Matt Lanza

First weekend of 2019 looks delightful

Good morning, and happy Friday! This will be a relatively brief post, as we have a limited amount of weather issues to discuss for once.

First, let’s do some quick housekeeping on flooding on some of the larger rivers in the region. The West Fork of the San Jacinto River near Humble appears to be cresting this morning on the threshold of moderate flooding. It will recede over the next couple days.

On the cusp of moderate flooding along the West Fork of the San Jacinto River. (NWS)

The East Fork will see minor flooding, while the Trinity River at Liberty continues to see major flooding.

Along the Brazos, minor to just shy of moderate flooding is expected near Hempstead, while a slow rise downstream at Richmond should push the river to near or just below minor flooding levels by midweek next week.

Generally minor to borderline moderate flooding along the Brazos River is expected over the next 5-7 days. (NWS)

Further downstream at Rosharon, minor to borderline moderate flooding is expected next week as well. Flooding along the Brazos is being fed by inflows from the Navasota River, which is in moderate flood north of College Station.

Today through Sunday

Mostly sunny skies will prevail on each of the next three days across all of Southeast Texas. The only blemish here may be some patchy fog on each of the next few mornings, especially later in the weekend. We’ll shift to sunshine quickly through each morning.

It’s a chilly start to the day, with the coldest temperatures in the area since December 11th. (NWS)

We’re starting today in the 30s in much of the area, the coldest morning for Houston since December 11th, when we hit 34° officially. Temperatures will warm and top off in the mid- to upper-50s today, mid-60s tomorrow, and near 70 on Sunday. Morning lows will be chilly again tonight, with low-40s. Onshore flow slowly increases a bit on Saturday night and Sunday, so low temperatures Sunday morning will be milder, in the mid- to upper-40s.

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Annoyingly unsettled weather continues a little longer

We always seem to lock into a dreary, gray pattern this time of year for a period of time, and this year, while a bit more broken up, looks similar. So enjoy today, which will be delightful!

Today

Beautiful. Expect sunshine and really stunning weather for late December. We’ll do lower 60s this afternoon, with a few spots maybe in the upper-50s. Other than a modest breeze and perhaps a few clouds late, it will be a calm, lovely day.

Tonight through New Year’s Eve Monday

We’ll be setting up another storm system over the area beginning tonight. While this one should not have nearly the impact of the storm we just got through, it will be a bit drawn out.

Clouds will increase tonight, with low temperatures probably being reached earlier in the evening than Thursday night into this morning. We should do mid- to upper-40s for lows.

Unfortunately, Saturday doesn’t look great.

Available atmospheric moisture increases from about 0.7″ this evening to almost 1.5″ by Sunday morning, meaning increasing rain chances through the period. (Weather Bell)

I’m hesitant to call it a washout right now, but I do think there will be a fair bit of light or steady rain and showers around during much of Saturday. Moisture begins to increase tonight, and it will further increase tomorrow and tomorrow night. Rain chances will probably start near the coast on Saturday morning and spread inland during the afternoon and evening.

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Literal warm wishes for the holiday season

We’ll be starting off the Christmas period with a bang today and tomorrow before some clouds build in for the holiday, followed by a potentially active period of weather later next week. Let’s dive into the details.

Today & Saturday

As we officially begin winter at 4:23 PM today, the season kicks off on a beautiful note. We had lots of wind yesterday, but most of that is gone now, and we’ll see sunshine with mid-60s this afternoon. A cool, crisp night in the low- to mid-40s will follow tonight. Look for essentially a repeat of Friday on Saturday, along with several degrees of added temperature. We’ll do mid-70s on Saturday under sunny skies.

It may be a bit warm for December, but it will really be a nice day Saturday. (NWS Houston)

It should be a stunner.

Sunday

A weak cold front will approach the area on Sunday morning and afternoon. After starting the day in the milder mid-50s, we should see our afternoon capped in the mid- or upper-60s. Sunday will probably have a few more clouds at times, though I think we will still see majority sunshine. A stray shower can’t be ruled out with the front, but most folks should stay dry. Some patchy fog is possible around Galveston Bay or on Galveston Island Sunday morning.

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Chilly, gray Friday gives way to a lovely weekend

Let’s start off this morning by taking a look at the satellite imagery over Texas.

Water vapor satellite imagery shows an impressive storm system in the upper atmosphere rolling across East Texas this morning. (College of DuPage)

You don’t often see such an interesting picture this far south. What you’re looking at is an upper level low pressure system that is responsible for our winds and some rain showers across the area this morning. Winds have been gusty at times, but for the most part things have been under control. As this upper low shifts to the east, we may see winds pick up again. They almost certainly will in coastal areas.Inland areas will be a bit more fickle.

Wind advisories remain posted for Houston and points south and east today, where maximum wind gusts could approach 35-40 mph. Inland areas probably won’t see winds much worse than have already been experienced. (NWS Houston)

As for rain, we have a few showers up toward Brenham and College Station. The focal point for showers as we shift into the morning and afternoon will be north of I-10 and probably east of I-45. With temperatures in the 40s across most of the area, all precipitation should fall in the form of rain. There could be some wet snowflakes mixed in well off to the north today, out of the Houston area. If there are heavier showers nearby, rain could also mix with ice pellets (sleet). But there would be no accumulation. Showers should diminish toward sunset.

Elsewhere, look for clouds to linger most of today, with gradual clearing holding out until tonight. With the clouds hanging tough, don’t expect a lot of movement in temperatures today. We should manage to get to around 50 degrees this afternoon and that will be all.

Weekend

There will be no weather woes this weekend across Southeast Texas. Look for plenty of sunshine on Saturday after perhaps a few stubborn morning clouds. Temperatures will warm up from the low-40s in the morning to around 60° during the afternoon. Winds will be on the decrease as well, so Saturday is about as perfect a Houston winter day as you could script.

Sunday should be close to equally as nice. Expect mostly sunny skies, though some added high clouds may gradually increase during the afternoon. We’ll be a few degrees warmer on Sunday afternoon. Look for low-to mid-40s in the morning (a handful of spots likely in the upper-30s too), warming up into the mid-60s during the afternoon.

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