Sunday’s strong storms, including some significant straight-line wind damage in parts of Houston and at least one confirmed tornado, heralded the beginning of spring storm season for the region. This period of heightened tornadoes and severe weather typically occurs during April, May, and early June.
The spring storm season typically fades as we get into summer—when dynamic fronts typically end, and high pressure more or less asserts control of our weather. Then, the primary threat comes from the Gulf of Mexico and hurricane season. Speaking of that, Colorado State University’s Phil Klotzbach has issued his annual forecast for the Atlantic Hurricane Season. As always, we recommend not putting too much stock in such predictions, because they don’t have much specificity, and overall they are only moderately better than chance. With that said, Phil expects an overall near-normal year, with 13 named storms, five of which become hurricanes.
“The current weak El Niño event appears likely to persist and perhaps even strengthen this summer/fall. Sea surface temperatures averaged across the tropical Atlantic are slightly below normal, and the far North Atlantic is anomalously cool,” Klotzbach said. All of that will help restrain Atlantic activity, but one big unknown is air pressures over the tropical Atlantic later this summer. Now, let’s jump into our more immediate forecast.
Monday
Low pressure is moving away from the region, but we could still see a few, light, scattered showers today as skies turn partly sunny. Drier air will fill in, as highs get up to around 80 degrees. Under mostly clear skies, low temperatures tonight will be quite pleasant—falling to near 60 degrees in the city.
