Eric Berger

Summary: Tuesday was one of the nicest days of the year in Houston—I don’t think there was anything to complain about at all. We’re going to see some clouds return today, with a slight chance of showers. But then Thursday and Friday look to bring fantastic weather as well. Houston will warm up with some humidity returning this weekend.

Wednesday

We are going to briefly interrupt our mostly sunny weather with a cloudier day. Typically we see clouds return to Houston with the onshore flow, but in this case we’re still seeing a decidedly northerly flow across the region at the surface, with dry air continuing to move in. So what gives? The answer is that the winds in the mid- and upper-levels of the atmosphere are more southwesterly, and in response to a large upper-level system we’ll see some atmospheric disturbances push through the area today.

This should produce mostly cloudy skies during the daytime hours, and help limit highs to about 70 degrees. It will also allow for a slight chance of rain, perhaps 20 percent, later today. For the most part these showers should be very light. With the dry air in place, and clearing skies, lows tonight should again drop down to near 50 degrees in Houston.

Thursday

The sunny weather is back, with highs in the mid- to upper-70s. As northerly winds shift to come from the south, lows on Thursday night will be a few degrees warmer.

Friday

Another sunny day, with highs in the upper-70s. Southerly winds will be a bit more pronounced, perhaps gusting up to 25 mph. Lows on Friday night will drop to around 60 degrees.

Saturday

The first half of the weekend should bring mostly sunny skies, with highs of around 80 degrees. With the onshore flow in place we’ll see a bit more humidity, but dewpoints will still be far from oppressive. Lows on Saturday night will only drop into the upper 60s.

Sunday

The latter half of the weekend is going to see less sunshine, and more humidity. Look for highs in the low-80s, and a warm night with the temperature falling only to around 70 degrees.

Next week

Monday and Tuesday look warm and muggy next week, with highs in the vicinity of the mid- to upper-80s. This will feel like “summer lite” in Houston, but won’t last as it looks like another front will arrive some time on Tuesday. Some moderate rainfall is possible with this front, but I don’t feel confident in the details. We should return to pleasant spring-like weather for the second half of next week.

Summary: With clear skies, there was a strange sight in the sky over Houston on Monday shortly after sunset. We explain what that was. Beyond this briefly unidentified flying object, we’ve got a full week of spring-like weather before warming conditions this weekend and early next week. Rain chances are low throughout the period.

It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… ?

A little before 8:30 pm CT on Monday evening a bright light appeared in the skies over Houston. It did not streak like a meteor, but rather moved overheard and then appeared to emit a puff of gas before dimming and then fading away. I did not see it myself, but received several questions about it in the immediate aftermath. So was this a UFO?

For a short time it was unidentified. However, I soon pieced together that it was related to a Falcon 9 launch that had taken place from Cape Canaveral, Florida, earlier in the evening. As you may know, the rocket’s first stage launches, and when its fuel is mostly spent, the second stage of the rocket separates. This first stage then makes a controlled descent to the ocean and then lands on a drone ship. So this was not the first stage over Texas, but rather the second stage.

Full video pic.twitter.com/08a2DJLghc

— Adam Cuker (@AdamCuker) March 26, 2024

After separation this upper stage had continued on to orbit and then released its payload of about two dozen Starlink internet satellites. This second stage, however, is not left to zip around orbit indefinitely. Rather it makes a ‘deorbit burn’ to return into Earth’s atmosphere and burn up. In this case, Texans—for it was visible as far away as Austin, as seen above—were seeing this deorbit burn. The remnants of the second stage then splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean several minutes later. This has happened before over Texas, but typically it occurs further south and west of Houston and is not visible here.

Tuesday

The clear skies that allowed Houston to see the Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage on Monday night will carry over into today. We’ll see mostly sunny skies and another clear night. Highs today will reach the low 70s, with modest northerly winds of about 10 mph. Temperatures tonight should be a touch cooler than Monday night, dropping down to nearly 50 degrees.

Wednesday

This day will be a bit more interesting, weather-wise. An upper-level disturbance will provide a bit of lift in the atmosphere, and this will allow for the formation of some clouds during the daytime hours. There is even the slight chance, perhaps 10 percent, of a light shower during the late afternoon or early evening. Highs, otherwise, will be in the low 70s. Skies should clear out again overnight, again allowing lows to drop to nearly 50 degrees overnight.

Thursday

A sunny and pleasant day, with highs in the mid-70s. Winds will be light and the air dry, but there will be a subtle shift as winds turn to come from the south. Lows on Thursday night will be warmer, likely in the upper 50s in Houston.

Friday

Another day with mostly sunny skies, probably. Highs will be a bit warmer, in the upper 70s, and a touch more humidity in the air with the modest southerly flow. Winds likely will be a bit more pronounced, at 15 mph with higher gusts.

Saturday and Sunday

The weekend will be warmer, with highs around 80 degrees on Saturday, and the low 80s on Sunday. We’ll also see a mix of sunshine and clouds, with Saturday more likely to have sunshine than Sunday. Also, by Sunday, the air will be fairly humid with dewpoints in the 60s. Still, all of this is relative. Compared to July, this weekend will be quite mild. Both days should see a fairly pronounced southerly wind.

Next week

Monday and possibly Tuesday look rather warm, in the upper 80s, before a front arrives to cool us down some. At this point overall rain chances with the front look fairly low. After the front we should see some days in the 70s and nights in the 50s, maybe.

Eclipse weather

Over at The Eyewall, Matt has a very preliminary look at the cloud cover forecast for the solar eclipse on April 8, across the United States. Short answer: It’s complicated. And we don’t know much yet.

Summary: After a front blows in today, Houston will see mostly sunny conditions this week with a sustained run of lovely spring-like weather. Seriously, it doesn’t get much better than this on the upper Texas coast. Conditions will turn warmer and a bit muggier this weekend.

Goldilocks season

These in-between months in Houston, October and November in the fall, and March and April in the spring, often bring the best weather of the year—if you like mild conditions. With the arrival of a front today, we’re set up for almost a full week of mostly sunny weather, with pleasantly warm days and modestly chilly nights. After some chances today, rain should be non-existent through the weekend.

Knowing what is coming in just a couple of months, please enjoy the great outdoors this week!

Monday

It’s overcast and muggy this morning, with temperatures of about 70 degrees and plenty of humidity. We’ll see some scattered, mostly light showers this morning ahead of a cool front. As this front passes through Houston, likely late morning for areas west of Houston, around noon or 1 pm for downtown, and perhaps 2 or 3 pm for the coast, we are likely to see a broken line of showers with possibly a few thunderstorms. Not everyone will see rain, and those that do are likely to see only a few tenths of an inch as the storms exit quickly to the east.

Highs today will, generally, be in the upper 70s. Drier air will filter in to the area this afternoon, as winds shift to come from the northwest. Winds may be briefly gusty from the west with the front, but should settle down fairly quickly. Lows tonight will drop into the low- to mid-50s in Houston.

Tuesday

Look for sunny skies, highs in the low 70s, with dry air. Winds will be from the north at about 10 mph. Lows on Tuesday night will drop to near 50 degrees in Houston, with cooler conditions for inland areas.

Wednesday

Another day with highs in the low 70s. We will likely see some clouds mix in, due to a somewhat disturbed atmosphere. But this should not result in any precipitation that reaches the ground, except maybe for a few sprinkles near places like Conroe. But for the most part this will be a partly sunny day. Lows again drop to near 50 degrees Wednesday night.

Thursday

A sunny day, with highs in the low- to mid-70s. Lows on Thursday night drop into the 50s.

Friday

You guessed, it more sunshine! By this point there will should be a weak onshore flow reestablished, so we’ll see a bit of an uptick in atmospheric moisture, but overall humidity still looks fairly low.

Saturday and Sunday

The weekend looks warmer, with a continued onshore flow. Look for highs, likely, in the low-80s. Saturday looks partly to mostly sunny, while Sunday probably will see more clouds. By Sunday dewpoints will be in the 60s, so the air will feel a bit more sticky.

Next week

Monday and Tuesday of next week look warmer, in the 80s, before we may see some kind of front move in. That probably will bring our next realistic chance of rain.

If you’re wondering about weather for the upcoming eclipse on April 8, we touched on that in our monthly Q&A post on Friday—the bottom line is that it’s too early to say anything sensible.

Summary: If you live in central or northern Houston, there is a healthy chance of storms tonight after midnight.

Good afternoon, everyone. Just a brief update to say that, as expected, widespread showers and thunderstorms that developed this morning are now winding down. The heaviest rains did, indeed, fall closer to the coast with some locations near Alvin and Santa Fe picking up about 5 inches of rain. These areas are now probably done for today and tonight.

Instead the focus shifts up north, where a line of storms is expected to propagate from west to east, generally along and north of Interstate 10. In terms of timing, this line will probably reach the Bryan-College Station area around midnight or shortly before, push through Montgomery County an hour or two later, and reach Beaumont-Port Arthur by around 3 am give or take.

For the most part these probably will be thunderstorms—hence the invocation of our excitable dogs scale. On a scale of 1 to 10, we’re probably looking at about a 7 tonight in terms of dogs barking and carrying on. There is a risk for some more severe weather, in terms of hail and possibly damaging winds, but the overall atmosphere is not ideal for this to occur in the Houston metro area. For those who live east of Houston, particularly the Beaumont-Port Arthur area, I do think there is a higher chance of severe thunderstorms with this system’s passage.

Our weather quiets down on Friday morning with a weak front and some drier air. Matt will have full details for you in the morning.