There is never a shortage of interesting weather somewhere in the country. If it’s winter it’s usually going to be cold or snowy in some region and if it’s spring or summer you can often find heat, thunderstorms, and/or tropical weather.

This morning, the most interesting weather is across the Gulf of Mexico where tropical storm Bill became the second named storm of the season. This system isn’t large and doesn’t have strong enough wind to make it a hurricane, but it does contain a lot of moisture in a concentrated area, and it it’s poised to hit Texas and Oklahoma.

The impact of tropical systems is often misunderstood. On the current scales we use to describe tropical systems a hurricane is considered worse than a tropical storm. However, because wind, not projected rainfall, is used to categorize these weather phenomena it can give a false impression of the impending damage. Just because a storm has more wind around its core, doesn’t mean there will be greater overall impact. The media very often over oversimplifies these storms by only focusing on the wind.

There are many examples in weather history when a tropical storm has done much more damage than category 1 or even 2 hurricanes.

Several years ago, when tropical storm Irene moved through Vermont, it caused millions and millions of dollars in damage. The wind wasn’t a factor in this that storm; it was all the heavy rainfall. Some folks were surprised by the damage from that storm since it wasn’t a hurricane.

Even though hurricane Sandy was officially no longer a hurricane and had lost much of her tropical characteristics upon landfall, it’s another example of a weather system, which obviously caused a lot of damage.

Tropical Storm Bill

This morning we find tropical storm Bill poised to hit the coast of Texas. This storm will bring copious amounts of rainfall to an area with extremely statured ground. This combination of wet earth and more rain is going to bring flooding to a region that has seen more than its share of flooding this spring and early summer.

The first map below tell us how much rain has fallen over the past 60 days. Notice the area of eastern and northern Texas on up through Oklahoma where some areas have received over 30 inches of rain. These numbers have broken records and left the ground unable to hold any more moisture and put rivers at very high levels.

Now let’s look at how much rainfall tropical storm Bill will bring to the same area. Unfortunately, these same waterlogged areas are about to get even more rain. In some cases there could be another 5-10 inches of rainfall through Thursday. All of this rain is going to exacerbate the problem further and likely make weather the lead story on all the local and even national newscasts in the coming day or two.

Much Less Rain Here
The final map I will show this morning is one indicating projected rainfall for the northeast through Thursday. Notice, while there is some more rain on the way, it’s not very much. We have the chance of showers this afternoon and again on Thursday with a nearly flawless day tomorrow. Sunshine on Wednesday will dry out the air and with temperatures in the 70s it will be perfect for nearly all outdoor activities.

Upcoming weekend
The start of the weekend looks sunny and pleasant. There could be some shower activity for Father’s Day, but some of this will depend on the movement of what is left of Bill by then. I’ll update the forecast here and on Twitter @growingwisdom. Please follow me there and ask any questions you might have.

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