THE WEATHER
It is common to talk about the weather in Texas (and elsewhere). Is it going to rain today? (Usually not much in Texas in August!) Most evenings, I watch the weather man (aka weather person, sometimes weather woman) on a local station. I learn what the temperature was today and what to expect for the next 10 days. In Central Texas, it will be “hot,” which is not really news. We probably won’t establish a record this month for triple digit days (temperature over 100), but the humidity figures are over 100, so we can be sure that the day is hot.
On one channel, a table of words appears to describe the heat; pick one for today: It will be scorching, sweltering, torrid, blistering, baking, roasting, and so on. Add some humidity and it will be muggy, humid, or steamy. It can be one of those “dog days” of summer.
The weather person appears roughly every 10 to 15 minutes on the TV channel although the weather does not change that often, even in Texas. So why bother to repeat it? Because you may have just tuned in and missed it. Missing a report on the weather is like not hearing your wife say “darling,” or “honey” in the morning. You want to see and hear what the weather will be so you can dress appropriately for tomorrow or discuss temperatures with your work mates around the water cooler (in the old days).
When the weather gets “bad” in our area of Texas, colorful weather maps appear on 4 stations. The colors vary according to the severity of the heat, rain or even (occasionally) snow. But what we all look for is evidence of tornadoes and flooding. If there is a little hook in the pattern, we are warned the tornado is close and how to prepare for it. We must go to a room without windows and hunker down in the bathtub, covered with towels and mattresses. We should take a flashlight and a Dr Pepper, and of course the pet dog or cat.
The weather guides our actions. Our flight may be delayed or cancelled, a road we travel may be flooded, the kids’ schools may be closed, crops will become watered or wilted, and so on. Everything we do is determined in some way by weather.
Nevertheless, God controls the weather, even as we try to predict it. Jesus used this illustration, recorded in Matthew 16.1-3 (NIV):
“The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red, and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”
The disciples were often on the Sea of Galilee, which has an area of 65 square miles and is therefore open to “bad” weather. Once as they sailed, Jesus fell asleep and “A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we’re going to drown!’ He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.”
I have a book and DVD called “The Science of Extreme Weather,” (The Great Courses, 2016) and it begins by exclaiming “Extreme weather is everywhere,” illustrated with extreme temperatures, extreme cold-air, low pressure systems, extreme humidity, rain and fog, high winds, lightning, supercell thunderstorms, tornadoes, blizzards, drought and dust storms. People encounter windstorms, avalanches, ice storms, hurricanes, and El Niña. The potential for extreme weather is everywhere.
In Texas, tornadoes are common and we led the nation with 162 in 2025. Illinois had 146, Missouri 120, Mississippi 111, and Alabama and North Dakota 72 each, according to NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center preliminary data. The United States reported 1,558 tornadoes total in 2025.
Floods are also common. On July 4-7, 2025, a deadly flash flood devastated several counties in central Texas. This extreme rainfall was caused by Tropical Storm Barry and Hurricane Flossie. The most severe flooding occurred in the Guadalupe River, when the river rose by as high as 26 feet (7.9 meters) in less than one hour in some locations.
Dry weather also brings fires and in 2025 by the middle of that year the U.S. Drought Monitor reported that nearly 45% of the western United States was under severe to exceptional drought conditions, with California and Nevada among the hardest-hit states.
Despite the severe weather, we are dependent upon normal sunshine and rain. Given the proper water and sunshine, even the smallest seed can grow and become a tree “so that the birds come and perch in its branches,” (Matthew 13.32) Indeed, God “makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth.” (Psalm 104.14)
From the beginning of creation God promised that “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” (Genesis 1.29) And they all depend on “the weather.”
However, we have often not treated “mother earth” very well and “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Romans 8.22)
God graciously provides us with weather and how we “weather it” is important! “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5.45)
Karl Franklin
