Eric Berger

Houston needs rain, and Houston is going to get rain

Except for a few areas of Fort Bend and Brazoria County, the greater Houston area is not under a drought—or even abnormally dry—and yet much of the area has begun to accrue a rain deficit for 2018. For example Hobby Airport, a good marker for central Houston, has received less than one-half inch of rain in March. And with extremely heavy levels of tree pollen still around, we could use a good shower (or two) to knock the pollen out of the air and wash it away. Well, that’s what is coming this week.

Hobby Airport has a rainfall deficit of 1.5 inches the end of March. (National Weather Service)

Monday

Monday will probably end up being similar to Sunday temperature-wise, although there will be a few more clouds, some slight rain chances, and some gusty southerly winds. Most people probably won’t see rain, but the breezes will definitely be felt as winds gust into the mid-20s. Highs in the low 80s.

See full post

Pleasant today, but muggy nights are coming for Houston

It’s a bit warmer across Houston this morning, but still feels like a fine spring morning with low temperatures ranging from the upper 40s to mid-50s across the area. Houston will now enter a period of warmer nights—generally 60 degrees and above—that should last for the next week.

Thursday

We should see one more pretty great spring-like day, with high temperatures generally in the mid-70s across the region, and mostly sunny skies. Winds will begin to swing inland, however, and this will set the stage for warmer, more humid days ahead. Low temperatures on Thursday night will be about 5 to 10 degrees warmer than the day before.

Expect another seasonable, pleasant day across Houston on Thursday. (Pivotal Weather)

Friday

The warming trend continues on Friday, with a few more clouds, a bit higher humidity, and highs probably reaching 80 degrees for most of Houston.

See full post

A peek ahead at hurricane season

We’ll get to the forecast in a moment, but first I wanted to discuss the forthcoming Atlantic hurricane season, which begins on June 1. Matt addressed this topic last week, but we’ve continued to receive questions about the upcoming season, largely due to an alarming forecast that has gone viral. I would echo precisely what he said, that you should treat any calls for an extremely active season, at this point, with a very healthy dose of skepticism.

This is especially so for the coming season, because it’s not clear whether an El Niño or a La Niña will develop in the Pacific Ocean (see embedded tweet below from National Hurricane Center forecaster Eric Blake, a friend of the site) this summer. The presence, or absence, of an El Niño is the single greatest predictor of activity during an Atlantic hurricane season.

Because we have no confidence in whether an El Niño, La Niña, or none at all will develop during the months of the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season, we can have a corresponding lack of confidence in tropical activity during the season itself. So please, don’t sweat it. Now, onto this week and weekend’s forecast, when we at least have a decent chance of coming close to the mark.

Wednesday

It’s chilly this morning across the region, with lows generally in the mid- to upper-40s except for areas along the coast. With full sunshine we can expect a banner day, with highs in the mid-70s across most of Houston. Then, we’ll see another gorgeous sunset and low temperatures tonight about 10 degrees warmer. This probably will be one of the nicest days of the year in Houston. Savor it.

See full post

Not exactly Houston—humidity levels fall to 12 percent

The front that pushed into Houston on Monday brought some very dry air with it. The relative humidity level at Bush Intercontinental Airport dropped to 15 percent during the afternoon hours, and Hobby Airport reached 12 percent. These are Arizona levels of dryness, and we can look forward to a few more days which are nearly as dry.

Relative humidity levels (green line) are shown at Hobby Airport for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. (National Weather Service)

Tuesday and Wednesday

We’re going to have a couple of great, mostly sunny days as the region remains under the influence of northwesterly winds and high pressure. Expect high temperatures in the 70s, for the most part, and lows in the upper 40s for areas well inland (i.e. Montgomery County) and in the 50s for central and southern parts of the region. These will be fine, low-humidity days.

See full post