Will summer temperatures be as kind to the HVAC industry in Texas this year as it was last year??
Last year's summer weather was good for air-conditioning in the Houston and greater Texas area. Several records were broken and we experienced one of the warmest years on record.
What will be the effect of weather on the HVAC industry for 2012?
Weather pridiction for 2012: Just Weather
Winter temperatures will be milder than normal, on average, with much-below-normal rainfall. The coldest periods will occur in early and mid-December, early January, and early February. Snowfall will be below normal and limited to the north, with the snowiest periods in mid-December and early January.
April and May will continue warmer than normal, with rainfall above normal in the north and below normal in central and southern areas.
Summer will be a bit cooler than normal, on average, with the hottest periods in mid-June and early and late July. Rainfall will be slightly above normal in The Valley, but below normal elsewhere, with drought a threat.
September and October will be much cooler than normal, with rainfall below normal in the north and above in the south. Expect hurricanes in mid-September and early October, especially in The Valley.
2011 Weather:
May 2011 was drier than normal across most of Texas, particularly in North Central and East Texas, though rainfall throughout the month was characterized by isolated locations picking up excessive amounts of precipitation. By the end of the month, East Texas had moderate drought conditions as dryness in May, normally one of the wettest months of the year, combined with much warmer than normal temperatures.
Temperatures in May 2011 across West Texas were near normal across the western half of Texas and much above normal in the eastern half of the state. College Station had its second warmest May and Houston had its third warmest May on record. In particular, the end of the month provided a historically hot stretch of weather in Central, East, and Southeast Texas. Houston Hobby set or tied a daily high temperature record each day and Galveston tied the high temperature record on both the 28th and 29th. Waco tied a record high on the 29th, barely missing becoming the eight May day since 1902 to top 100°F. Ironically, Midland was the only first-order station to reach the century mark in May, topping out at 100°F degrees on the 6th, though it had the largest monthly maximum temperature departure from normal. Pecos had the highest maximum temperature in the entire contiguous United States each day in the period from the 21st through the 23rd (104°F, 102°F, and 100°F). Earlier in the month, Laredo accomplished the same feat from the 11th through the 13th (103°F, 100°F, and 97°F).
June 2011 has entered the record books as a tie for the fourth warmest month, and the hottest June in all of Texas weather recorded history! With a statewide average temperature of 85.2°F, the heat dominated most of Texas and hit West Texas, the Panhandle, the Southern Plains, and North Texas the hardest. Cities like Wichita Falls, San Angelo, and Lubbock had average temperatures of 9.8°F, 9.4°F, and 8.8°F above normal, respectively. In addition, twenty-five highest maximum temperature records were broken, and thirty-two records were tied across the state. Paducah skyrocketed to 118°F on June 27th and was the warmest temperature in the U.S. on that day. However, it only tied the record set back in 1994. Galveston shattered its’ previous monthly record by 3°F on the 5th with a high maximum temperature of 99°F.
The excessive heat took its’ toll on Texas during June and played a major role in the continuing, devastating drought. The current drought was officially named as the third-worst drought in Texas history with a Palmer Drought Severity Index value of -6.37 for June 2011. Also, this month tied for the 5th driest June in history, and became the driest nine-month record (October-June) ever by almost an inch. In early June, more than 50% of the state was classified to be in an ‘Exceptional Drought’ and the percentage expanded to more than 70% by the time July rolled around. With the exemption of parts of Northeast Texas, the drought monitor showed exceptional drought across much of the state by the end of June. Most of Texas received little rain and ended below 50% of the percent average of total precipitation, excluding areas such as Austin, Bryan/College Station, the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, and the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Lubbock and Midland went without rain altogether!
July 2011 was a hot one, folks! Both daytime and nighttime average temperatures were above normal all across the state and Wichita Falls led the pack with a mean temperature of 92.9°F, 8.1°F above normal. Six stations obtained average maximum temperatures above 100°F and all cities, except Brownsville, were at least 3 degrees warmer than the normal mean maximum temperature. Numerous stations witnessed a sweltering trend of consecutive days in the triple digits. Excluding Galveston, Brownsville, and Corpus Christi, all of the cities reached absolute maximum temperatures above 100°F at some point during July. Wichita Falls recorded 111°F, and DFW and San Angelo recorded highs of 106°F this month. Notably, the high minimum temperatures were extremely warm during July.
The dry conditions and excessive heat served to intensify the “Exceptional Drought” conditions across most of the state. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor , over 75% of Texas was experiencing the worst-possible drought scenario on July 26th. Sections of North Central Texas and far South Texas were the only places not enduring severe, extreme, or exceptional drought conditions
· Galveston: 85 (tied all-time July record) on July 23, 2011
· Previous record: 85 on several dates, most recently on June 27, 2011
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