Eric Berger

Houston’s weather pattern will turn more interesting this week, and not in a bad way as a bonafide cold front moves into the region. This won’t be a prototypical fall front, there’s just not enough cold air available to work with, but it will be noticeable as some significantly drier air moves in. Areas on the inland side of Interstate 69, especially, may see dewpoints in the low- to mid-50s later this week. This will offer a rare, if short-lived reprieve from the kind of humidity we’re normally accustomed to during the summer months in Houston.

If dewpoints are an unfamiliar concept, they offer an indicator of total moisture in the air. The past several mornings, when you’ve walked outside and been smacked in the face by high humidity, the dewpoint has generally been in the mid-70s for Houston. That’s typical for July. Anything from 60 or lower will be completely noticeable, especially during the evening and morning hours. Roughly, for Houston, here’s what various dewpoints mean:

• 70s means uncomfortable, or typical summer
• 60s means humid, but not terrible
• 50s means mostly comfortable
• 40s or less means very comfortable or dry

Monday

Today will be a lot like Sunday, with partly to mostly cloudy skies, and highs in the mid-90s. There’s enough moisture that we should again see the development of showers and thunderstorms along the sea breeze that moves inland late this morning and the afternoon hours. Rain chances are probably in the 40 percent range, meaning showers will be very much hit or miss.

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I thought it might be interesting to look back at Houston’s weather during the Moon landing, in 1969. This was a Sunday, so a lot of people would have been off from work, with not a whole lot going on during the afternoon or evening hours. The Eagle’s touchdown—”Houston, the Eagle has landed”—came at 3:17pm local time. After checkouts, preparations, and getting suited up, Neil Armstrong stepped on to the lunar surface at 9:56pm. Buzz Aldrin soon followed.

Weather conditions in Houston that day were rather blah compared to what was happening in space. For the most part, for much of the region, it was a gray day, with fog in the morning, and some scattered, light drizzle. Highs for most of Houston only reached into the upper 80s, with clouds keeping more typical summertime heat at bay. The humidity, of course, was typically Houston high. If you have memories of that day’s weather, please share them in the comments below.

The weather would have been rather unremarkable, and not particularly memorable, because most people experienced the Moon landings in their homes, in front of a television set or listening to the radio. If one had stepped outside to check the sky after Neil and Buzz walked on lunar surface, the Moon would have been visible near the western horizon, if skies were clear enough. Which for most of Houston, they weren’t.

Among the many things I find so intriguing about the Apollo Program is that it produced one of the rare moments in history when everyone can recall where he or she was when it happened—and it wasn’t a tragedy. Think about most of the other “Where were you when?” moments. JFK’s assassination. The Twin Towers falling during the Sept. 11 attacks. The space shuttle Challenger and Columbia accidents. For most of the country these were tragic moments. The Moon landing, rather, united this country and the world to celebrate what humans can achieve when we set aside our differences and work together.

By the way, if you’re heading out to the big Apollo 50th event at Space Center Houston today or this evening, it will be partly sunny and hot, with high temperatures in the mid-90s. We may see a very few scattered showers pop up this afternoon, but those should be long gone by the time the concerts begin at the lunar celebration.

Speaking of that event, Reliant is also a sponsor of that celebration. Here’s a quick message from them:

What a great time to be from Houston as we celebrate the innovation, teamwork and drive that made the first steps on the moon possible. We are proud to be the Official Countdown sponsor at the “Apollo 11 50th Live” festival where we will mark the exact moment Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. The event will feature fun family activities, food and live music from the band Walk the Moon. If you attend, stop by the Reliant booth for some fun giveaways, including LED bracelets for the first 15,000 through the gate that synchronize to different exhibits, the concert and the countdown.

The northern part of the metro area saw some briefly strong showers on Wednesday, with up to 0.5 inch of rain falling near Tomball and The Woodlands. Since then, the atmosphere has continued to dry out, and high pressure strengthened somewhat. This should continue to diminish the coverage and intensity of any rain showers today, leading to a mostly dry period until Sunday or Monday.

Thursday

Skies will be partly to mostly sunny today under the influence of the aforementioned high pressure. We can’t rule out some isolated showers along the sea breeze later today, but chances are probably less than 20 percent, and anything that forms won’t last too long. Highs will generally be in the mid-90s with ample humidity. Low temperatures won’t be a whole lot better, with parts of the region not falling below 80 degrees tonight.

Friday

This should be pretty much a hot and sunny day, with highs in the mid 90s and not much else to say.

Saturday

The first half of the weekend looks to be mostly a repeat of Friday, although a chance of some sea breeze storms may creep back into forecast during the afternoon. Overall, look for highs in the mid-90s with partly to mostly sunny skies.

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