U.S. East Coast Cools Through Next Week While West Gets Hot
The U.S. East Coast may be cooler than normal over the weekend and again at the end of September, according to forecasters.
The eastern U.S. from the Great Lakes to the coast will be cool through Sept. 20, according to forecasts by Matt Rogers, president of Commodity Weather Group LLC, and MDA EarthSat Weather.
The coast and New England will cool again from Sept. 26 to Sept. 30, according to Rogers’s 11- to 15-day forecast. The cool area may extend from the coast to the Appalachian Mountains, according to MDA in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
The Rocky Mountains, western Great Plains and West Coast will be warmer from Sept. 21 to Sept. 30, according to Rogers’ 6- to 10-day and 11- to 15-day forecasts. MDA calls for similar warming, while also predicting that Maine and the Canadian Maritimes will be warm in the Sept. 21 to Sept. 25 time frame.
Natural gas traders use long-range temperature predictions to gauge energy use and market fluctuations. Hot or cold weather can increase demand for heating and cooling, and power plants use about 30 percent of the nation’s gas supplies, according to Energy Department data.
There is a chance Texas may receive 0.75 inch to 1.25 inches of rain through next week, said Rogers, in Bethesda, Maryland. The state is experiencing an exceptional drought, the most extreme on the U.S. Drought Monitor’s five-step scale. The dry conditions are expected to persist.
Houston Drought
Houston has received 11 inches (28 centimeters) of rain this year, or 29.02 less than normal, according to the National Weather Service.
“2011 is about 70 percent complete and it is becoming increasingly possible that 2011 will end as the driest year on record for southeast Texas,” according to the weather service.
The least amount of rain Houston received in a single year was 17.66 inches in 1917.
Along with the lack of rain, the state has also had some of its highest temperatures. Dallas and Fort Worth have had 70 days at or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius), the most ever, according to the weather service. The previous record was 69 days in 1980.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
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