Good morning! I’ve got you covered this week, so Eric can enjoy some time with his family.
Well, if you could look past the cold, it sure was a nice weekend. Certainly Sunday was pleasant. We officially registered a freeze in Houston with lows of 32° at Bush Airport on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. Here’s a fun fact about that: This is the latest into the “winter” that Houston has officially registered a freeze since March 15, 1999! Our last freeze in 2021 occurred on February 20th. We got to March 6th in 2019. So this was some impressive cold for this late in the season. That should be it for freeze risk in most of the area this winter. Over the next 2 weeks, there’s nothing too impressive looking, though I don’t think we’re done with cool weather just yet. This week will feature a little of late winter and some definite signs of spring as well.
Today
We have another cold front on the way late today. This one won’t have nearly as much cold air with it, but it will have some oomph behind it, which should lead to at least some scattered showers and storms. The timing right now appears to focused in the evening hours, although there are already a few showers around this morning. Although the downpours or storms should be very hit or miss, have an umbrella at the ready today. We will probably see a more solid line of showers and storms with the front itself overnight. Those storms could be noisy for a short time.
While the storms today will be fairly isolated ahead of the front, any of them will be capable of becoming strong to severe with gusty winds and/or hail this afternoon or evening. Most people won’t see severe weather, but a few places may.
Outside of showers, look for clouds, some sun, and high temperatures in the 70s today. Winds will also be up a bit today, out of the south at 15 mph or so, gusty along the coast.
Besides a chance of storms, Sam Hunt is on the menu tonight at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. The good news is that any rain probably won’t last long, call it maybe an hour at most. But the bad news is that there is definitely a chance of some lightning in the area during the entirety of the evening. Most of that may occur either while you’re inside for the show or after you’ve arrived back home. Certainly the main line of storms with the front is expected after Midnight. Either way, prepare for at least a chance of showers or storms, and expect generally mild weather with 70s leading up to showtime and upper 60s after. If the front is faster and it rains more, you could see upper-50s or low-60s, so maybe a hoodie would be a reasonable accessory to have on hand for when you exit.
Tuesday and Wednesday
I think tomorrow may start a bit sluggish with some clouds around, especially north of I-10. Look for temps in the 50s on Tuesday morning. Those clouds to the north may keep temperatures from getting much past the low to mid-60s tomorrow, particularly if they linger into afternoon. But areas south of Houston, with fewer clouds should warm to near 70 degrees or a bit better on Tuesday afternoon. It will be a bit breezy tomorrow, with north or northwest winds gusting over 20 mph.
Wednesday looks spectacular. It will start a little cooler, with 40s or low-50s in the morning followed by sunshine and highs in the mid-70s at least on Wednesday afternoon.
Thursday and Friday
Onshore flow resumes on Thursday, which will kick up some humidity, clouds, and slight shower chances. Look for 50s in the morning, warming close to 80 degrees by afternoon. Pencil in the next front on Friday afternoon, with a chance of showers and storms. Morning lows Friday will only be in the 60s, warming into the 70s ahead of the afternoon front. More on this tomorrow.
Weekend outlook
Both weekend days look outstanding right now. Expect sunshine both Saturday and Sunday, with generally light to moderate winds. Morning lows will be in the 40s and 50s. Afternoon highs should be in the 70s.
Look for a warm up early next week, perhaps followed by another front on Tuesday or Wednesday.
While today’s post notes that Tuesday may “start sluggish”, I can report that I personally am sluggish right now due to the time change. It will wear off soon enough – just like this chilly weather.
The winds are punishing. It never used to be so windy in Houston. Riding a bicycle or motorcycle is no fun. Everything in the yard blows over.
Biking is still fun? It just increases the resistance so you get a better workout
Looks like they’ve pushed the severe weather outlook further south already…used to worry about flooding, now we get to add tornadoes which seem more prevalent lately.