Good morning. Houston remains on the edge of a high pressure system, so our weather this week will be slightly cooler than the last two weeks, with a puncher’s chance at some afternoon showers with daytime heating. The other factor to consider this week will be the influx of Saharan dust—dust kicked up over the large deserts in Africa and transported across the Atlantic Ocean by the atmospheric flow in the tropics. This dust will moderate temperatures slightly, but may also inhibit rain chances.
The net effect is that conditions will feel a bit more normal this week, and we can see this in the wet globe bulb temperatures we’ve been referencing. (These factor in temperature, clouds, winds, and humidity to provide a better overall sense of heat impacts). Previously this month we’ve see these temperatures reach extreme levels, but this week we should be more comfortably in the 80s. Which, don’t get me wrong, is hot. But not extremely so.

Monday
High temperatures today will likely top out in the mid- to upper-90s for most of the region, with mostly sunny skies. Showers and thunderstorms will be possible from early afternoon through early evening, primarily along the sea breeze. Rain chances today are probably in the neighborhood of 30 to 40 percent for areas south of Interstate 10, and 10 to 20 percent for areas for further inland. This pattern of better rain chance chances closer to the Gulf of Mexico is likely to persist for much of this week. Low temperatures will drop into the upper 70s tonight for much of the area, so slightly cooler than much of the rest of the month.
Tuesday through Friday
At this time there really is not much to differentiate the daily forecast for the remainder of this week. We are looking at daily highs, generally, in the upper 90s. Each day, primarily during the afternoon, we’re going to see a daily rain chance on the order of 20 to 30 percent close to the coast, with a lesser chances further inland. Winds will be light, from the south, and nights mostly clear.
The other factor this week is Saharan dust, which according to the latest modeling from NASA’s global modeling office should peak on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings. From time to time, Texas sees dust outbreaks from June through August. This layer of dust about 1 mile above the surface will bring dry air into the mid-levels of the atmosphere this week, and this may inhibit rain chances a bit. As this dust absorbs some sunlight, it should also help keep highs below 100 degrees. And finally, of course, it may lead to some rather vivid sunsets.
Saturday and Sunday
I have some questions about the pattern this weekend, as some modeling indicates a return to a very hot pattern in which high pressure prevails. However there is also a chance that our region stays just beyond this high pressure system. For now, I’m going to broad-brush things and say we’re looking at highs in the upper 90s with only a slight chance of rain.

Next week
Looking beyond the weekend, our weather next week probably will bring more of the same, in terms of mostly sunny skies and high temperatures in the upper 90s. At this point rain chances may turn slightly better later next week, but at that point my crystal ball starts to get pretty fuzzy.
