Eric Berger

After a line of showers and thunderstorms moved through Houston on Wednesday evening—bringing 0.25 to 0.5 inches of rain, generally—the region will have smooth sailing in terms of weather for quite a while.

Today

Temperatures this morning are generally in the upper 50s, and skies will be mostly sunny throughout the day as highs slide into the 70s. The only weather to note will be brisk northerly breezes, with winds gusting up to about 30 mph as much drier, and cooler air moves into the region. Lows tonight should fall into the mid-50s for Houston—cooler up north, a bit warmer along the coast.

Friday

Another sunny day a lot like Thursday, although the winds won’t blow quite so hard, and high temperatures will be a few degrees warmer.

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Saturday and Sunday

As we’ve been suggesting for awhile, the weather for this weekend will be fine. By Friday evening winds will have died down, and conditions will be calm throughout the weekend. Look for highs in the low 80s, lows around 60 degrees, and entirely sunny skies. Humidity won’t be too high. It is hard to ask for much more in May, in Houston. And weekends like this just don’t come in June, July, or August so enjoy them now.

Next week

Normally you’d expect the region to whiplash right back into the upper 80s next week as moisture begins returning from the Gulf of Mexico, but the warm-up should be more gradual, such that highs only reach the middle 80s by the middle of next week. Overnight lows, too, should remain in the 60s for all but coastal areas. It’s unlikely that rain chances will return to Houston before Wednesday, or more probably Thursday or Friday of next week. Even then, the next two weeks look fairly dry for our region, with low overall accumulations.

Posted at 6:45am CT on Thursday by Eric

As a cold front approaches the Houston area, the National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the metro region. The watch, in effect until midnight, calls attention to the possibility of hail, damaging winds, and possibly a tornado or two.

Here’s what we know for sure. A capping inversion (warmer air aloft) has held firm throughout the day Wednesday, limiting shower activity while areas to our east, along the Texas-Louisiana border, have received heavy rain. As the front pushes south into Houston this evening that cap is going to weaken, and break in some places.

However, because the storms are moving southward at a pretty good clip, I think the showers and thunderstorms that do develop will be fairly brief. So expect a lot of thunder, lightning, and possibly some hail—this is more likely to the east and northeast of Houston—but then for the show to end pretty quickly. I’d expect the storms to hit Houston around sunset, earlier for areas up north, and later for areas closer to the coast. All over by midnight.

Posted at 5:20pm CT on Wednesday by Eric

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Good morning. We’ve basically got one day to worry about—Wednesday—in what will be a week of otherwise quite wonderful weather.

Today

Monday’s high temperature of 88 degrees was a bit warmer than anticipated for Houston, and I’m expecting conditions to be similar today with highs pushing into the upper 80s. We’ll see partly to mostly sunny skies, and winds picking up out of the south, piling up moisture. Lows tonight will only fall to around 70 degrees.

Wednesday

The region appears likely to have two chances of rain on Wednesday. During the morning hours, as warm, unstable air moves in from the Gulf of Mexico, we could see some showers and a few thunderstorms. The potential for more severe weather—and according to NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center the primary threat is hail—will probably come later in the day, after noon, and during the evening hours as a cold front approaches and moves through the metro area. Houston falls under the “slight” chance of severe weather in NOAA’s forecast, which means that while the potential for nasty weather exists, the overall likelihood of it affecting most people in Houston is relatively low. Nevertheless it’s something we’ll definitely keep an eye on for you.

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