Ain't Mother Nature a tricky one?
Is it hot outside? Yup. Is the best way to cool the air in the summer rain? Sure is. Can we get the rain and leave the somewhat severe aspect out? Well...not in Tuesday's case we couldn't.
What you saw on Tuesday in Bryan / College Station was a forecast that came true. When we forecast a 20% chance of rain it means that 20% of the area will likely see rain while 80% of our forecast area will likely not. With only a few area's actually getting wet yesterday, that was a valid forecast. So while many stayed dry, those that were lucky to get a free lawn watering from Mother Nature also had to deal with cleaning up branches, leaves...and in some cases, even whole trees.
Why So Windy So Fast
When thunderstorms pop up with the heat of the day in the summer they normally are what we call "pulsing storms" or "popcorn storms" -- basically develop very quickly and then fall apart just as quick. With some of the stronger storms, like yesterday's, a lot of wind get involved with these storms as they grow 2,000...3,000...even sometimes 4,000 feet into the atmosphere. So they take in all of this wind quickly and, as the storm starts to fall apart, they push all of that energy and wind all at once when they start to fall apart. The outcome is what we call "down burst winds" which can cause localized areas of damage and destruction -- usually with small out-buildings, trees, branches and even power poles.
Damage In The Area
Below are pictures sent in by Weather Watchers across Bryan and College Station. We always encourage you to share you weather pictures (damage, rain, sunrise, sunset...etc) at any time. Feel free to email them to weather@kbtx.com or tweet them to @KBTXWeather, @KBTXShel (or any of the PinPoint Forecast Team) using the hashtag #kbtxwx.





Another Round of Storms?
We have another 20% chance of showers and possibly strong thunderstorms in our forecast again today -- and like yesterday some of those could produce brief, heavy rain and strong, damaging winds. It will be a "pop up where they will" type situation so not saying Bryan / College Station will be the one to see rain again today and not saying that another wind event will happen like Tuesday....but it will be possible. Stay tuned and don't forget you can always use our Interactive PinPoint Radar to track storms as they approach & blow through your backyard.