Eric Berger

Good morning. If you like sunshine, and less humidity, be sure and step outside today to soak some of it up. As we’ll discuss in this post, the region faces several days of partly- to mostly- to completely cloudy weather before conditions truly clear out again. Clouds will come first, and then rain later this week, likely peaking in intensity and coverage on Saturday with a decent soaking for most of the region.

Wednesday

Conditions are clear and cool across Houston this morning, with temperatures ranging from the upper 40s near Conroe down to around 60 degrees right along the coast. These will likely be Houston’s coolest temperatures for the next 10 days as a warmer pattern begins to return later today with onshore winds. Still, this will be an exceptional spring day, with highs in the mid-70s and partly to mostly sunny skies. Low temperatures Wednesday night will be 5 to 10 degrees warmer than Tuesday night.

Thursday

The region’s pattern change really kicks in on Thursday as southerly winds get blowing, gusting up to 20 mph. We can expect partly to mostly cloudy skies, with highs in the upper 70s. Some light, scattered rain showers will be possible with the moisture return, but don’t expect anything heavy, or to last too long. Lows Thursday night will begin to feel more sticky, dropping only into the upper 60s.

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For much of the region over the last month, it has been feast or famine when it comes to rainfall. Some areas northwest of downtown have received 3 or 4 inches of rainfall, whereas some parts of Clear Lake and points south toward Galveston have received less than one-quarter of an inch. The problem is not yet serious, but with warmer weather on the way it would be nice to have some rain.

Fortunately, that appears to be just what’s in the cards for the end of this week. But before we get to the rainfall, we’re going to have a couple of pleasant, spring-like days.

Tuesday

A front is moving into Houston this morning, with winds turning to the west-northwest. Partly to mostly cloudy skies this morning should give way to partly to mostly sunny skies this afternoon and highs generally in the upper 70s. The only downside of today’s weather will be at-times gusty winds, perhaps reaching 20 mph. The weather this evening and during the overnight hours looks splendid, with lows dropping into the mid-50s with partly cloudy skies and dying winds.

Wednesday

This will be another fine day, with at least partly sunny skies, and highs in the mid-70s. However the front will once again wash out pretty quickly, with winds returning from the southeast sometime on Wednesday. This will allow for clouds to begin to develop later in the day and during the overnight hours. Lows Wednesday night probably will only drop to around 60 degrees for most areas.

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Good morning and welcome to the end of March. We don’t have the final temperatures yet for the month, but the average temperature through the first 29 days of this March is 71.1 degrees, which is 8.6 Fahrenheit degrees above normal.

• This ranks as the second warmest March on record in the city.
• The city’s records date back to 1892. Only March, 1907, finished warmer.
• During that March more than a century ago, the average temperature was 72.1 degrees.

Matt has done some research on what that unprecedented March was like in Houston, and he’s found some really interesting things. Matt will write a separate post on this for Wednesday, April 1. You’d be a fool not to read it.

Also, if you were wondering what the rest of “spring” looks like for Houston, the NOAA outlook for temperatures during April, May, and June is below:

Monday

Today will be, you guessed it, warm again. The weak front that moved offshore on Saturday pushed back onshore as a warm front Sunday. The combination of that and some nearby low pressure will push rain chances to around 50 percent today, but most of the rain should be in scattered, short-lived showers—any stronger thunderstorms probably will remain north of Highway 105. Overall accumulations should be slight except beneath a stray thunderstorm, with mostly cloudy skies and highs of around 80 degrees. Winds will be light, out of the south or southeast at about 10 mph.

Tuesday

A cool front should slide into the region during the overnight hours Monday, and this will make for a pleasant Tuesday. Expect clearing skies, winds out of the north at around 10 mph, and highs of around 80 degrees. Low temperatures Tuesday night should drop into the upper 50s.

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Houston officially reached 90 degrees on Wednesday at Bush Intercontinental Airport, marking the region’s first such day of the year. This milestone has come about six weeks early this year, and we’ll see two more very warm March days before a cool front on Saturday. Speaking of the heat and humidity, we’ll address the idea that this may help to tamp down the local spread of Covid-19 at the end of this post. The short answer is that it’s possible, but the evidence is far from conclusive.

Thursday

This morning will start off mostly cloudy like Wednesday did, but we should see clearing skies by around noon, or shortly thereafter. Highs again should get up to near 90 degrees, with light winds, making for another very warm day. Lows tonight will likely only fall to around 70 degrees.

Friday

As high pressure begins to ease off, and some more clouds appear in the afternoon sky, temperatures Friday may hold in the mid- to upper-80s but the humidity will still be there. Winds will start to kick up during the afternoon or evening hours, gusting out of the south up to 20 mph.

Saturday

As we’ve been saying, conditions on Saturday will depend on the timing of the front, which probably will sweep through the area (beginning in the northwest) during the late morning hours and end up off the coast during the evening. Local highs will depend on the timing of the front. As for rain showers, most of the model guidance now shows something akin to a dying line of storms, so areas such as College Station may receive one-half inch of rain or more and a pretty good lightning show, with less as the showers get near Houston and push through the city. Lows Saturday night should drop into the 50s, except for the coast.

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