Surviving a Baytown summer

June to September, ninety-five with a heat index over a hundred, humidity you can lean on, and a thunderstorm most afternoons that fixes nothing. Here's how the town does it.

The schedule. Everything outdoors happens before ten or after seven. The Nature Center at seven, the Market at Town Square at ten (it's over by two for a reason), Bayland at sunset, the ferry at dawn on a weekday. Noon to five is for the library, the water park, the movie, the mall that isn't there yet, and the AC.

The water. Pirates Bay at opening; Calypso Cove for the little ones; the hotel pool if you're staying; the bay for wading and paddling, not swimming. The sprinkler in the yard is a legitimate afternoon.

The eating. Cold: aguachile at El Sinaloense, the shrimp cocktail, ceviche; the frozen daiquiri on North Main; snow cones from whatever truck has them; the café con leche over ice at the Cuban. Hot, if you must: crawfish season is over, but Black Bayou's garlic-butter shrimp is a summer sweat you choose.

The storms. Most afternoons from July on, a cell builds over the bay and drops an inch in forty minutes, usually between two and five. It doesn't cool anything. The underpasses flood; don't drive through them. Lightning closes the water parks and the ball fields; they reopen a set time after the last strike. Check the radar, not the sky; the sky lies here.

The bugs. Mosquitoes from April, worst at dusk near any water, which in Baytown is everywhere. The county sprays after big rains — the truck at dusk. Repellent is a grocery item, not a camping one. Fire ants in every yard; the mound is the warning.

The power. CenterPoint's grid holds most summers; when it doesn't, the outage map is the truth and the estimate is optimistic. A window unit and a generator (outside, always) are the insurance. The library and the movie theater are the public cooling centers in practice; the city opens official ones when the county says so.

Hurricane season. Runs the whole summer and into November, and the real window is August to early October. The hurricane guide is the page; know your zone before you need it.

The reward. October. The air clears, the birds come back, the sunsets turn sharp, and every patio in town is perfect at once. Baytown's summer is the price of its fall, and the fall is worth it.

En español. Sobrevivir el verano en Baytown: todo al aire libre antes de las diez o después de las siete; el Centro de Naturaleza a las siete, el mercado a las diez, Bayland al atardecer. Parques acuáticos, biblioteca y cine de mediodía a cinco. Comida fría: aguachile, cóctel de camarón, daiquiri congelado. Tormentas casi todas las tardes desde julio — no maneje por los pasos a desnivel inundados. Mosquitos desde abril; el repelente es de supermercado. La recompensa es octubre.