Two wettish days before drier weather arrives for July 4th

With a moist moist airmass moving inland on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, we can expect elevated rain chances for a couple of days before high pressure settles in over the region. From July 4th through much of next week, Houston should see serene, hot, and sunny weather.

Tuesday

It’s a sultry morning, as one might expect during early July in Houston, with lows only in the upper 70s. The radar should remain fairly sedate until around 11am or noon, when the combination of daytime heating and those increased moisture levels start to produce fairly widespread, moderate-to-strong thunderstorms. Most of the area will probably see less than 1 inch of rain today, but there probably will be some bullseyes that receive 2 to 3 inches. Favored areas are probably south of Interstate 10, with perhaps the heaviest rain focused on Brazoria County. We’re always a little concerned about the potential with this kind of tropical moisture during the summer months, but as of now there don’t appear to be any forcings to really produce sustained, heavy rainfall that could lead to more than brief street flooding.

NOAA rain accumulation forecast for now through Thursday. (Pivotal Weather)

Storms should wind down from 6pm to 9pm with the loss of daytime heating. High temperatures today will either be in the upper 80s or low 90s, depending on the extent of rain for your area.

Wednesday

This should be a similar day to Tuesday, albeit with perhaps a bit less coverage. I’ll feel more confident in Wednesday’s forecast after we see what happens on Tuesday.

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It’s July 2019, and that means we’re honoring the Apollo Program

Most readers probably realize by now that the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon is coming up soon—Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took one giant leap for mankind on July 20, 1969. This is an achievement that all of Houston can celebrate, as this city played an instrumental role in putting the first human beings on the surface of another world. I’m thrilled that many of our readers played a part, big or small, in that achievement. So to honor Apollo, and NASA’s success, we’re changing our logo this month to include the original Apollo Program patch instead of a cloud and a star.Matt and I are just really proud to be a part of the Houston community, and its deep connections to the space industry. We’re so appreciative of this, in fact, that we incorporated “Space City” into our name. But this month, we’re extra proud, and wanted to say thank you to all of the men and women who made it happen.

Some rain before warmer, sunnier weather for the Fourth of July

A somewhat wet weekend has come and gone in Houston. Parts of the city, such as the area between Memorial City and Katy, received almost no rain, whereas separate locations near Alvin and Bush Intercontinental Airport received up to 3 inches. The sunshine on Sunday afternoon felt pretty nice.

For this week, we can expect some more wet weather—although frankly, the scattered reports I’ve seen of a “tropical wave” or other language to suggest a serious flooding threat is headed this way are significantly overstated—before drying conditions later in the week. See below for a full outlook for the July 4th holiday.

Monday

Conditions today should be fairly mild for the first day of July, with highs of around 90 degrees and partly to mostly sunny skies. With daytime heating we may see some isolated showers and thunderstorms pop up later this afternoon, but coverage probably will only be in the 10 to 20 percent range. Lows tonight should get into the mid-70s.

NOAA rain accumulation forecast for now through Friday. (Pivotal Weather)

Tuesday and Wednesday

The region will fall under the influence of a more moist air mass from the Gulf of Mexico, and this will lead to increased rain chances for Tuesday, Tuesday night, and most of the day Wednesday. Right now there doesn’t appear to be too much to drive organization of these storms, and models indicate most of the area will see 0.25 to 1.0 inch of rain, with a few bullseyes of heavier rain where 1 to 3 inches may fall fairly quickly given the tropical nature of the moisture. These will be partly to mostly cloudy days, and the intermittent rain showers should limit highs to the upper 80s for most areas.

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