Eric Berger

The story of this week’s weather continues to be the heat. On Monday, Houston had its warmest day in eight months. The official high of 94 degrees at Bush Intercontinental Airport was the hottest temperature since September 16, 2019. Last year, the first day of temperatures reaching 94 degrees or higher came on June 1. In any case, summer has arrived in Houston.

Tuesday

If you liked Monday’s heat you’ll love today. With high pressure still firmly in place, and mostly sunny skies, we can expect highs to top Monday by a few degrees. ( The record high temperature for May 19 in Houston is 95 degrees.) Humidity levels remain a bit lower than normal, and while this will help the air heat up faster, the slightly drier air will also help rein in the heat index this afternoon.

As hot as temperatures will be today—and we’ll be running a good 8 to 10 degrees above “normal” highs on Tuesday—there should be just enough dry air hanging around to make for a pleasant evening as the sun goes down. Low temperatures tonight should drop into the low 70s.

Wednesday

As winds shift from the southwest to the south, we’re going to see the formation of some clouds on Tuesday night, and some of these should linger into Wednesday. This will also mark the return of more characteristic humidity for Houston, and this in turn should limit highs into the low- to mid-90s.

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Houston will experience warm daytime conditions this week, especially through Wednesday as highs push up into the low- or even mid-90s, under sunny skies and the influence of high pressure and slightly drier air. The upside of this is that nights to start the week should see lows dip into the upper 60s for everywhere but the coast. Rain chances probably will not return until Friday at the earliest.

Monday

After starting out just below 70 degrees, highs today should climb into the low 90s for most of the region with very light, westerly winds. Skies will be sunny so we’re pretty much guaranteed a spectacular sunset for the metro area. Low temperatures on Monday night should be similar to Sunday night—which is to say quite pleasant for this time of year with the drier air allowing for a more rapid drop as the sun dips below the horizon.

Tuesday

This probably will be the warmest day of the week with a warm southwesterly flow and just enough dry air left for temperatures to really pop during the afternoon hours. Expect highs in the mid-90s for much of the city, almost certainly the warmest weather we’ve seen in 2020. Houston’s record high for May 19 is 95 degrees, which is definitely in reach. Make sure to take precautions when outside for extended periods of time.

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Good morning. After Friday’s unexpectedly widespread storms—with flash flooding in areas such as League City, Seabrook, Kemah, and elsewhere—conditions early Saturday are going more to form. A fairly strong squall line with gusty winds and briefly intense rainfall has pushed through most of the metro area as of 4:30am CT, and it should be well east of the metro area by sunrise. It has generally dropped 0.25 to 0.75 inches of rain.

This should be the worst of the region’s weather, but the upper-level low pressure system we’ve been talking about remains just to the north of our region. This should continue to drive showers and possibly some thunderstorms through the morning hours and into the early afternoon hours. These storms that develop should be weaker and less widespread as they move from west to east. Accumulations following the squall line’s passage should be less than one inch for most parts of the metro area today.

A lesser chance of showers and storms will persist through the overnight hours and into Sunday. The greater likelihood of development will be over Montgomery County and points north, away from the coast and areas hardest hit on Friday. Sunday should see partly sunny skies in addition to the possibility of some occasional light to moderate showers.

By Monday the drier air should take effect leading to sunnier days and clear nights. This should have the effect of dropping lows into the upper 60s, making for quite pleasant evenings and mornings. Our advice is to enjoy the relatively low humidity while it lasts.

Houston will remain in a fairly wet pattern through the weekend, with the greatest likelihood of rain on Saturday. While we are watching for the potential of widespread, heavy rainfall, right now we think rain totals will be manageable for most over the next four days with amounts probably in the range of 1 to 3 inches. What we’re concerned about is more localized rainfall amounts, which could reach 5 inches or higher.

Thursday

It’s quite the muggy morning for mid-May, with overnight low temperatures not having fallen below 75 degrees for much of the area. We’re seeing some showers develop offshore and these should migrate inland during the daytime—most areas probably have about a 40 percent chance of rain. These should remain fairly scattered and fade out by this evening. Otherwise, skies should see a mix of clouds and sunshine, with highs pushing into the mid- or upper-80s depending on how much sun breaks through this afternoon. Winds will be light, out of the south. Low temperatures Thursday night will again be quite warm.

Friday

On Friday Houston will remain in this pattern where there’s some lingering high pressure, but not enough to stamp out showers. As a result we’re likely to see weather similar to Thursday, with some thunderstorms breaking through, but nothing too widespread or organized. Highs should again be in the upper 80s.

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