Rip Current Risk through this evening for TXZ436>439. GM...None. && SHORT TERM...Adams LONG TERM....Adams AVIATION...Self MARINE...Adams
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
33 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
A heat wave gripped much of Southeast Texas in early September with at least advisory level conditions experienced for several days between September 5th and September 9th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, September 2023
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1142021, 1142020, 1142022, 1142023, 1142024, 1142026, 1142027, 1142028, 1142029, 1142030, 1142031, 1142032, 1142033, 1142034, 1142035, 1142036, 1142037, 1142038, 1142039, 1142040, 1142041, 1142043, 1142044, 1142045, 1142046, 1142047, 1142052, 1142053, 1142055, 1142056, 1142057, 1142058, 1142059.