Eric Berger

A mix of rain and sunshine this week, with a potentially nice weekend

Good morning. Some areas of dense fog have developed north and west of Houston this morning, but it should burn off entirely within a few hours of sunrise. For this week the region will fall into a pattern of a day of rain chances, followed by one to two sunny days, and then more clouds and rain. Fortunately, right now, it appears as though sunshine will align with Saturday and Sunday. This will probably make for a fine weekend.

Monday

Low temperatures this morning in the upper 50s should rise to around 70 degrees this afternoon under mostly sunny skies. With calm winds slowly turning to the southwest this afternoon, it’s going to be a gorgeous day for whatever you need to do outside. Lows tonight will generally fall into the mid-50s again tonight with the likely redevelopment of some fog for the southern half of the Houston region.

NOAA rain accumulation forecast for now through Tuesday. (Pivotal Weather)

Tuesday

This will be a gray day. Likely beginning some time during the mid-morning hours, light to moderate rainfall will begin to spread over most of the Houston area. A slightly more organized band of showers may work its way through during the afternoon or evening hours, but for the most part we expect accumulations on the order of a few tenths of an inch of rain. A cold front will sweep through during the evening, likely between 6pm and 10pm, bringing stronger winds (likely gusting above 20mph) and drier air. Skies should clear out Tuesday night, with lows dropping into the 40s.

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Houston likely to experience mild winter pattern for awhile

Wednesday’s rainfall provided a good soaking for the region, with generally 0.75 to 2.0 inches of rain falling across Houston, and slightly more along the coast. It made for a rather dreary day and night, but at least the mostly light- to moderate nature of the rainfall posed no problems. Looking ahead, the weather pattern holds nothing too extraordinary for us, with the return of sunshine, and a stretch of mild days.

Highs Thursday will be seasonally warm. (Pivotal Weather)

Thursday

In the wake of Wednesday night’s rainfall, it is a fairly warm morning, with temperatures generally in the upper 50s to 60 degrees across the region. Partly to mostly clouds this morning will give way to sunshine, allowing temperatures to warm up to around 70 degrees this afternoon. A cool front will push through Houston around noon, and off the coast this afternoon, bringing drier air this evening. The front will subtly shift the winds from the west to the north, and temperatures tonight will be cooler, dropping into the upper 40s for most of the region under clear skies.

Friday

This should be an exceptional day, with sunny skies, light winds, and highs in the upper 60s. Overnight lows will be similar to Thursday night.

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Houston pattern for the next week: rain then sun, rain then sun

The combination of increasing atmospheric moisture levels and rising air will create healthy conditions for rainfall today, and the potential for a bit of heavy rainfall later Wednesday evening and during the overnight hours. After this, a front will push through to return sunny conditions for awhile, but alas not through the entire weekend.

Wednesday

Light rain has begun moving into the Houston area from west to east, and a pattern of intermittent mostly light rain should hold for the daytime hours. Due to persistent cloud cover, high temperatures today will likely remain in the upper 50s. The potential for heavier rainfall will increase after sunset tonight, through about 3 or 4am CT on Thursday. Most of the region will likely see about 1 to 1.5 inches of rain, cumulatively, but there could be some areas with 2 inches or more of rainfall. We’re not expecting any real problems from this, just a soggy day and night. Lows Wednesday night won’t fall more than a degree or two most likely due to thick, insulating clouds.

Rain accumulation forecast for now through Thursday. (Pivotal Weather)

Thursday

As the rains move out, sunshine will move in on Thursday morning, followed by a front reaching the area by around noon. The afternoon should be nice and sunny, with highs in the upper 60s. Low temperatures on Thursday night should fall into the 40s, under clear skies, for most of the region except for the immediate coast.

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Reliant returns to sponsor Space City Weather for 2020

Amazingly, Space City Weather will turn five years old in October of this year. Long-time readers may remember that in the very beginning we ran a few advertisements, but they slowed down the site, offered content we could not control, and really generated very little revenue. In early 2017, we moved to a monthly sponsorship model, and in June of that year Reliant stepped in. They were a great partner in terms of message—reliability is in their name after all—and a well-known Houston brand. They have been with us ever since.

So we are thrilled to announce today that Reliant will again support the site for all of 2020. The company, and its president Elizabeth Killinger, believe strongly in the value we bring to to the Houston community, and want to continue supporting our efforts.

For our readers, this means we will continue to have no outside advertising on the site. None. No auto-play videos. No pop-ups. Just a clean interface with a message from our sponsor. This should make for lightning fast load times. Perhaps most importantly, it means we do not have to generate clicks for the sake of traffic. That’s right, no clickbait. Instead, Matt and I will strive to provide you with the most reliable forecasts we can.

From providing us with outstanding T-shirt designs for our annual fundraiser and hosting a generous giveaway of two AC systems, to keeping you informed when record breaking heat takes over the state, Reliant’s support of our site extends to our readers.

Also, because of Reliant’s ongoing commitment, we are able to invest in the site. This year, you can expect us to roll out a new daily newsletter and a site redesign. (We do look a little dated). The newsletter feature will provide full updates—no need to click through to the site—in a stylish format. Look for this in the first quarter of the year. We’re excited to bring it to you.

Finally, let me say a word about Reliant. They sponsor Space City Weather to show their support for what we’re doing, and because we all need electricity, they share helpful messages from time to time. This year, Reliant is empowering Texans to power your way with “Pick Your Free,” a new experience that personalizes power by helping customers find an electricity plan that is right for them.

Regardless of how you use and manage your energy, whether you like to monitor it regularly or set it and forget it, Reliant has you covered with plans that work for every lifestyle. For example, the new Reliant Truly Free 7 Days plan provides free electricity for the seven highest usage days in a monthly billing cycle, but there’s also the Reliant Truly Free Weekends or Reliant Truly Free Nights – all of which are actually free during the designated time period and come with a free Google Nest Hub. You can compare them here to see if any of these deals work for your household needs.

Thanks again to Reliant, and we’re looking forward to another great year of them powering Space City Weather!