Eric Berger

On Wednesday, for Houston’s now-daily game of rainfall roulette, the Inner Loop area of the city generally “won” the contest with 2 to 3 inches of rainfall. Meanwhile, most of the suburbs were dry, or saw only a few raindrops. This pattern will likely continue through the work week, although the intensity of storms today and Friday hopefully won’t be quite so high.

Thursday

Today will be hot and mostly sunny, with high temperatures in the mid-90s. We’ll see our usual ramp up in storm activity this afternoon, but high-resolution models indicate that storms won’t be as widespread or as intense as Wednesday. As usual, storms should wane with the loss of daytime heating, and nighttime temperatures probably won’t fall much below 80.

Friday

Another day like Thursday, although rain chances may take another step backward, with perhaps only 20 percent coverage during the afternoon and early evening hours.

Saturday and Sunday

Drier air from a dying front should make for a pretty nice—all things considered—Labor Day Weekend. Expect high temperatures in the mid-90s, with mostly sunny skies. Lows at night may get into the mid-70s for central and northern parts of the metro area, so mornings and evenings may be a smidge more pleasant than we’ve seen. Finally, rain chances will be very low.

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Good morning. Most of the area remained dry on Tuesday, but there were some sneaky strong showers and thunderstorms in the Clear Lake area that dropped as much as 2-3 inches of rain over a few locations during the afternoon—a good reminder of August’s potential to produce a lot of rainfall quickly in Houston. We’ll fall into a moderately more wet pattern before the weekend dries out. This post will also looks into the tropics, which continue to remain active.

Wednesday

High-resolution models show scattered, but fairly strong showers and thunderstorms developing over parts of the metro area this afternoon and evening. I think the pattern will be similar to that on Tuesday, where a few areas see quite a bit of rain, but most of the region sees a tenth of an inch or less. The day will otherwise be partly sunny, with highs in the mid-90s.

Thursday and Friday

The pattern will be more or less the same to end the work week, with a dissipating cool front providing an impetus for scattered showers and thunderstorms. Rain chances will be about 40 percent each day. The front won’t have much effect on temperatures, with highs generally in the mid-90s, although lows may fall a few degrees into the upper 70s. So it goes in August.

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As often is the case, August has been a lousy month for weather in Houston. Certainly, the region did not experience a devastating hurricane this month (ala Harvey), or a massive heat wave (ala August, 2011). However, the average temperature this month has been 88.0 degrees, which is about 3 degrees above normal, and we did have a week straight of 100-degree or warmer days earlier. We won’t be quite that hot during the last week of the month, but we’ll still be plenty warm.

Monday and Tuesday

After a wet Sunday for much of the Houston, pressures are rising and that should bring rain showers to an end for a few days. Skies will be mostly sunny, with highs in the mid- to upper-90s for the region. Lows again will be sultry, falling to only 80 degrees for most of Houston. Any showers that develop should be near the coast, isolated, and briefly lived.

Wednesday and Thursday

A weak front appears likely to stall over north Texas in the middle of the week, and some of the instability related to this could generate some scattered showers across the Houston region. We’re still looking at partly sunny, and warm days with highs in the mid- to upper-90s, however. I’d peg rain chances at about 30 percent both days, with accumulations generally measured in tenths of an inch.

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