Eric Berger

After two almost summer-like days, Houston’s temperature will now take a bit if a step back toward spring. Looking ahead to the weekend, Saturday still looks messy, but Sunday sure should be fine. Plan your activities accordingly.

Thursday

Temperatures are quite warm this morning, with lows only getting down to around 70 degrees for much of the region. Partly cloudy skies and the approach of a weak cold front will help to moderate temperatures today, likely keeping them in the low- to mid-80s. The front should stall somewhere between downtown and the coast this afternoon, and could serve briefly as a focus for scattered, light showers south and east of Highway 59. Lows tonight will get into the 50s for areas well inland tonight, and 60s closer to the coast.

Friday

A partly sunny day, with highs likely in the low- to mid-80s. Any remnant of the front will be blown away by the onshore flow later in the day, setting up another warm night. The moisture will help drive rain showers on Saturday.

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Houston did, in fact, reach 90 degrees on Tuesday for the first time this year. It’s about the right time for this milestone—although last year was nice in that the city didn’t get this warm until May 7. If it didn’t feel that hot outside, the reason is that humidity levels were quite low for Houston. That probably won’t be the case when 90-degree temperatures come rolling around again for us. Anyway, today should be warm again, but then we’ll cool down for the weekend.

Wednesday

Winds have already shifted to come from the south, and this will make for a more humid day. The increased moisture levels should also act as an anchor on warming today, so I’d expect most areas to stay in the mid- or possibly upper-80s beneath mostly sunny skies. Winds will be gusty, perhaps above 20mph, as the onshore flow kicks in. Lows tonight will probably fall into the mid-60s for most.

Thursday

Some clouds will return Thursday, but the day’s high temperatures will largely be determined by the timing of a weak cold front, which probably will push into the city sometime around noon. Depending on how much warming there is before the front, temperatures will either get into the low-80s, or the upper-80s. Most likely this will be a dry front, although we can’t rule out a very few showers as its pushes through the region. Lows should fall to 60 on Thursday night.

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Houston’s temperature last reached 90 degrees way back on October 14, 2018. Since then, 177 days have passed—nearly half a year. However, our string of sub-90 degree weather may soon be at an end. High resolution models indicate that both Tuesday and Wednesday (less likely) have a chance of hitting the 90-degree mark at Bush Intercontinental Airport and other parts of the city. The odds are probably a bit less than 50-50, but definitely non-zero. Cooler weather lies beyond.

Tuesday

With sunny skies, somewhat dry air, and light winds, conditions will be ideal for heating today, and so most of the region should see the upper-80s. We are already at a time when the Sun is high enough in the sky—it reaches an angle 68 degrees today, about the same as Labor Day weekend—to fairly quickly cause sunburns so please remember that if you’re outside for extended periods of time this week. Lows tonight will fall into the 60s.

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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.

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