At 16:00 CDT, the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (the organization that operates Texas' electrical grid) measured total solar output in Texas at 31,475 MW, or 34.7% of the total demand (around 91,650 MW). Solar output at that moment was only slightly behind that of natural gas (42,176 MW). For context, 31,475 MW of power can power somewhere in the range of 15 to 30 million homes. In Texas, solar output has increased exponentially in the last decade, reducing the need to burn fossil fuels.

Lake Corpus Christi is currently 33.3% full. The man-made reservoir, impounded in 1958, currently holds 85,267 acre-ft of water, of its 256,062 acre-ft capacity. (An acre-foot is the volume of water that will cover an area of one acre to a depth of one foot.) Just 90 days ago the reservoir was at 8.3% capacity. Recent heavy rainfall in the Hill Country region of Texas has caused flooding that led to significant damage and loss of life. The rainfall has been a boon to a region that has faced severe drought conditions in recent months.

The July 9 CPC ENSO Diagnostic Discussion shows El Niño has strengthened significantly since it was declared in June. The key Niño-3.4 index has doubled from +0.6°C (Jun 11) to +1.2°C. The easternmost Niño-1+2 region is at +2.7°C - extremely warm water hugging the South American coast. Subsurface temperatures are rising as a downwelling Kelvin wave deepens the thermocline. NOAA gives an 81% chance of a very strong El Niño during October-December 2026 - one that would rank among the largest events in the historical record going back to 1950. 97% chance it persists through early spring 2027. This is starting to look like the 1997 comparison NASA flagged in June was prescient.

Through April 2026, Texas generated 393.8 GWh of conventional hydroelectricity - about 0.21% of the state's total generation. Washington, by comparison, generated 30,898 GWh from hydro over the same period, or 76% of its total. Washington's installed hydro capacity (21,462 MW) is 29 times Texas' (735 MW).

Launched September 5, 1977 - 48 years, 308 days ago. The most distant human-made object is now 26 billion km from Earth, traveling at 3+ AU per year (~38,000 mph). Its radio signal, transmitting at 23 watts, reaches Earth at a fraction of a billionth of a watt - the Deep Space Network still catches it. NASA shut off one of its remaining science instruments in April 2026 to conserve power. Just 2 instruments remain. Voyager 1 is projected to cross the 1-light-day threshold in November 2026 - a full day for its light to reach us.

The federal funds rate hit its all-time peak under Paul Volcker's Federal Reserve in 1981 - the most aggressive anti-inflation campaign in US history. Overnight lending between banks cost 20 cents on the dollar. Mortgage rates pushed past 18%. The move broke the back of double-digit inflation, but triggered back-to-back recessions in 1980 and 1981-82. Prime hit 21.5%. The era's visual language - wood-paneled walls, amber lighting, boxy sedans - unfolded against this backdrop of monetary shock.

Actual ERCOT demand - 3 PM on a Saturday. Climbing toward the late-afternoon peak. Solar carrying a solid share. Wind light, around 4 GW.

Dew point at 68. Sticky afternoon incoming. AC load already climbing by mid-morning.

Corpus Christi's primary water source. Sitting at just 56,866 acre-ft - conservation capacity is 662,820 acre-ft. That's 40 ft below the conservation pool. Drought's been squeezing South Texas hard.

Bell County's primary reservoir. Conservation pool at 622 ft. Holding steady - spring rains topped it off. About 6 ft below full flood pool.

Solar is 51% of all new capacity planned for 2026 - 44 GW. The grid is remaking itself, quietly, panel by panel. Texas alone added more solar capacity in 2025 than any other state.

Largest wind farm in US history, beginning operations in New Mexico. 3.5 gigawatts - a city's worth of turbines spinning in the desert. Transmission line running 550 miles to deliver it to the grid.

NASA Earth Observatory called it. Sea surface temps across the central Pacific more than half a degree above average. Conditions building in the western Pacific, resembling patterns seen before 1997's strong event.