Why has Houston, Texas been so stormy lately?

HOUSTON — Houston and Southeast Texas have been experiencing wet weather for nearly a month, bringing rounds of rain and thunder. So what’s going on? How can there be so much storm for so long?

The answer can be found by looking at wind patterns aloft across North America. See that big circle of winds centered on the Pacific coast of Mexico? It is the center of a huge ridge of high pressure.

If you live below the center of this ridge in Mexico, you have experienced hot, dry weather in recent weeks. In fact, Houston experienced such a spike last summer that it caused a severe drought. We were wondering if it would ever rain again… remember?

Well, this year a similar ridge formed, but instead of being under the hot, dry center of the ridge, Houston is on the outer edge of the ridge. This part of the ridge is often called the “Ring of Fire.” Not because it’s hot, but because it can be very rainy and stormy on the edge of a ridge.

This pattern has remained in place for several weeks. This is why we have had episodes of rain and storms that hit our region from west to east. Bits of energy (dashed lines in the image above) travel through the upper winds from west to east. Each brings with it a chance of rain and storms.

This type of weather situation can remain “stuck” for months. However, this particular situation is only expected to last a few more days and is expected to ease and end our daily rain chances by the middle of next week.