Eric Berger

The winter that practically ended about seven weeks ago officially ends today

February began with 80-degree weather, and it’s going to end with 80-degree weather for southeast Texas. In between just a single, solitary day (February 16th) recorded a below normal temperature. For Houston, it’s really been like the second half of winter never happened.

Today

As mentioned, temperatures today will be quite warm, likely rising into the low- to mid-80s under partly to mostly cloudy skies. Lows tonight will probably only fall to about 70 degrees. For February—even the end of the month—this is just incredibly steamy weather.

Wednesday

The pre-dawn hours on Wednesday will remain warm, but a cold front will move through the area between sunrise and about noon. The big question is whether it rains. While there surely will be ample atmospheric moisture (thanks to the onshore flow Monday and today), and lift from the front, it seems probable that a capping inversion will limit rainfall.

There is plenty of moisture to work with (light greens) tomorrow, but a cap will probably limit widespread showers. (Weather Bell)

 

Thus while we can’t rule out showers and a few thunderstorms, I think the front will largely be a dry or briefly wet passage. Highs Wednesday will probably hit about 80 degrees before temperatures cool off (along with much drier air) during the afternoon hours. Overnight lows will fall to around 50 degrees.

(Space City Weather is sponsored this month by Darrell Lee’s The Gravitational Leap)

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Sponsor review: The Gravitational Leap

You may have noticed that this month a local author, Darrell Lee, sponsored Space City Weather. It’s the first time that’s happened (but not the last, check back in April). Anyway, as part of the sponsorship I agreed to read the book and post a short review. Spoiler alert: I liked it!

In his first book Lee has plunged us several centuries into the future, into a post-nuclear holocaust world, where there is a small band of civilized people beset by several tribes of nomads. While a tale about a post-apocalyptic world hardly plows new ground in the science fiction genre, this story does not feel well-worn, nor unoriginal. Quite the contrary, this is an interesting world, with an interesting story, and unwinds the misfortunes that led our heroes to their present plight in a very, very cold world. And without giving too much of the story away, let me also say that for Texas residents there are some recognizable landmarks in the second half of the book.

(The Gravitational Leap)

 

As a first effort, this is a fun read. There are a few moments where the author’s inexperience breaks through, in passages that do more “telling” than “showing,” and some awkward dialogue, but truthfully these are minor quibbles. My biggest criticism is not a bad one—the book is too short, and could have benefited from a little more character development. But it’s a good thing, I’d say, when you leave your reader wanting more!

Anyway, check out the Gravitational Leap here, if you’re interested.

“Winter” ends on a warm note (of course!) before a mid-week front

After a brief cool spell this weekend, perhaps it is only right that Houston ends meteorological winter (December through February) on a warm note. Houston has already set a record for most 80-degree days this winter, and it seems likely we will end with the warmest average temperature in more than 120 years of records. We’ll have the full wrap-up on that later this week when the numbers become official.

But it hasn’t just been Houston of course. I wanted to share with you this amazing tidbit from the National Weather Service office in the Windy City: “Chicago’s about to do something its never done in 146 years of record keeping: go the entire months of January & February with no snow on the ground.”

Today and Tuesday

Houston will rise back into the 80s today and Tuesday to end winter, after overnight lows barely dropped into the upper 60s on Monday morning.

Although moisture levels will be fairly high for the next two days, there’s some question as to whether it will actually rain. This is due to a capping inversion, which probably will hold for most of the area. An inversion occurs where temperatures above the surface of the Earth are higher than at the surface, and this prevents warm, moist air at the surface from rising. In any case, know that there is the potential for showers and thunderstorms to develop the next couple of days, but they probably won’t due to the cap.

(Space City Weather is sponsored this month by Darrell Lee’s The Gravitational Leap)

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Houston’s seasonally warm (but pretty darn nice) weather continues

Today will get off to a cool start, but conditions are going to warm up fairly quickly across Houston, and we’ll be warm—but not unpleasantly so—for the rest of the work week.

Wednesday and Thursday

As high pressure builds over the area, expect mostly sunny skies and highs of around 80 degrees, with some inland areas perhaps climbing into the low- to mid-80s. Still, we can expect conditions to cool down reasonably quickly during the evening hours, with overnight low temperatures in the 50s for inland areas, and 60s along the coast.

The GFS forecast for dewpoints at 7pm Friday evening shows the front having just moved through Houston. (Weather Bell)

Friday

Another warm day, with mostly sunny skies and highs of around 80 degrees. The difference will be that a cold front arrives on Friday afternoon or evening. At this time the front still looks dry, so I’m not expecting any rain along with its passage.

(Space City Weather is sponsored this month by Darrell Lee’s The Gravitational Leap)

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