Matt Lanza

In brief: Some of Houston saw rain yesterday. Many of you did not. At least the slight chance of rain will stick with us into next week. But aside from that and “less hot” temperatures, not much is changing here. Summer doldrums continue.

I borrowed from poet Mark Van Doren for our title today. Though the drought has not been that long, it has felt like it’s been a while. So who’s happy this morning? Some of you? None of you? Surely someone got rain yesterday. Indeed, showers and storms did push through parts of the area on Thursday.

The max totals in the area occurred just east of Magnolia, which was estimated to see north of 2 inches of rain. A gauge just north of IAH Airport saw nearly 1.5 inches of rain. It missed the airport gauge (which got a whopping 0.02″) by about 2 miles, just to give you a sense of the hit/miss nature of this stuff.

The good news is that rain chances aren’t quite finished, but the bad news is that they aren’t going to get a whole lot better either.

Today

An additional shower or thunderstorm may pop up this afternoon or evening in the area. It’s probably going to be a bit like yesterday in that many places won’t see rain but a few places will see some healthy downpours. We could also see the storms pulse deeper into the evening hours, sort of like yesterday also. Otherwise, it should be sunny and hot today with highs in the upper 90s. We’ve taken a little bit of edge off the heat at least.

Weekend

As an aside, it feels so odd to me that this weekend isn’t Labor Day weekend. But the calendar does what the calendar does. Regardless, it will still feel like August, with sun, clouds, at least a chance of a passing downpour, and highs in the mid to upper 90s.

Early next week

It looks like the weather will continue very steady state for the first half of the week. Expect sun, a few clouds, mid to upper 90s, and at least a slight shower chance. Rain chances may nudge up just a hair on Tuesday, but I wouldn’t go turning the sprinklers off at this point.

Later next week

I don’t really foresee a whole lot changing later next week. We seem sort of entrenched in this hot but not crazy hot, dry but not zero chance of rain situation. We really do need the rain though. Yesterday’s updated drought monitor report showed the Houston area going from near 0 drought to 43 percent drought coverage. That’s a huge leap over a week.

This can be classified as a bit of a “flash drought,” which tends to happen very fast later in summers that transition from wet to dry. To be honest, it’s kind of fortunate it has not been hotter this summer, but a late start to the summertime “death ridge” certainly helped matters. Of course, the question now is whether or not September ends up just miserable because of this. A question we’ll ponder in the days ahead. On the bright side, the tropics remain quiet. Check The Eyewall later for any updates.

In brief: Our second 100 degree day of summer was recorded yesterday, and several more may follow. Although records are safe, continued near 100 degree weather will be with us into next week. Perhaps a slight rain chance this weekend will boost your mood? We explain and have some energy saving tips from our partners at Reliant in today’s post!

Had enough yet? Look, it has not been awful by August standards as Eric has written this week. We’re certainly nowhere near records. And we hit 100 yesterday for only the second time this summer. 2026 is currently sitting outside the top 10 of hottest summers on record in Houston, which would be the first one to fall short since summer 2021. That said, we’re only about 0.2 degrees of average summer temperature away from breaking into it again, and there’s a chance the late August rally here will get us there. I guess the better question is not how much longer the heat will last but whether we’ll see any rain.

Today

I won’t give you false hope today. Expect sunshine and heat and highs around 100, give or take. There is a weak little boundary, however that’s going to try to approach the Houston area late this evening, likely sometime after 8 or 9 PM. There should be a broken line of scattered showers and storms with it as it approaches. Those may vanish on approach given the time of day — or they’ll try to hold together and bring the area a little relief.

Emphasis on “a little.” Whatever the case, as Andy Dufresne reminded us “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” Speaking of…

Weekend

Both Saturday and Sunday should be scorchers. Expect highs around 100 to 103 and a Super Mario 2 sun. But Saturday has a little interestingness to it, with a chance that a few isolated thunderstorms pop up across interior Texas and drift southward toward the area. I’m skeptical any of those will make it to Houston, but I suppose someone, particularly north of Houston could see a mercifully cooling downpour on Saturday afternoon or evening. Maybe even a few folks! Probably not Sunday though.

Next week

High pressure peaks over Texas this weekend and then begins a retreat back into the Desert Southwest next week. There usually is no on-off switch in Texas August though, and in this case, the high pressure system should remain close enough to keep us hot but maybe not to the levels we see this weekend. As Eric rightfully noted yesterday, there are (were?) some models trying to pull back a good bit on the heat toward the very end of the month, but it seems like those model runs may have been aberrations.

The region is fully highlighted in risk for “extreme heat” through the end of August, and although temps may “only” be upper-90s to near 100, the compounding effect of strong August heat can begin to wear on you after a while, so be sure to try to keep cool. And think about conserving energy where you are able. Which brings us to a word on that from our partners at Reliant.

A message from Reliant

We’re entering the stretch of summer where the forecast is often the same day after day: HOT. When temperatures are high, air conditioners have to work harder to keep homes cools. Reliant is helping Houstonians save money and cut back on energy use while still staying comfortable this summer with the following tips:

• Follow the “four-by-four” principle instead of turning off your HVAC system completely. Set your thermostat four degrees higher when you’re away from home for more than four hours to reduce electricity usage while staying efficient upon your return home.
• Leverage smart thermostats and smart home devices, which are powerful tools to manage energy usage while away and optimize schedules while home.
• Grill outdoors. Cooking indoors raises the heat, requiring the AC to use more electricity.
• Use heat-producing appliances like the dryer, dishwasher, or oven after sundown instead of during the hottest times of day.
• Avoid running your pool pump all day by using an automatic timer.
• Set your ceiling fan to rotate counterclockwise to create a wind chill effect. Also turn off fans when you leave the room.
• Close blinds and shades to prevent heat buildup and get the most out of the cool air coming from the AC.

More money-saving tips can be found here.

In brief: Houston’s last decent chance for rain showers for a bit will occur today with some isolated downpours likely later this afternoon. After that? Rain chances scrape the bottom of the barrel, as high heat persists across the region into most, if not all of next week.

Making lemonade. Maybe.

Do you ever squeeze an orange or a lemon and get to that point where you need just a little bit more juice but you don’t want to use a fraction of another? That’s today in weird metaphors that only Matt could come up with. We are attempting to squeeze out a little extra moisture and get some cooling downpours for the Houston area before August does its thing.

A small “blob” of moisture will enter Texas off the Gulf this afternoon and evening. As this happens, when combined with daytime heating and the daily sea breeze, we could begin to see a few pop-up downpours or thunderstorms develop. Given this little surge of moisture, it’s possible that some of these downpours could be rather heavy. So my advice is to carry an umbrella today, hope you get drenched for a little bit, and then settle in for the highest of high summer. Most places will see little to no rain but a handful of you may pick up a quick inch or two.

Summer, summer, summertime, time to sit back and unwind

The forecast through early to mid-next week is brought to you by the numbers 97, 98, and 99. Maybe 100. Those will most likely be the temperatures we see at IAH each day between now and then. The forecast is also brought to you by the number “zero,” which is roughly how much rain most of us will see after today and into next week. And it’s brought to you by the letter “H,” for hazy, hot, and humid.

I won’t entirely rule out a few stray showers next Tuesday or Wednesday and again next weekend, but for the most part it looks pretty standard August over the next week. Obviously, it’s too soon to think about cold fronts, but in general it also looks like this basic pattern is going to continue beyond next week as well. Watch for emerging drought to the north of Houston also. The Houston area should be in mostly fine shape for a bit longer with regard to drought. The situation is such to our north that the NWS actually issued a summary on social media this week about emerging “rapid onset drought” in places like North Texas and the Piney Woods as heat persists into next weekend.

Bottom line: We’re stuck for a bit. Let’s hope some rain gets squeezed out later today.

In brief: Additional shower chances over more of the Houston area will build up this weekend as we get a slight reprieve from high summer temperatures. After this weekend, we head back toward the frying pan with a very classic August heat wave likely by next weekend.

After Wednesday’s dud of a day in terms of rain, yesterday was fruitful for parts of the Houston area. Just west of Sugar Land toward New Territory saw 2 to 4 inches of rain. Rosenberg was on the board around 2 to 3 inches. The south side of Pearland over to Friendswood saw a solid 1 to 3 inches. And the narrow area between Ellington Field and Johnson Space Center saw about 2 inches and change. Some other areas saw less rain, albeit a fair bit in spots.

Congrats to our winners!

Today

For most places, today will just be another sultry August day with highs in the mid to perhaps upper 90s. But much like yesterday, there will be at least a few spots that get cooling downpours. As is often the case in summer, the end result could be a quick 1 to 4 inches in any given location, while most folks see nada.

Weekend thru Monday

The next few days after today will have better rain chances over a wider chunk of the area than there have been lately. While some areas have indeed cashed in, many have not. This weekend into Monday will be a good opportunity to get some other places on the rainfall board. As a result of higher coverage of storms and downpours, highs will be in the mid-90s at best, with a few spots maybe not even getting much past 90 degrees if the rains can hit earlier in the day.

Hopefully everyone can participate at least a little.

Tuesday and Wednesday

These will be the transition days out of the weekend pattern. Look for highs to slowly build back more consistently into the mid-90s or closer to 96 or 97 degrees. Rain chances will begin to gradually slump back toward where they’ve been this week, meaning fewer folks will cash in on the rainfall lotto.

Beyond midweek

The pattern looks to be changing back to a more standard August heat wave setup for East Texas. This will mean daily highs in the upper-90s to near 100 degrees, with lows near 80 degrees. And rain chances, while not zero will be at a premium. Nothing remarkable or severe by Houston standards but very August-like, and it will likely prompt at least a few Heat Advisories heading toward next weekend.

We leave you today with…

A message from Reliant

Don’t get caught in the dark. When the power goes out, your refrigerator, air conditioning, internet services, medical devices, and home security system can all be affected. Through a special partnership with Quality Home Products of Texas, Reliant customers can claim $1,000 off plus one year of free monitoring and preventive maintenance on installed air-cooled Kohler generators up to 26 kW*. This offer is available to eligible Reliant customers only and expires on September 30, 2026. Learn more here.

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