Year: 2020

Changes are coming to the Houston region beginning late tonight and tomorrow morning, taking us back into a wintry pattern for a couple days. Let’s break it all down.

Today

It actually should not be a terrible day today overall. It will continue quite warm and humid, but rain chances look low for most. The best chance of showers today would be for areas east and north of Houston, with a slightly better chance late today versus earlier. So have the umbrella, but I would be fairly surprised if you actually needed to break it open.

Today will be quite warm. We should be able to reach the upper 70s with little trouble today, and I think several 80 degree readings will be reported, particularly if we can break the clouds a bit. Some patchy fog is possible in Galveston or near the bays as the day goes on. It will probably be breezy again today, but winds should not be quite as strong as Monday.

Tonight & Wednesday

The chance of showers and even a few heavier thunderstorms will pick up overnight tonight and into Wednesday morning as our cold front approaches. We are not expecting any severe weather at this time.

In terms of timing, I think the front will approach the northwest suburbs between 10 PM and 1 AM tonight. From there, it gets a little trickier to exactly time out, but in general, a southeastward push of colder air should work across the region from the north through the morning.

Temperatures early tomorrow will be all over the place. Behind the front, essentially from Houston north and west, tomorrow morning should already be in the upper 40s through mid 50s. South and east of Houston may be in the low to mid 60s. The front will probably stall over Houston in the early morning, then resume a slow south and east slog by to mid late morning, reaching the coast by Noon. If you’re still on the warm side of the front tomorrow, look for a slow, steady 10-15 degree drop in temperatures after it passes. We should all drop back into the 40s (low 40s N & W, upper 40s near the coast) Wednesday afternoon. These shallow, cold air masses tend to overperform more often than they underperform around here, so I’m taking a slightly more aggressive posture with things today

In addition, it will be breezy behind the front, adding an extra chill.

Rain totals will range from a half-inch or less south of Houston to perhaps near an inch in a few spots north. Showers should taper off in the afternoon on Wednesday.

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After our splendid weekend weather—and who can quibble with two mostly sunny days, dry air, light winds and moderate temperatures?—our weather during the first half of the week will turn warmer, humid, and a little more unsettled before a strong cold front sweeps through the area. The first half of next weekend looks wonderful again.

Monday

Southerly winds are really going to get cranked up this morning, eventually gusting into the 20s, or possibly even the 30s for the western half of the metro area. These winds will help bring in warmer, more humid air, allowing high temperatures to rise into the mid-70s during the afternoon hours. It might be warmer, but for mostly cloudy skies keeping a lid on daytime heating. Those same clouds will insulate the area during the overnight hours, keeping low temperatures in the mid-60s. Light rain will be possible Monday and Monday night, but most of the area should remain dry.

Tuesday

Another day a lot like Monday, albeit with slightly lower winds. We’ll still see plenty of cloud cover, and if anything temperatures on Tuesday should be a few degrees warmer, possibly reaching 80 degrees. Rain chances will again be in the neighborhood of 30 percent for the region, with mostly light showers where precipitation does occur. Lows Tuesday night will again be warm—at least ahead of the cold front.

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It’s been a somewhat gloomy late week, but we will gradually see some brighter skies roll in late today and especially this weekend.

Today

For most of us, Friday should start similarly, with a low, gray overcast. Clouds should gradually fracture a little, however I don’t think we will completely clear out today. But it won’t be the worst afternoon ever, with at least some sunshine. High temperatures will slowly warm to near or just shy of 60 degrees with a light north wind.

Tonight & weekend

Skies should clear out tonight. We will see low temperatures bottom out in the 40s.

Both Saturday and Sunday look beautiful right now. Some high clouds may spoil the sky by late Sunday afternoon. But that would be all. If you have outdoor plans, you have the green light to go forth and enjoy on either day!

We should warm into the 60s on Saturday, drop back into the 40s Saturday night, and warm back up to near 70° on Sunday.

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The tale of this Texas winter has yet to be fully told—for the purposes of this site, we’ll define winter as December through February, which is known as meteorological winter. But for the entirety of Texas temperatures have been warmer than normal, with much of the Houston metro area 4 to 6 Fahrenheit degrees above normal. NOAA’s climate outlook calls for about near-normal temperatures in February for the region. The bottom line: If you’ve thought this winter lacked oomph, you’re right. At this point the chance of another freeze in central Houston is probably less than 50-50, but we’re far from being able to say that definitively.

Thursday

Today will buck the trend of a warmer winter, as clouds and a northwest wind will conspire to keep highs generally in the mid- to upper 50s across the region. Some mostly (very) light and scattered rain showers will be possible today and Thursday night as temperatures drop into the upper 40s. Accumulations for those who receive rain today and tonight should be slight, mostly measuring one-tenth of an inch or less.

Friday

A reinforcing front arrives on Friday morning, which should keep highs in the 50s, and help lead to some clearing of skies during the afternoon hours. Friday night will be chilly, dropping into the upper 30s for northern parts of the metro area, while remaining in the 40s in the city and points south.

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