Eric Berger

Cooler air, clearer skies, coming to a Bayou City near you

Good morning. Today’s the day we begin to descend further into winter for the rest of the week, and we’re also going to see an end to the gray-clad skies that have been with us for a long time.

TODAY

A large upper-level low pressure system over the Midwestern United States is going to be the driver of Texas’ weather today. As this system moves eastward, it will usher in a colder air mass, drier air and — eventually — clearing skies.

Visible satellite image of the United States at about 5:30 a.m. CT. (NOAA)
Visible satellite image of the United States at about 5:30 a.m. CT. (NOAA)

 

Some additional light rain will be possible with this system as it moves through this morning, however even this modest precipitation should end by the afternoon hours. For clearing skies we will probably have to wait until tonight, or Wednesday morning.

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Why was it so gray this weekend? And when is the Sun coming back?

Good morning. Today I want to look back at this weekend’s oddball cold front, and ahead at what will be a very winter-like week.

PAST WEEKEND

Remember all the uncertainty last week about the will-it or wont-it make it cold front? It did make it through Houston late Friday and early Saturday — but only barely. Even this morning, two days later, if we look at temperatures we can see the front stalled about 50 miles or so to southeast of Houston. We only narrowly missed high humidity and 80-degree temperatures this weekend.

The cold front only barely made it through all of Texas this weekend. (Weather Bell)
The cold front only barely made it through all of Texas this weekend. (Weather Bell)

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Winter-like conditions return to Houston, and they should stay awhile

Well, the front actually made it through Houston during the overnight hours.

This means Houston will have a cooler weekend, with highs in the 50s to low 60s today and Sunday, and lows around 50 for most of the area. The region will see on-again, off-again light showers during this time period as well, but I’m not expecting accumulations greater than about one-half inch for the metro area. The heavier showers will remain well to the northwest of Houston.

As of 9 a.m. the front had made it to all but extreme eastern and southern parts of Texas. (Weather Bell)
As of 9 a.m. the front had made it to all but extreme eastern and southern parts of Texas. (Weather Bell)

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Warm Turkey Day, with light rain possible through the weekend

Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful today for everyone who reads this weather site, subscribes by e-mail and otherwise follows along. Now lets get to what continues to be a messy forecast.

TODAY

After a partly sunny morning we should see mostly cloudy skies this afternoon. Some light rain will be possible, especially on the west side of the city. Highs will climb in the upper 70s.

FRIDAY-NEXT WEEK

We’ll see mostly cloudy conditions will intermittent light to moderate rain through at least Monday or Tuesday. The atmosphere will not favor heavy rain in Houston, because of the proximity of high pressure to the east. I suspect accumulations between now and early next week will generally be 1 inch or less for most of the region, with totals on the higher end to the northwest of the city.

NOAA rain accumulation forecast for now through Wednesday. (Weather Bell)
NOAA rain accumulation forecast for now through Wednesday. (Weather Bell)

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