Eric Berger

This month’s anomalously warm weather continued on Monday, with a record high of 84 degrees. How abnormal is that? Just one day—one single day—has been warmer than that in all of the Decembers in more than a century of weather records of the city (Dec. 3, 1995, 85 degrees). The average temperature on Monday, 78 degrees, was 25 degrees above normal. Fortunately, this can’t, and won’t, continue for much longer.

Today

After a foggy start this morning (a dense fog advisory remains in effect until 9am CT), highs today should max out in the upper 70s. Mostly cloudy skies, and some scattered showers, should limit temperatures more than anything. A front will approach the region from the northwest, but should stall out before pushing into the city itself. This should help lows fall into the mid-60s tonight.

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Well that … was a warm Christmas. Although we didn’t quite reach the record set in 2015 (83 degrees), the official high temperature on Sunday was 80 degrees. That gives Houston back-to-back Christmas holidays of 80 degrees or higher. And we’re not going to cool down for a few days still, alas.

Monday

Lows this morning are starting off at around 70 degrees for most of Houston, which is more typical for September than December. And today is going to end up feeling a lot like Christmas Day, with partly to mostly cloudy skies, southerly winds (although not as gusty) and highs near 80 degrees. There will be the possibility of scattered showers again, but accumulations should be slight. Lows tonight will again fall to only around 70 degrees.

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Just a quick update today as the forecast has not changed much for the greater Houston area—and also, life sometimes finds a way of intruding on one’s work!

Today

A weak front moved into the region this morning, and it’s going to make for a gray, fairly cool day with highs likely only reaching the upper 60s. Skies may become partly sunny later this afternoon, and lows tonight should fall into the 50s for most of the region, except for along the coast. Enjoy the “winter” weather while it lasts.

Friday and Saturday

The onshore flow resumes by Friday morning, washing out the short-lived front and setting Houston up for a warm holiday weekend. The returning moisture will bring at least scattered showers and perhaps a few thunderstorms into the forecast for Friday and Saturday, and I expect high temperatures in the low- to mid-70s both days with partly cloudy to cloudy skies.

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The winter solstice began early this morning, as the Sun reached its lowest point in the sky. Paradoxically, instead of seeing cooler weather over the next week or 10 days, Houston will instead warm back up over the Christmas Holiday, and perhaps most of the following week.

For the northern hemisphere today is the “shortest” day of the year, in terms of daylight. With a sunrise at 7:12am CT and sunset at 5:26pm, there is just 10 hours and 14 minutes of daylight. (At mid-summer the day is 14 hours, 3 minutes long). Here’s how that compares with the rest of the northern hemisphere on the winter solstice.

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