Some long-standing retail rumors may come true if a planned redevelopment of the former Macy’s at Almeda Mall takes place. When Macy’s closed earlier this year, rumors began swirling about what was coming for the property. The building predates the mall and was suspected by many to be demolished to accomplish any redevelopment of the land. However, according to renderings and a site plan produced by the real estate firm handling redevelopment, the old Foley’s ...
In brief: In today’s post we discuss the seasonal conditions for Thanksgiving, which will be followed by widespread showers this weekend. After this we will be sharply colder next week, with a slight chance of a freeze. Also, a brilliant fireball soared through the skies over Houston last night.
Fireball over Southeast Texas
Last night around 10 pm I received a couple of messages about a bright object transiting the sky above Houston. This almost certainly was a fireball, a name for a large meteor (typically a few feet across, or larger) that has an apparent magnitude of -4 or brighter. According to unconfirmed sightings at Fireball reports, this object was brighter, closer to magnitude -10, or nearly as bright as the Moon. Via the local Houston subreddit I found this video of the object, captured at 9:34 pm CT on Tuesday night from north Houston. It is quite spectacular, although I believe you have to be logged into Nextdoor to view it. Even for dedicated meteor observers, such a bright fireball would be a fairly rare sighting. Congratulations to everyone who got to witness it in real time!
Information about a fireball. (American Meteor Society)
Early week tornadoes
A high-end EF-1 and a low-end EF-2 tornado on Monday were confirmed from damage surveys conducted by the National Weather Service northwest of Houston. The first occurred in Riata Ranch. The second was in Klein. Matt compiled a full report on what is known about these tornadoes, which were not particularly well forecast in advance.
Wednesday
Away from the coast temperatures have generally fallen into the 50s this morning. We’re starting to see some gusty winds from the north, and that’s evidence of a reinforcing front that will bring some significantly drier air into the region. As a result we are going to see gusty conditions this afternoon, up to 20 or 25 mph. With the influx of colder air, highs today are likely to max out in the upper 60s, despite sunny skies. Low temperatures tonight will bottom out in the upper 40s in Houston with cooler conditions for outlying areas. Winds will slacken some.
Low temperature forecast for Thanksgiving morning. (Weather Bell)
Thanksgiving Day
The holiday will dawn cold and clear, with light northeasterly winds. High temperatures will, for the most part, be in the mid-60s across the region with clear skies. Really we have zero weather concerns so please just enjoy the holiday with friends and family. Lows on Thanksgiving night will again drop into the upper 40s for many locations, although winds will shift to come from the east overnight, a harbinger of a returning onshore flow.
High temperature forecast for Thanksgiving Day. (Weather Bell)
Friday
After a chilly start, highs on Friday will push into the upper 60s. We are going to see building clouds as atmospheric moisture levels increase. Winds from the southeast will pick up, gusting to perhaps 20 or 25 mph. This increase in moisture will lead to some slight rain chances by Friday night, but for the most part I think they’ll hold off until the weekend.
Saturday and Sunday
We are going to warm up on Saturday, with highs in the 70s and a return of humidity. This will set the stage for widespread showers (although probably not any severe weather) during the day and evening. At some point on Saturday night or early Sunday, a front is going to push into the area. This will bring colder air, but not end rain chances. Sunday should see highs in the vicinity of 60 degrees during the daytime, with perhaps a 50 percent chance of rain. Skies remain mostly cloudy. Most of us should probably pick up, roughly, 1 inch of rain through the weekend. Totals will vary widely, however.
Next week
The first half of next week looks cold, with highs in the 50s, and an ongoing chance of rain. Tuesday and Wednesday morning look to be the coldest of the forecast period, and we cannot rule out a light freeze for inland parts of the Houston area. I would say the chances are low, but non-zero. We’re going to keep an eye on it. When we flirt with a freeze, and there is lingering precipitation, the next question is whether there could be any frozen precipitation. The short answer is probably not. The longer answer is probably not because the colder air arriving by Tuesday should do so as precipitation is ending, but I would not rule anything out just yet. Temperatures appear to moderate some by the second half of next week, with highs likely in the 60s.
So you’re telling me there’s a chance of snow? Probably not. (Weather Bell)
Fundraiser
We are nearing the end of our annual fundraiser for 2025, but it has not ended yet! You can still donate to Space City Weather, or purchase merchandise, by clicking here. We greatly appreciate your support for all we do here.
LOW EARTH ORBIT—Saying the dreaded nightly ritual had quickly become his least favorite part of his mission, astronaut Dave Barron told reporters Wednesday that he absolutely hated the long, freezing spacewalk required to reach the International Space Station’s outhouse. “God, it’s such a pain. You have to put on the whole suit, depressurize, and then spend 25 minutes trudging through the dark, near-absolute-zero void just to take a piss,” said Barron, adding that if, God forbid, he forgot to bring toilet paper, he had to spacewalk all the way back to the orbital station. “And once you get to the outhouse, it’s even worse. There’s always human waste floating around and just an old copy of Popular Mechanics to read. They only gave the ISS one john for all seven of us, and the whole place reeks because they only send up maintenance from Earth every few months. You can’t wash your hands in there, either—they just have a Purell dispenser that’s always empty. I’m telling you, if it’s the middle of the night, I’ll just hold it until morning, ’cause there’s no fucking way I’m heading out there to be pelted with micrometeorites if I have to wake up in a few hours.” Barron went on to complain about the ISS’s outdoor shower, which he described as “way too cold.”
INDIANAPOLIS—In an effort to get hands-on experience stigmatizing patients’ bodies in a safe environment, Indiana University medical student Dylan Loera confirmed Wednesday that she was practicing fat shaming on a cadaver. “At first it felt strange, but the opportunity to practice saying, ‘Have you tried losing a few pounds?’ in the flesh is so different than just shaking your head at a picture in a textbook,” said the first-year student, adding that she felt humbled by the generosity of the deceased individual who donated their body so she could roll her eyes a few times and poke their stomach folds with an audible “oof.” “After so many hours sitting in lectures, it was nice to finally put on my scrubs and reduce a patients’ value as a human being by criticizing their weight. It almost feels like I’m right there in an actual medical practice, dismissing a fat patient’s every concern while suppressing my laughter.” Loera reportedly received a perfect score on her examination after informing a cadaver with cancer symptoms that there was nothing she could do for them if they weren’t willing to help themselves.
WASHINGTON—Responding to concerns about high grocery prices ahead of the holiday, President Donald Trump held a press conference Wednesday to tout the affordability of hay-based Thanksgiving dishes. “I’m doing a great job on the economy and bringing the price of Thanksgiving dinners way down by encouraging Americans to replace costly ingredients with straw,” said Trump, adding that the low-cost, grass-based livestock feed could be shaped into the form of a roasted bird or baked into casseroles and pies. “Thanksgiving meal prices are down 33% compared to what they were under Biden, and now you can stay full by chewing on the hay for hours and hours. Americans consuming dried grass out of necessity is just another sign that the United States has the strongest economy in the history of the world—horses eat this stuff, and look how strong those guys are. I promised to lower cud prices for Americans, and by God have I delivered. Bet you can’t eat just one bail!” Trump then asked Vice President JD Vance to show Americans that hay was delicious by eating some off the floor for the camera.
Vince Offer, the once-prominent infomercial pitchman better known as the “ShamWow guy,” has filed to run as a Republican in Texas’s 31st congressional district, claiming he wants to “destroy wokeism” in Congress and “make America happy.” What do you think?
“How absorbent are his opponent’s towels?”
Mario Lobo, Replica Appraiser
“He’ll poll well with the sizable bloc of voters who are overwhelmed by spills.”
Penny Norfolk, Doll Clothier
“Anyone with a proven track record of battering women has my vote.”
Emmanuel Gonzalez-Garcia had been reported missing on Oct. 5 after selling fruit with his mother. He ended up in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement as an unaccompanied immigrant minor.
No injuries had been reported by local authorities as of Tuesday afternoon, when the National Weather Service confirmed that two tornadoes had ripped through northwest Harris County within a span of 30 minutes on Monday.
In brief: A high-end EF-1 and a low-end EF-2 tornado were confirmed today from damage surveys conducted by the National Weather Service northwest of Houston. The first occurred in Riata Ranch. The second was in Klein. Additional damage surveys may still be done to check for other tornadoes or to fine tune these paths.
Preliminary tornado confirmations from Monday. (NWS Houston)
Two confirmed tornadoes
The NWS Houston office went out and did the dirty work on damage surveys from Monday’s tornadoes. They confirmed two so far. The first was a high-end EF-1 that had maximum winds of 105 mph (corrected from the above graphic) in Riata Ranch and a path length of 2.6 miles. The second was a low-end EF-2 that hit the Klein area, with maximum winds of 115 mph (corrected from the above graphic) and a path length of 3.8 miles. I believe these are the first tornadoes in Harris County since just after last Christmas.
Riata Ranch tornado
The Riata Ranch tornado touched down just after 1:20 PM on Monday. For those unfamiliar, Riata Ranch is just east of Barker Cypress Road just south of 290. A radar capture from 1:23 PM on Monday shows the tornado developing. The first touchdown point occurred in Towne Lake, just off Tuckerton west of Barker Cypress.
Radar capture from 1:23 PM on Monday, when the tornado initially touched down in Towne Lake, just southwest of Riata Ranch. (RadarScope)
Following radar, you are able to see the rotation track to just west of Barker Cypress at 290 by 1:26 PM. It seems that a debris signature (TDS) becomes evident on radar between 1:26-1:29 PM, which indicates a pretty healthy tornado in progress. This occurs as the original circulation begins to broaden out crossing 290. At this point, the tornado was lifting.
Tornadic debris signature showing on radar at 1:29 PM indicating a confirmed tornado. Meanwhile, the tornado was actually dissipating at this point. (RadarScope)
Indeed, the NWS found that the tornado dissipated around 1:28 PM at 290 and Barker Cypress.
Overall, the TDS on this one was very impressive, usually only the type of TDS I’ve seen in typically stronger tornadoes. This is likely indicative of the densely populated area it struck.
Klein tornado
We got a 10-to-15-minute break before the same supercell dropped another tornado. Around 1:41 PM, a new tornado dropped just east of Cutton Road along Louetta Road.
The Klein tornado tracked from just east of 249 to just north of Spring Cypress and Stuebner Airline Road. (RadarScope)
This one did not show quite as strong a TDS as the Riata Ranch tornado, despite being a little stronger. Nuance is a thing. It didn’t take long for it to show up, however, which happened around 1:47 PM. Notably, the debris signature from the Riata Ranch tornado does not appear to have dissipated entirely around this time, but it does show up nicely.
A fairly sharp TDS was evident on the Klein tornado as well, maybe just a smidge less impressive than the Riata Ranch one. (RadarScope)
Notably, when you’re looking at these tornadic debris signatures, remember a radar beam doesn’t go out flat. It aims up, so at this distance, about 49 miles from the HGX radar in League City/Dickinson, we’re sampling what’s occurring about 3,500 feet up. So this indicates that the tornado was lofting debris several thousand feet up in the atmosphere. Overall, this was a very impressive event for Houston. We see tornadoes rather frequently here, but not usually this strong. Of the 78 tornadoes confirmed in Harris County since 2000, only 6 have been F/EF-2 or stronger. The Klein tornado now makes seven.
WASHINGTON—Warning that the film might evoke certain feelings that audience members weren’t prepared to confront, the Motion Picture Association reportedly assigned Zootopia 2 a PG-13 rating Tuesday for sexually awakening content. “We were quite alarmed by the places we found our thoughts drifting to, and we’re confident the majority of Zootopia 2 viewers will agree,” said MPA spokesperson Richard Weir, who cited Cape buffalo Chief Bogo’s broad shoulders, red fox Nick Wilde’s dreamy gaze, and rabbit Judy Hopps’ “whole deal, from her head to that irresistible little tail,” all as reasons behind the higher-than-expected rating. “We warned Disney not to put Nick Wilde in a tux, but they didn’t listen. Frankly, if we hadn’t gone to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on our faces halfway through, it would have been an R. Parents who bring their children to see Zootopia 2 should be prepared to have some difficult conversations with their kids about attraction. And maybe with their spouses too.” According to sources, Disney has challenged the rating, arguing that the introduction of the repulsive Gary De’Snake canceled out the rest of the characters’ raw sex appeal.
PROVIDENCE, RI—Shedding new light on the everyday life of citizens during the Industrial Revolution, historians at Brown University concluded in a study published Tuesday that the average 19th-century American spent roughly 93% of their waking hours waving at trains and boats. “Journal entries from the period show that most citizens spent their days stationed at docks and rail platforms shouting things like ‘Do write when you get to Siam!’ to anyone who happened to be leaving,” said lead author Casey Hogan, adding that in early daguerreotype photographs, Americans are often seen with one abnormally muscular arm from years of constantly greeting or bidding farewell. “The primary reason medical breakthroughs, sanitation, and improvements in standard of living were delayed in their development is that all of the nation’s top minds spent nearly 15 hours a day sprinting toward steamboats to yell things like ‘Bon voyage!’ and ‘Good welcome, inspector!’ Most people today don’t realize how grueling life could be for the average person of this period. Americans would rise before dawn to see off departing loved ones, chase steam locomotives down the tracks until they collapsed, and then immediately hurry back to the docks to cheerfully greet a returning transatlantic vessel by shouting something like ‘Hurrah! Safe harbor at last!’” Hogan noted that it’s difficult to overstate just how much the 1800s were a period of great change, as only a few decades earlier, most Americans had been accustomed to spending the majority of their time weeping into Mama’s bosom as their sweetheart rode away on horseback.
Beloved Readers, It’s been just over a year since we launched our Patreon, and to say that it has completely saved our asses would be an understatement. From the bottom of our snarky Canadian hearts, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who joined. Thanks to your generosity, we’ve been able to do all (okay, most) […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States President Donald Trump announced that his administration would not implement the intended 100% tariffs on films made outside the US, so long as they are just as mind-numbingly stupid as ones made in America. “While we assert that our movie-making industry has been unfairly stolen away by other countries, we […]
GEORGE, NB – Despite no self-defense training and being incredibly out of shape, cell phone kiosk employee Wade Creamer, 27, has often described to friends his plans for countering a potential home invasion. “I’d hear an intruder entering, even as I slept. I’ve trained myself to awaken instantly at any unusual sound,” he told friends […]
“President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to bring a swift end to perhaps the most damaging saga of his term, signing a measure compelling the release of the Epstein files after losing a monthslong, tooth-and-nail fight to prevent their disclosure.” – CNN
- - -
Congress finally passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act (also known as “EPTA,” “FML,” or “RIPDJT”), and I could not have been happier to sign this bipartisan bill into law. In fact, my hands are rattling with uncontrollable excitement, and my teeth are so gritted with anticipation that they’re grinding into white tooth dust. That’s how much I love this bill.
Listen, nobody is more pumped for this bill to become law than me. The only reason I spent months fighting with every fiber of my being to block the release of the Epstein files was that I knew that the harder I fought it, the faster Congress would push it through. I’m glad my strategy paid off—you can tell by the way my forehead is dripping with joyful sweat.
The truth is, the lying media and loser Democrats have all been playing checkers while I’ve been playing chess. And I know a thing or two about chess, because just like in chess, I’m a king who everyone is out to get.
Why did I spend months questioning the existence of these wonderful files? Why have I tried to distance myself from that creep Epstein, despite all the photos and emails and birthday cards? Because, like a grandmaster, I was employing a clever gambit that worked flawlessly. That’s why my heart was pounding out of my chest with glee when I put pen to paper and signed the bill.
Critics have accused me of spending the last week carrying out increasingly desperate antics in an effort to distract from the release of the Epstein files, including but not limited to:
Inviting the socialist mayor-elect of New York City to the White House and then becoming so enamored by him that I began dressing exactly like him in a way that feels straight out of Mean Girls
Threatening to execute Democratic lawmakers for suggesting that the military should follow the Constitution
Proposing a Ukraine peace plan so pro-Russia that even Vladimir Putin was like, “You’re giving us the entire Donbas region? Are you sure?”
Eliminating the penny because gold is better than copper, and also because many people are saying that I’m a better president than Lincoln
Taking calls from the Washington Commanders begging me to let them name their new stadium after me
Engaging in a sophisticated battle of wits with my greatest ally-turned-nemesis, Marjorie Taylor Greene
As usual, this is all fake news. I’ve actually spent most of the last week demonstrating how much I love women by calling them “piggy” (a term of endearment) and studying Louis C.K.’s ongoing redemption tour so that if I, too, face consequences for made-up sex crimes, I’ll have a blueprint for what to do. I’m basically the Bobby Fischer of PR crisis management in the sense that I’m a tactical genius famous for violently lashing out at my opponents and having weird views about race.
On that note, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to open inquiries into the real abusers—prominent Democrats. And yes, launching new inquiries into Democrats with ties to Epstein will mean that Pam won’t be able to release certain files, since they would interfere with ongoing investigations. But keeping an undisclosed percentage of the Epstein files hidden from public view for who knows how long is a small price to pay for finally holding these corrupt liberals accountable.
Rest assured, though, the remaining files will be released, just with a few minor edits to some unfortunate nomenclature:
“underage girls” will be replaced with “emerging women”
“sex trafficking” will be replaced with “study abroad programs”
“unwanted touching” will be replaced with “possibly wanted touching”
“harm” will be replaced with “roofie-induced displays of affection”
“pedophilia” will be replaced with “intergenerational outreach”
“rape” will be replaced with “deregulated consent”
“lecherous” will be replaced with “exuberant leadership style of a man unafraid to push boundaries and blur lines, especially the boundaries and lines that determine the metaphysical tenets of space and time and everything”
As much as it pains me to redact, amend, and withhold these files, I take solace in how much taxpayer money we will save on paper. That money will pay for lawyers when I file lawsuits against all of the Democrats who perpetrated this hoax.
Okay, so folks, don’t worry about me. This is what I’ve always wanted. And that sound of a growling dog being backed into a corner is just me snarling with delight. I still have plenty of moves. After all, you can’t lose at chess if you flip the board over.
Plex is starting to enforce its new rules, which prevent users from remotely accessing a personal media server without a subscription fee.
Previously, people outside of a server owner’s network could access the owner’s media library through Plex for free. Under the new rules announced in March, a server owner needs to have a Plex Pass subscription, which starts at $7 per month, to grant users remote access to their server. Alternatively, someone can remotely access another person’s Plex server by buying their own Plex Pass or a Remote Watch Pass, which is a subscription with fewer features than a Plex Pass and that Plex started selling in April for a $2/month starting price.
Plex’s new rules took effect on April 29. According to a recent Plex forums post by a Plex employee that How-To Geek spotted today, the changes are rolling out this week, with a subscription being required for people using Plex’s Roku OS app for remote access. The Plex employee added:
The popularity of GLP-1 weight-loss medications continues to soar—and their uptake is helping to push down obesity rates on a national scale—but a safe, evidence-based way off the drugs isn’t yet in clear view.
An analysis published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine found that most participants in a clinical trial who were assigned to stop taking tirzepatide (Zepbound from Eli Lilly) not only regained significant amounts of the weight they had lost on the drug, but they also saw their cardiovascular and metabolic improvements slip away. Their blood pressure went back up, as did their cholesterol, hemoglobin A1c (used to assess glucose control levels), and fasting insulin.
In an accompanying editorial, two medical experts at the University of Pittsburgh, Elizabeth Oczypok and Timothy Anderson, suggest that this new class of drugs should be rebranded from “weight loss” drugs to “weight management” drugs, which people may need to take indefinitely.
RealPage has agreed to settle an antitrust lawsuit raised by the Department of Justice, alleging that landlords used its tools to coordinate efforts to artificially raise rental prices across the US.
In a press release, the DOJ promised the proposed settlement “would help restore free market competition in rental markets for millions of American renters.”
For years since the pandemic started, rental prices outpaced inflation, and the DOJ suspected that RealPage was the dominant force driving a market that never favored renters. Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data covering a 12-month period ending this September showed rents are still rising by 3.5 percent amid an affordability crisis, leaving some US renters in fear of housing instability.
Girl and Fish are waiting for Penguin to finish cooking eggs.
Girl: "So the president was corrupt!"
Fish: "You misunderstand, it was all perfectly legal."
...
Guard: "Mister president, a MilTek lawyer is here to see you."
President: "...oh my free market... Send him in."
Lawyer: "President Magenta, love what you've done with the place!"
President: "Henderson, I don't have time for banter, we just lost Hawaii!"
Lawyer: "Sorry to hear that. Naval invasion?"
President: "Auction. State your biz."
Lawyer: "We - meaning my company - saw what you and MATA just got past `THE PEOPLE'. We're developing something really cool I am not at liberty to talk about - but we could really use all that fresh data!"
President: "Pinky promise not to do anything nefarious!"
Laywer: "How about I pay you instead!"
President: "Sure."
Lawyer: "Great! I already brought all the paperwork!"
Here is Emergent Garden's thoughts on emergent complexity. I go through a tour of simple systems that produce unexpected complexity, and try to break down emergence into more general and useful ideas. We talk about snowflakes and ant colonies, cellular automata and universe simulations, and the many weird ideas of Stephen Wolfram. I also offer some advice for creating and encouraging emergent behavior. This video is important to me. Emergence is the most interesting thing in the universe.
~TIMESTAMPS~ (0:00) The Lego Universe (2:03) What is Emergence? (4:39) Building Blocks (8:50) Rules (14:24) Complexity and Simplicity (19:52) Unpredictable Chaos (22:27) A New Kind of Science (25:45) Making Emergence (31:48) Goodbye
![[img]:gcomeu](https://analognowhere.com/_/gcomeu/gcomeu.png)
