Month: October 2019

After a splendid weekend, Houston’s weather turns a little more unsettled this week, with a weak front, and on-and-off rain chances.

Monday

A warm front moving inland from the Gulf today should drive fairly widespread showers throughout the day. Rain with a few embedded thunderstorms will be more likely near the coast this morning, and spread further inland later this morning and during the afternoon hours. Overall, accumulations for most people will likely be a few tenths of an inch of rain, with perhaps one-half to two-thirds of the area seeing at least some brief showers. Highs will be in the mid-80s with mostly cloudy skies. Lows will only fall in the mid-70s.

Tuesday

This will be a hot day, with highs likely reaching 90 degrees in some locations under partly sunny skies. Rain chances will drop back to about 30 percent for Houston.

Wednesday

At some point on Wednesday, likely during the morning hours, a cold front will push through the area and off the coast. Some storms are likely to accompany this front, although they may weaken as they approach Houston. In any case, after the rain, Wednesday will be cloudy and cooler, with highs in the mid-70s.

Thursday

This, certainly, will be the pick of the litter for this week. Morning lows will probably reach the upper 50s for inland areas. Highs likely will climb into the mid-70s under mostly sunny skies. This front won’t last long, but it should deliver one great day of weather.

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Happy cold front day again, Houston! We have already had our first front of the season, but this will be our first real legitimately autumn-like front today. It will be warm and muggy this morning but cool and breezy this afternoon. It’s a “dress for two seasons” kind of morning.

Today

As of 5 AM today, the cold front was located northwest of Houston.

Ahead of the front in Houston, it’s near 80 degrees and humid this morning. It was just moving through College Station as I write this, where temperatures will drop from the upper-70s to the mid-60s over an hour or two.

Showers have popped up ahead of the front in a few spots, but most rainfall today will hold off until the front arrives. The front should get to Waller County and western Montgomery County by 7 AM or so, into northwest Harris County, Katy, and The Woodlands around 8 AM, through Houston between 9 and 10 AM, and southeast of Houston to the coast by 11 AM or Noon.

Behind the front, look for gusty winds and scattered showers or storms. Total rainfall will be hit or miss, with some places seeing just trace amounts and others seeing perhaps a quarter or half-inch of rain. Some light rain may linger once the steadier showers pass.

If the early week front disappointed you because of the lack of temperature drop, then you’ll probably enjoy today’s front. Temperatures will drop into the 60s behind the front and stay there or slowly fall for the rest of the day. Look for clouds and possibly some showers to linger into the afternoon. Along with that, expect wind gusts of 25 to 35 mph, not problematic but certainly making it feel very fall-like.

Tonight

Ahhhhhh…

It will still be a bit damp tonight, along with a breeze, but if you’ve been waiting for autumn, here you go. Expect lows to range from the 40s up north and west of Houston to the 50s in the city and suburbs to 60 or just shy of it near the Gulf.

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If you’ve been missing summer, you’re in luck. It returns for a one-day engagement Thursday with highs of around 90 degrees. My guess is that we’ve only got two or three days with 90-degree temperatures left in 2019, so if you really like the heat please get outside and enjoy it today. Cooler weather arrives Friday.

Thursday

Today will be quite warm, with highs of 90 degrees in the city of Houston, and possibly mid-90s just to the west, in places like Katy. Mostly sunny skies will amplify the heat, and we’ll get no respite from the humidity as the sun goes down tonight. (Just as the Tampa Bay Rays will not get any respite from the Astros’ bats tonight).

Friday

But that all changes on Friday. A potent fall cold front has been sweeping down the central United States, and it will reach the Houston area on Friday morning. Areas such as College Station will likely see the frontal passage before sunrise, and it should move into central Houston by around 10am, and push off the coast around Noon. A broken line of light-to-moderate showers should accompany the frontal passage, but any storms should be short-lived.

Conditions after the front will be significantly drier, cooler, and gustier. We can’t entirely rule out some light rain after the front’s passage, but for the most part it will be just cloudy. With the lack of sunshine, and winds gusting to 25 mph (or higher, along the coast), you may well want a longer-sleeved shirt or light jacket on Friday afternoon and evening.

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Houston is enjoying another moderately cool morning, with lows generally in the 60s for most of the region. This brief respite from summer will gradually end today, but a stronger taste of fall arrives on Friday. The weekend looks pretty amazing after a breezy front blows through.

Wednesday

An easterly breeze will shift to come out of the south the morning, and this will herald the return of the onshore flow. Conditions today will still be fairly moderate, temperature-wise, with highs generally climbing into the mid-80s. However we’re not going to see as much cooling this evening with the absence of drier air. Lows for most of Houston probably will only get into the low- to mid-70s.

Thursday

Welcome back, summer! This will be a mostly sunny day, with high temperatures of around 90 degrees. Thursday night will be muggy, too, with lows on the mid- to upper-70s.

Friday

This day will have the week’s most dynamic weather. This will be a classic cold front passage, with a boundary barreling through the Houston region, likely during the morning hours. We can expect at least scattered, if not widespread, showers with the front, and perhaps a few thunderstorms. But they should pass pretty quickly as the front sweeps toward the coast by around noon or shortly thereafter.

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