Dispatches from around the city, as told to Houstonist by various friends: In Seabrook, a doctor's lakefront home was under four feet of water on Saturday. When the waters receded on Monday, the family went to begin cleaning and salvaging the house and its contents. Among the stranger findings: on the front lawn, the television from a guest room, two dining room chairs and a bottle of wine, all grouped neatly together; in the pool,......

Memorial and the west side of Houston weren't hit as hard by Hurricane Ike as most other areas of town. Nevertheless, the abundance of huge oak and pine trees in the area means that local residents are still digging out of piles of branches, limbs and leaves and attempting to remove the many trees that have fallen onto houses and into streets. Most of the area is still without power and most local businesses remain......

Fortunately, the media has embraced a new buzzword to replace — or at least temporarily displace — "hockey mom". Unfortunately, that buzzword (buzz phrase?) is none other than hunker down. Houstonist had used "hunker down" in conversation about Hurricane Ike over the past week, but the first official reference to hunkering that we noticed came yesterday, when Harris County Judge Ed Emmett instructed Houston-area residents to hunker: "We are still saying: Please shelter in place,......

Houstonist has just taken our last hot shower for what might be a while, and we're now cozied up to the computer while the comforting blue-green glow of besuited weathermen and frantic on-location reporters on the television fills the room. Hurricane Ike should make landfall in Houston during the night with winds of up to 115 miles per hour, but it's the landfall in Galveston on which the country has currently trained its eyes.......

A special treat for all of you staying in Houston to give a big middle finger to Ike: Geraldo Rivera getting pummeled by the storm's smallest wave. We recommend watching this on repeat for full viewing pleasure.......

Houstonist took a photo trek this afternoon prior to Hurricane Ike hitting late tonight. We cruised around Montrose, Shepherd and Westheimer to bring you a few photos of businesses that have prepared for the impending weather.......

Chances are, the weather outside is downright hot and humid. It is, after all, Houston and summer. Cranking the AC down to Arctic keeps some folks cool, but for those of us that are looking to save (money or the environment), thankfully, there are other options out there for energy reduction. The Simple Dollar suggests some handy "ceiling fan hacks" that will allow you to save some energy: A typical central air conditioning unit uses......

>> Wintry mix blasts Panhandle, North Texas with sleet, snow: They came from the north and helped freeze your tootsies. Yep, those darn north winds are to blame for the uber chill around town today writes Meteorologist Tim Heller on the Houston Weather Blog. The same system that blanketed North Texas with nine inches of snow and caused Dallas-Ft. Worth airport to cancel 200 flights will share its chill with Houston. "This type of......

Good morning, Houston. As we were sitting around Monday morning contemplating using a witch's extremity to keep warm, we started to wonder exactly how cold it's gotten in the city before — and, thanks to the Internet, we know! According to the National Weather Service, the record low temperature for Houston was 5 degrees Fahrenheit, which we hit on Jan. 23, 1940. Maybe more interesting, though, is the Houston snowfall record: Turns out we......

With a zero percent chance of rain, a high of about 75 today and 51 tonight, this gorgeous weather and these amazing temperatures make today's Daily-ist an obvious one. Get outside! That's right, get outside and enjoy these wonderful and rare, beautiful days. Soak up some sun, have a picnic, go to the park, enjoy something nice to drink, relax and just have fun! Date: Today Time: Right now Place: Anywhere you want to......

Houstonist recently kept you abreast of the “Humberto Incident”, where a low pressure system in the Gulf strengthened in less than 24 hours and slammed ashore, with sustainable wind gusts of 85 mph as a Category 1 hurricane, near High Island, causing power outages, localized flooding and wind damage. When storms give you little warning – the choice is already made for you to shelter in place. The media here is rife with preparedness information......

Is it just us, or does it seem like this summer weather will never end? Fall officially begins tomorrow Sunday, but with temperatures over 90 degrees, heat indexes near 100, and tropical systems in the gulf, it doesn’t look like it will end soon. Or will it? Houstonist loves fall weather. We love that feeling of the first true cool front, where you can sit outside on the patio of our favorite bar after work......

WOW! Houstonist knew Humberto had strengthening potential, apparently he is "strong like bull", forming and achieving hurricane status within a 24 hour period. While Houston did not get much action, our neighbors to the East have been walloped with rains and sustained wind gusts of up to 85 mph. Houstonist has heard that there are possibly 100,000 people are without power this morning, as Hurricane Humberto made landfall just east of High Island and continues......

We told you conditions were ripe, and now we have T.S. Humberto (pronounced just like the "H" in Humble, which is "not at all", it's decorative, like faux greenery). Packing a maximum sustained wind "punch" of 45 MPH, he will be paying us a visit tonight, he's still lumbering right for us, and not too hastily. Given that we've gotten quite the soaking all summer long, we could be in for some street flooding later......

Yup, Tropical Depression 9 has formed and is tracking North. What was once an area of low pressure could be a Tropical Storm by landfall as conditions are ripe. Projected ETA to the Houston/Galveston area is 7:00 p.m. and rainfalls of 6"-10" are possible with up to 15" in some areas. The projected flood watch area stretches from Houston/Galveston to Lake Charles. T.D. 9 is plodding along at about 8-10 mph and may slooooowly mosey......

Psssstttt... are you still awake?? All you insomniacs and uber-early risers are in for special moon effects early-early this morning. Take a peek out the window around 5 - 6:20am today (Tuesday) and watch as the moon passes through the Earth's shadow and turns a lovely copper-red. Grab those binoculars and a Super Sized coffee as you won't be getting mooned like this again until 2011. We heart lunar eclipses (and our snooze button).......

So, in case you haven't noticed, it's hot. Exactly how hot? It was 102 yesterday afternoon, tying the record set in 1962. On Friday, the heat index reached as high as 111 in some parts of town. Highs have been over 95 since last Monday, and it looks like they'll continue that way until the end of this week. Good lord. Looks like it's time to invest in a giant bag of ice and a......

Only in Houston could a month with an average temperature of 90 degrees be considered refreshingly cool — but that's what July was, according to KHOU. Our average July temp of 90 was four degrees cooler that the normal July average, and the hottest temperature recorded last month was 96 — short of the near-100s we'll probably see later in the summer. The persistent rain was part of the reason for the low temperatures, but......

Good morning, Houston. Weather got you down? Here's a fun story to lighten your mood: drunk astronauts. A report on astronaut mental health (undertaken after the infamous Lisa Nowak incident) revealed that NASA has sent astronauts into space totally sloshed. This happened in spite of the fact that they put a ban on alcohol consumption at least 12 hours before launch. Oops. We hope they're not too hard on the astronauts. After all, it's......

Good morning, Houston. You know what today is, right? It's the day before what's apparently the most important book in the history of the world, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is released. If you're a Harryhead and a fan of Katy, our neighbor to the west, you should be delighted to know that Katy has been named the "Harryest" town in Texas — the distinction that goes to the town that pre-ordered the......

Only a few times (a week) does Houstonist gets so excited about an event that we forget about this summer's deluge for a few moments. Weather was the last thing on our minds when our mother told us we found out about this event. More like, "weather" or not we should just go camp out now and wait for the opening. (Please don't let our contrived puns keep you from reading.) Perspectives 157: Xaviera Simmons,......

We're not sure if you've noticed, but it's rained a lot lately. No, really. And the persistent showers are hurting more than our mood: They're also taking a bite out of local businesses. Across the area, people aren't getting concrete poured, they're not getting their lawns mowed, they're not buying plants or playing golf or getting their roofs repaired — and for business owners, that means a tough few weeks. "This weather is killing us,"......

Good morning, Houston. We're regular NPR listeners, and we enjoy it as much as the next guy when legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg gives us another thrilling reading of a Supreme Court transcript. Even so, we were a little surprised to hear an ad the other day for NPR's newest piece of merchandise, the limited-edition Nina Totin' Bag. Yes, it's what you'd think it is: a tote bag with Totenberg's mug on it (in,......

So it rained a lot yesterday, and it looks like we're not going to get much of a break today. Or tomorrow. Or — well, actually, it's looking like the rail will continue for at least the next seven days. The bright spot in all this is that the rain may hold off for the big fireworks show Wednesday night: "We have seen, the last four or five days, rain in the morning and rain......

So we're three-quarters of the way through June — and in case you haven't noticed, it's powerful warm out there. But is it really hotter this June than it has been in previous years? As a matter of fact, it is, reports the Chronicle's Eric Berger: The temperatures so far this month have been two degrees above normal, and it looks like that's not going to change this weekend, when the skies are expected to......

The earth will ceased rotating on it's axis, or at least it will appear to have done so, briefly at 1:06 p.m. CST tomorrow, June 21st. That is precisely when Summer Solstice occurs. We hope that ups our odds for a date, because it's not exactly getting colder so we don't anticipate any "freeze overs" anywhere. What this means, in addition to your having a midsummer's night's dream (seeing fairy's and goblin's and the like)......

Good morning, Houston. Remember Radar, the adorable Channel 2 weather dog? If you're a Ken Hoffman reader, we can't imagine how you'd forget. It turns out someone in Tyler was a big fan of the idea: a TV station there has their own weather dog, Stormy. Stormy serves a function similar to Radar's and also wears an American flag bandana and takes ridiculous pictures. Just another reason to be glad you don't live in......

Happy June, everyone. Today is the first day of hurricane season, which might bring back some bad memories for some of you. But next time a hurricane's headed our way, the Chronicle reports that most of us shouldn't be so quick to blow this popsicle stand. During Rita, about 40% of households outside of the designated evacuation zones tried to leave Houston. Many residents who lived closer to the coast had an unnecessarily difficult time......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. Since hurricane season begins Friday, Dilettante thought it might be time to share the tips that have seen her through various weather “events” over the years. Print this up and tape it to the inside of your bathroom cabinet in case of emergency. - If you are faced with an imminent flood, tornado, hurricane or other natural disaster, the first thing you must......

KHOU reports today on something that isn't exactly new, but is certainly new to us: In March, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange began offering contracts on hurricane futures — meaning individuals and companies can now bet on the probability of where and when a hurricane will hit. And it's not necessarily as bizarre as it sounds (assuming, of course, you have a pretty good idea of a hurricane's path). The CME started offering the hurricane futures......