We are getting more rain. The Brazos river is still rising. It was supposed to crest at just over 53 ft and it's at 54 and still rising. Starting today through Saturday and Sunday they are predicting at least another 3 - 5 inches of rain. However, we're in the middle of the wetter part of the year but after two periods of 15 - 20+ inches of rain within a month of each other, we are past saturation point. We've had areas flood twice. I just pray the rain fizzles out, goes around, or at least only hits us with 3 - 5 inches of rain like they predicted.

I've been watching coverage of the flooding in your area, kat.

The last few weeks here have been typical, rain and sun and fairly comfortable temperatures. Meteorological summer began here June 1 and this weekend summer will arrive with heat and humidity (heat index values may exceed 100F/38C with dewpoints around 70F/21C).

Aaaand it's raining again. Yesterday ended up being quite a bit with more training thunderstorms. This time we had a LOT of lightning and thunder. We've got one more day of it and from what little I'm seeing of the next 7 days of forecast, we'll be back in normal weather patterns with "hot" and random pop up showers/thunderstorms possible. We need to dry out. Thankfully the creeks are down. However, the Brazos river is still high and there are areas where people are either just now getting to go home or haven't been able to yet.

Edit: Just got word that the major interstate between Houston and Dallas/Ft Worth is shut down due to flash flooding and enough water to cover the freeway.

That's an amazing amount of water down there, kat. Stay dry!

Just in time for the June solstice next week, which marks the start of astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere, we're settling into a very summer-like pattern: pop-up thunderstorms with occasional hail and tornadoes, along with some heat and humidity (by local standards). Tomorrow should top out in the low 90s F (about 35C) with heat index values approaching 100F (39C) as Gulf moisture is pumped northward. Not surprisingly this is expected to trigger some more big storms tomorrow night into Monday.

We had such bizarre weather the past three days or so. All three days had minimal chances for rain and storms, anywhere from 0-20%. But we had pretty significant storms pop up all three of those days and just dump rain in one location due to the low-pressure system stalling on top of us. I've never seen storms move on the radar like they were. The first one looked like it was caught in a bathtub drain because it first moved northeast, then northwest, then southeast. And when I say "moved", I use that term lightly because it really didn't move much at all. Lots of localized flooding, closed highways, etc.
Of course the good news is that we haven't been anywhere near as hot as they said we were going to be. I will take a humid 71F over a humid 97F any day.
Today the storms are finally gone, the sun is out, the humidity is at 56%, and it's in the 90Fs. Not terribly pleasant.

Meanwhile the west coast is having an unusual and rather scary heat wave. Lots of 115F/46C records were set today. This is even more crazy due to the time of year.... it's only mid-June.

That time lapse video is simply , fantasia!!

kat, the flooding in your area sounded intense, yikes! Have things settled down now?

115?!! And I thought our heat index of 105F was nasty enough the other day.

We had a really hot spell (for us) late May/early June, when for about a week the humidex reached 104F for a few days in a row. Then, aside from one day, the second week of June cooled down beautifully. The nights dropped down to the mid-40sF!

Today and tomorrow are lovely summer days (if one prefers summer, that is ): fresh breeze, warm, but not hot or humid. This weekend, though, things are ramping up, with hopefully some good thunderstorms on Monday or Tuesday to break the cycle again. We are on the dry side now, and quite need a good day's rainfall.

Counting the days until Autumn ... We've just passed the longest day of the year here in the northern hemisphere, so that's good news ... except that we don't really see any noticeable difference in day lengths until early August.

Yes and no. Yes as we're past the monsoons. No as we still have the mosquitoes and the scattered thunderstorms every afternoon that can cause low levels of street flooding.

Which also means we've got high levels of humidity to go with 93-97F temps...

We've just passed the longest day of the year here in the northern hemisphere, so that's good news ... except that we don't really see any noticeable difference until early August.

That's nice. I hope the temperatures remain mild for you. We finally got some rain, more than enough rain as it happened. Firstly in a storm which coincided with a king tide along the coast. Then last weekend, up until Monday, with Tuesday being the Winter solstice. Definitely cold now, with an Antarctic blast due tomorrow (Friday) and next weekend. Snow is predicted in the Blue Mountains, 25 km from here.

What's a king tide wagga? I'm not sure I've heard of that before.

We were setting heat records left and right here today. It was 104F in the shade according to my truck. We're supposed to have a "cold" front come through tomorrow which should drop the temps about 10F total, so low 90Fs for us for now. Thank goodness for the wind is all I have to say!

What's a king tide wagga? I'm not sure I've heard of that before.

A king tide is an especially high tide that naturally happens two or three times a year, depending on the positions of the Sun, the Moon and the Earth relative to each other, and isn't a tsunami. Until I looked it up on Wikipedia I had no idea that it was an Australasian and Pacific Islander term and not necessarily used elsewhere. Now I have to look up Wikipedia to find out what they mean by a "perigean" spring tide, not knowing what they mean by that term, even though I've heard of spring tides. Except that the full moon was a night or two ago, this particular tide occurred a week or so ago, breaking and damaging some beachside houses, and we have just passed the winter solstice and spring won't be until September.

A perigean tide occurs when the moon is nearest earth (perigee). This occurs once a month, on average, and is independent of the moon's phase (for example, perigee came on June 3 and will occur again on July 1, while full moon is June 20 and July 19). The moon at perigee is about 30,000km closer to earth than its average value, enough to make tides stronger.

According to the wiki article spring tide is not a reference to the season, but to rising or jumping up, like a natural spring of water does. They occur around full or new moon, when the earth, moon, and sun are roughly in a line (technically called syzygy - 3 astronomical objects in a line. Impress your friends and use that in Scrabble sometime )

I've heard of king tides but read the wiki article just to learn more about them. It mentions tides are stronger when the earth is at perihelion (closest to the sun, around January 1) and a little weaker when the earth is at aphelion (farthest from the sun, around July 4). So this king tide was weakened slightly by earth being near aphelion. /astronomical ramble

That's some amazing heat, fantasia. This past weekend was steamy by local standards, with heat index values around 100F/39C, with high dew points. Almost made me long for that snow wagga mentioned in her earlier post. (Hey, only 83 days until the start of our possible snow season!)

I've heard of king tides but read the wiki article just to learn more about them.

Thank you for your enlightening comments, stargazer. It sounds very much that what the weather man and BOM tells me is a king tide might be the same thing as what is known elsewhere as a perigean spring tide. And yes, the "spring" in the tide did confuse me.

I've lost track of time I'm afraid because you are right. The Sydney king tide (Pacific Ocean/Tasman Sea) around the Queen's birthday long weekend (June 10-13) caused a lot of damage to a bunch of houses on a northshore beachside street called Ramsay Street (surely not the TV soapie Neighbours Ramsay Street?) when it coincided with a strong storm, which caused a lot of damage to an inland Southern Tablelands town called Picton. The haggling with insurance firms and local government about breakwaters, retaining walls and the difference between storm damage and flood damage caused by a storm is still ongoing.

We are told, again by the weather man, that coinciding with the Antarctic storm at Adelaide today, there is going to be another king tide there - from the Southern Ocean this time, not the Pacific. Is this normal behaviour as well? Does king tide ocean set off another one in a different area? And is it possible to have a neap tide (very low tide?) in one direction and a king tide in another?

I'd use that syzygy term in Scrabble if only I knew how to say it. Looks like someone called Ziggy.

My brother and sister in law also live in an area where there are king tides - the southern edge of Papua New Guinea. They have lived for a long time in the highlands area but regularly visiting one of the wide rivers on the south coast. King tides can wreak damage, ruin water supplies, food growing, and housing.

@coracle: How's winter treating New Zealand's South Island? Years ago I visited Christchurch and there were these mountains to the north which were snowcapped in January, the first time I ever saw such mountains, except in pictures. Here it has been quite cold. The Daily Telegraph ran an article telling about the last time it snowed in Sydney which was in 1836, though a few times we've seen a bit of sleet, no more. They say that Perisher Valley, Smiggins Hole and Thredbo have all had good snowfalls. There was snow up to Guyra, near Tamworth.