Matt Lanza

We are heading back to being mired in a weather pattern that is generally low impact (aside from some fog) but also fairly obnoxious: Lots of clouds, cold fronts that will shift temperatures in a big way depending on where they’re situated, and plenty of rain chances but ultimately not a lot of rain accumulation. Let’s dive in.

Today

Areas of fog, locally dense, have developed this morning, and there is a Dense Fog Advisory through 9 AM for most of the area. Give yourself a couple extra minutes out the door today. As fog lifts, expect a good deal of cloud cover this morning, giving way to some partial afternoon sunshine at times. High temperatures today will be contingent on sunshine. With a lot of sun, we could make a run for 80° in spots, particularly west of I-45. With clouds hanging on, expect upper-70s in most places. Some fog may roll back into coastal communities later this afternoon.

Saturday

The forecast for tomorrow is tricky. The first in a series of cold fronts will get down to about US-59 in the morning.

Using the image above (which shows dewpoints instead of air temperatures), you can see the cold front is conveniently right along US-59. This is from the NAM model, which is probably the most aggressive of the models in bringing this front south. In fact, this may even be a smidge too far south and east. But I want to show you how sharp a cutoff this is between very warm humid and potentially cooler and drier.

The front will likely make limited progress south and may even begin to retreat a bit back to the north in the afternoon. Ahead of the front, we will see areas of dense fog along the coast or in the bays once again for much of tomorrow. Temperatures will likely be in the 70s to perhaps near 80° again. North and west of Houston closer to the front in the afternoon, look for mid-70s. There is a small degree of uncertainty tomorrow. If the front is able to be aggressive and dives southeast enough, some areas north or west of US-59 may only see highs in the 60s Saturday.

The good news is that rain chances look limited on Saturday. There may be a few showers or sprinkles along the coast, but otherwise, it just looks mostly cloudy tomorrow (foggy along the coast).

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February is not Houston’s prettiest month, at least not recently. In February of 2018, 82% of all observations at Bush Airport reported some degree of overcast skies. “Overcast skies” in this case would be defined as any observation reporting “OVC” for the cloud deck. That could be anything from a high, thin overcast with some sun peaking through to low, gray clouds or fog. Either way, some sort of grayness to the sky.

So far in February of 2019, we’re averaging 85% of observations featuring overcast conditions. Typically in February, Houston averages about 45% of observations with overcast skies. Basically, with the exception of the time right around sunset, it’s been gloomy so far this month for the second year in a row. And this weekend will not help that cause.

Today

Winter is back in force today. How far has the temperature fallen since this same time yesterday morning?

In Houston, we are running about 35 degrees colder than at this same time yesterday morning, starting today in the upper-30s or low-40s. Changes are a little greater north and a little less so south. Temperatures won’t move much today. Expect highs in the low-40s at best with a bit of a gusty north wind continuing.

Cloud cover will dominate today, with perhaps a few sunny breaks if we are lucky. In addition, we could see some sprinkles or light rain, especially along the immediate coast, as well as north of the Houston area, up toward Conroe or Huntsville. Up north, any of that light rain could mix with or even fall as ice pellets (sleet). It would be conversational, not impactful, but a good reminder of where we sit on the calendar.

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Good morning, and happy Friday. Unfortunately, if you came to the blog seeking good news about sunshine and beautiful late winter weather this weekend, we are going to have to direct you elsewhere. It appears that Southeast Texas is going to be under the influence of an unsettled, somewhat dreary weather pattern for several days. But, if you needed a break from the colder weather, you will get that over the next few days as well.

Today

We’ve got a few showers in the Houston area this morning. An occasional, brief heavy downpour is possible.

Be on the lookout for some patchy areas of fog this morning as well. Otherwise, cloud cover should dominate the picture today. We may see a few breaks of sunshine, but I would not be too optimistic at this point. Shower chances may be mostly over after this morning, but we wouldn’t rule out a few showers later this afternoon, mainly west of the Houston area or along the immediate coast.

It will be milder again today, with high temperatures peaking in the mid-60s in most places, though some spots are likely to hit the upper-60s.

Tonight & Saturday

The weather pattern over the next several days will feature quick moving disturbances, none of which look particularly strong. Because of that, trying to time the best rain chances will be a little challenging. Tonight looks mostly dry, but a disturbance passing through on Saturday could set off a few showers or even a thunderstorm. Not everyone will see rain, but some of us could see briefly heavier downpours.

Temperatures will top off around 70 degrees on Saturday afternoon, after beginning the day in the mid- to upper-50s.

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It’s looking like a mostly nice weekend ahead for Houston as we begin to try and dry out some after a very damp few months.

Today & Saturday

After a chilly start today, we should see sunshine and a few high clouds.

As the day progresses, it will be pleasant, with high temperatures likely to get up close to 60 degrees or so. We won’t be quite as cold tonight, as low temperatures dip down into the low- to mid-40s.

On Saturday, a vigorous little disturbance will trek down the Rio Grande Valley. That puts it far enough away from Houston to keep our rain chances pretty low. On Thursday it looked like we only had maybe a 20 percent chance of a shower as this passed by. Today, I might up that to 40 percent that someone (not everyone) sees a few showers late Saturday afternoon or during Saturday evening. Otherwise, we will see a little additional cloud cover, but it should still be partly to mostly sunny most of the day. High temperatures Saturday should sneak above 60° in most spots, with a few mid-60s possible as long as cloud cover is limited and showers hold off til late. Rain totals will be zero for most folks, but perhaps up to 0.25″ south and east of Houston where shower chances are a bit higher.

Sunday & Monday

Once that Rio Grande Valley system exits, we’re left with mostly fair weather for Sunday and Monday. We’re expecting partly to mostly sunny skies on both days. Temperatures on Sunday will warm from the lower or middle 40s in the morning up into the mid-60s during the afternoon. Monday should see us go even a bit warmer. We’ll warm from the upper-40s into upper-60s or even better.

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