Convenience Big Store: Why is hurricane season so quiet right now?

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Is Friday really the first day of summer? Here are four good reasons why it's not

Friday marks the summer solstice, or the moment when the Northern Hemisphere (where Texans are) is tilted the most toward the sun. The Earth's maximum tilt relative to the sun, which itself is based on its position in its orbit around the sun, means that day will have the most hours of daylight, or about 14 hours, 3 minutes and 30 seconds. But is Friday really the first day of summer? You can make at least four arguments why it's not.

Memorial Day weekend is already widely regarded as the unofficial start of summer.
Houston as early as May 14 hit its average annual maximum temperature of 96 degrees — a full month before the summer solstice.
Meteorological summer started June 1 and lasts until Aug. 31, and is climatologically the warmest time of the year.
Another major sign that summer is here in Houston is the June 1 start of the Atlantic hurricane season, which ends on Nov. 30, the last day of meteorological fall.

Speaking of hurricanes, now's the time to make an emergency plan for hurricane season, and the Houston Chronicle is here to help. We launched a texting service for this hurricane season. Sign up to get tips on how to prepare for a storm. Plus, we'll send you updates whenever a storm approaches. Sign up here or text HURRICANES to (713) 804-8129. We'll help make sure you're ready.

Roberto Villalpando, Texas Weather Science Editor

roberto.villalpando@houstonchronicle.com

Justin's Five Day Fit Check

Photo by: Ken Ellis

This week's weather pattern seems to mimic last week's pattern pretty closely. Monday is likely to be the most active day for storms through Wednesday. Any downpours occurring Tuesday into Wednesday will likely be more isolated and confined to coastal and near-coastal areas. Thursday and Friday's forecast includes slightly higher rain chances that are comparable to Monday's rainfall. Keep the umbrella nearby this week, but know that you won't need it every time you step outside.

Ask a Meteorologist

Hurricane season is underway, but the Atlantic Basin remains quiet. What's going on?

Since the start of the Atlantic hurricane season on June 1, not much is going on in the Atlantic Basin — which includes the tropical Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea or the Gulf of Mexico — at least not yet.

However, in the past 10 hurricane seasons, the Atlantic Basin has had a named storm form before June seven times. Since 2022, though, the Atlantic has held off until after June 1 to produce the first named storm. This year's first named storm will be given the name Andrea.

One reason why the Atlantic has been so quiet has been the recent surge in Saharan dust. Each spring and summer, large plumes of Saharan dust travel thousands of miles across the Atlantic Basin. The presence of such an arid air mass hinders tropical cyclone development. While a tropical disturbance can overcome this forbidding foe if conditions are just right, that hasn't been the case so far this hurricane season.

The National Hurricane Center does not anticipate any tropical cyclone development through at least the upcoming weekend.

Historically, Atlantic tropical cyclone development begins to ramp up by mid-August and lasts through mid-October, with the seasonal peak occurring during the first two weeks of September.

Do you have a Houston weather or climate question? If so, you can submit your weather questions to justin.ballard@houstonchronicle.com. They may just end up in a future edition of the weather newsletter.

Something to see

Photo by: National Weather Service

Here's a look at Houston temperatures since Memorial Day weekend. After Houston recorded its fourth-warmest May ever, Houston continues to experience above-normal temperatures. However, we did see a significant dip in daily high temperatures with recent rounds of stormy weather. But the city's unusually warm morning lows have pushed June's average temperature so far to 83.7 degrees, which is 1.8 degrees warmer than normal for the month to date. Figures are from Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston's official climate observation site. Normal values are based on averages taken from 30 years of observed data from 1991 to 2020.

Texas Weather Wonks Trivia

Houston's official climate observation site at Bush Intercontinental Airport records an average of 6 inches of rain in June. So far, the first half of June this year has produced 4.38 inches. Thanks to Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, Houston recorded its rainiest June ever: How many inches of rain fell that month?

A) 17.76

B) 18.85

C) 19.21

D) 20.17

Hit reply to this email to let us know what your guess is and a chance to win. We'll let you know who answered correctly first in next week's newsletter.

Here's the correct answer to last week's trivia question: Houston recorded its highest average daily low for June in 2022, what was it? It's B) 76.5 degrees.

Other weather news

A-frame houses are seen the day after Hurricane Beryl made landfall nearby Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Surfside Beach.

Photo by: Jon Shapley, Staff Photographer

The 713 Weather Radar newsletter is written and produced by meteorologist Justin Ballard and Texas Weather Science Editor Roberto Villalpando. You can reach out to them at justin.ballard@houstonchronicle.com and roberto.villalpando@houstonchronicle.com or by replying directly to this email.