Month: March 2018

Quiet weekend, but Houston humidity returning

After a string of splendid weather, we’re heading back into the muggy warmth of mid-spring in Houston. We’ll cap it with some rain chances next week. Maybe we can finally wash away some of the pollen that has been driving some of us crazy. (raises hand) Let’s dive in.

Today through Sunday

The quick and dirty here is that if you have outdoor plans this weekend, you should be in good shape. There could be a few showers around, but for the most part, I feel fairly comfortable telling you that the weather will be quiet this weekend.

We have a few patchy low clouds around this morning that should dissipate. Expect new clouds to billow up at times today, but on the whole it looks fairly nice. Expect a little more humidity and high temperatures approaching 80 degrees.

I think Saturday and Sunday may play out similarly with nighttime through morning low clouds or a few sprinkles giving way to partial afternoon sunshine, fairly typical for Texas springtime. Again, there’s a very, very slight chance for a shower. But as Eric mentioned yesterday, a pretty firm capping inversion probably keeps us dry the vast majority of the weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday should see highs in the low 80s and morning lows struggling to get below the upper 60s.

With stronger onshore winds early this weekend and next week, use caution if you’ll be at the beach, as rip current risk will be higher than usual. (NWS Houston).

Headed to the beach? Be aware that as onshore winds increase today and this weekend, so will the risk of rip currents. If you do decide to take a dip in the Gulf, please do so cautiously.

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Pleasant today, but muggy nights are coming for Houston

It’s a bit warmer across Houston this morning, but still feels like a fine spring morning with low temperatures ranging from the upper 40s to mid-50s across the area. Houston will now enter a period of warmer nights—generally 60 degrees and above—that should last for the next week.

Thursday

We should see one more pretty great spring-like day, with high temperatures generally in the mid-70s across the region, and mostly sunny skies. Winds will begin to swing inland, however, and this will set the stage for warmer, more humid days ahead. Low temperatures on Thursday night will be about 5 to 10 degrees warmer than the day before.

Expect another seasonable, pleasant day across Houston on Thursday. (Pivotal Weather)

Friday

The warming trend continues on Friday, with a few more clouds, a bit higher humidity, and highs probably reaching 80 degrees for most of Houston.

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A peek ahead at hurricane season

We’ll get to the forecast in a moment, but first I wanted to discuss the forthcoming Atlantic hurricane season, which begins on June 1. Matt addressed this topic last week, but we’ve continued to receive questions about the upcoming season, largely due to an alarming forecast that has gone viral. I would echo precisely what he said, that you should treat any calls for an extremely active season, at this point, with a very healthy dose of skepticism.

This is especially so for the coming season, because it’s not clear whether an El Niño or a La Niña will develop in the Pacific Ocean (see embedded tweet below from National Hurricane Center forecaster Eric Blake, a friend of the site) this summer. The presence, or absence, of an El Niño is the single greatest predictor of activity during an Atlantic hurricane season.

Because we have no confidence in whether an El Niño, La Niña, or none at all will develop during the months of the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season, we can have a corresponding lack of confidence in tropical activity during the season itself. So please, don’t sweat it. Now, onto this week and weekend’s forecast, when we at least have a decent chance of coming close to the mark.

Wednesday

It’s chilly this morning across the region, with lows generally in the mid- to upper-40s except for areas along the coast. With full sunshine we can expect a banner day, with highs in the mid-70s across most of Houston. Then, we’ll see another gorgeous sunset and low temperatures tonight about 10 degrees warmer. This probably will be one of the nicest days of the year in Houston. Savor it.

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Not exactly Houston—humidity levels fall to 12 percent

The front that pushed into Houston on Monday brought some very dry air with it. The relative humidity level at Bush Intercontinental Airport dropped to 15 percent during the afternoon hours, and Hobby Airport reached 12 percent. These are Arizona levels of dryness, and we can look forward to a few more days which are nearly as dry.

Relative humidity levels (green line) are shown at Hobby Airport for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. (National Weather Service)

Tuesday and Wednesday

We’re going to have a couple of great, mostly sunny days as the region remains under the influence of northwesterly winds and high pressure. Expect high temperatures in the 70s, for the most part, and lows in the upper 40s for areas well inland (i.e. Montgomery County) and in the 50s for central and southern parts of the region. These will be fine, low-humidity days.

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