2018 to dawn quite cold for Houston

Out with the old, in with the cold. This weekend, we will bid farewell to a 2017 that will end up as Houston’s warmest (likely) and wettest (definite) on record. 2018 will subsequently start as one of Houston’s coldest on record. Start making some plans now to protect the four P’s: People, pets, plants, pipes. It’s likely going to get cold enough next week in most of the region that you’ll need to take action on at least one night, if not multiple nights.

Plan now to understand and implement some cold weather protection next week. (NWS Houston)

First, let’s look at the weekend.

Today & Saturday

No serious weather issues are anticipated the next couple days. That said, there’s a couple things to track. Clouds are likely to dominate the picture again today. There will be some drizzle or mist around this morning, particularly south and east of Houston.

Onshore flow begins in earnest later today and tonight. That means a couple things. First, we might see more drizzle in spots and perhaps even a few showers (mainly Saturday near coastal locations). Second, fog will probably reappear in the area. I think coastal fog is possible tonight into Saturday, with perhaps even some inland as well. Saturday just looks kind of dreary with clouds and some showers or drizzle around.

Temperatures today will warm into the upper 40s to low-50s. It’s possible that temperatures don’t drop at all tonight, and Saturday will see temperatures warm further into the lower or middle 60s in Houston. It could be a degree or two warmer south or a little cooler north.

New Year’s Eve

So the first part of the day will be mild and cloudy. We’ll likely have fog in spots, and a few showers will be possible throughout the day. We should top off in the upper-50s to around 60° or so for highs. A cold front is on track to plow through at some point Sunday afternoon or evening, give or take a few hours. That will send temps down into the 40s for evening festivities. After Midnight, we’ll drop into the 30s everywhere. So if you’re heading out to celebrate, the weather you experience on your way out the door may not be anything like the weather you’ll experience when you’re coming home.

Overnight lows Sunday into Monday morning will be about 25-35 degrees colder than Sunday morning’s temperatures. (NWS/Weather Bell)

We don’t see a lot of risk of ice or frozen precipitation in Houston proper Sunday night. But these situations can be a bit fickle, so you’ll probably want to pay attention to the forecast for late Sunday night if you’ll be out traveling. If you will be up north (think Brenham-Conroe-Cleveland), it’s more likely that you could see some freezing drizzle after midnight. With a possibly damp day, some black ice will be possible on the roads up north too, even if there’s no freezing drizzle. So just exercise extreme caution in northern areas and pay attention to the weather in southern areas Sunday night if you’re going to or fro. If something changes significantly, look for us to update you Sunday morning or afternoon.

(Space City Weather is brought to you this month by the Law Office of Murray Newman)

See full post

Warm weather to be whisked away this weekend

We’ve got one more warm day on tap before cooling off to more seasonable type weather in Houston. That will make four in a row for our area. Let’s explore the details.

Today and Tonight

A mix of a low overcast and some patchy fog around the area this morning. This isn’t a repeat of earlier this week though with dense fog prevalent. That said, we do have some sprinkles or light rain around so roads could be a bit wet in a few spots this morning.

Otherwise, expect a mostly quiet Friday. High temps today will be near 80° in Houston (it’s already 73° as of 7:30 AM). We could see that light rain or drizzle continue. There is a slight chance for a shower I suppose, but it would be most likely up toward College Station or out toward Brenham.

The main rainfall story develops tonight as a cold front sweeps through. Expect showers to become more likely toward sunset. We could see a thunderstorm embedded also, but that would probably be the exception rather than the rule. Rain won’t be terribly heavy and most places should see less than a half-inch, possibly less than a quarter-inch.

Rainfall through Saturday morning should be relatively minor across most of the area. (NWS/Weather Bell)

Showers continue into the overnight hours before gradually ending from northwest to southeast early Saturday morning.

Saturday

We look mostly good on Saturday with clearing likely taking place pretty fast in the morning. We’ll have a mostly sunny afternoon with just a few high clouds around. You’ll notice it’s a quite a bit colder, with morning lows in the upper-40s and afternoon highs sneaking up to the middle or upper-50s. Saturday night will be chilly with lows in the low-40s.

(Space City Weather is brought to you this month by the Law Office of Murray Newman)

See full post

Back to pre-Christmas fog & clouds in Houston

Well, the break was nice while it lasted. Hope everyone got to enjoy yesterday’s mid to upper-70s and sunshine. Today starts another transition.

Today and Friday

We’re starting with fog or low clouds across parts of the area this AM. Low clouds seem more common than fog at the moment until you get to Louisiana. But we’ll start today with a mix of sun and some of these low clouds. A nice, sunny start is in the cards north and west of the city.

The new, fully operational, GOES-16 (now GOES-East) satellite shows widespread low clouds and fog this morning, especially along the coast. The aqua or gray colors show this best. (NASA SPoRT)

There could be a sprinkle or shower around as well, but it won’t be anything serious. Temperatures will top off in the mid or upper 70s once more this afternoon. Cloud cover may cap how warm we get in spots though. Onshore flow is back in style, and you’ll feel it today. Expect humidity to trend upward through the day with dewpoints climbing out of the 50s and into the mid or upper-60s by evening. That means dense fog will once again be a possibility tonight, though a bit of a breeze may allow the fog to be less prevalent than we saw earlier this week.

Temperatures will only drop off into the mid or upper-60s tonight, or about 20 to 25 degrees above normal for this time of year. After a warm start, Friday looks like a mix of clouds, fog, and a slight chance of rain showers. Expect temps to hit the mid or upper-70s once more. We could do 80° with just a little bit of sunshine. The chance of rain will increase as we get closer to evening. Expect a period of steady rain or showers later Friday night into Saturday morning. There could be a thunderstorm thrown in, but overall no serious weather is expected with this front.

Saturday

Behind Friday night’s front, expect clouds and showers to linger early Saturday. Clouds could clear out from northwest to southeast on Saturday afternoon. Temperatures will be notably cooler. Expect the morning to start with upper-40s or low-50s only warming into the upper-50s to perhaps around 60° Saturday afternoon.

(Space City Weather is brought to you this month by the Law Office of Murray Newman)

See full post

Houston’s warm winter interlude lasts a little longer

The fog lifted and temperatures exploded yesterday afternoon. Houston managed to hit 79° officially, just a little shy of the record of 81° set back in 2012. This is our fifth day above 75° so far this month. We did eight of them last December, but most came in the final 10 days of the month. We should add at least one or two more warm days to the record this week before a pretty significant dose of winter cold brings us back to reality.

Today

Spectacular. We try not to editorialize the weather too much, but it’s tough to argue against today’s weather by almost any objective metric. I expect today to be a chamber of commerce special, with ample sunshine and just a few high clouds. Temperatures again should reach for the upper-70s. Dewpoints today will be 15 to 20 degrees lower than yesterday meaning drier air is in place. If we hit 79° again this afternoon, it will feel a whole lot nicer than the 79° we hit yesterday.

Thursday through Saturday morning

Our foray into near-ideal weather will end abruptly on Thursday. We could start the day with areas of fog back in the picture. If we don’t, they’ll return with force Thursday night I think. Humidity should skyrocket on Thursday as onshore flow returns. It might be cool and damp Thursday morning, but it will finish downright humid. There could be some showers around on Thursday, but I don’t really foresee anything too substantial and rainfall accumulations should be minor.

Temperatures will start Thursday in the mid-50s and warm into the mid or upper-70s on Thursday afternoon. We may not see temperatures drop very far on Thursday night. The best we’ll do is probably around 65-70° in much of the area, with some places perhaps not dropping below 70° Friday morning. Fog and some isolated showers will play games with temperatures on Friday, leading to perhaps mid-70s. With enough sunshine 80° can’t be ruled out however.

Our next cold front will approach Friday night — or Saturday morning. The timing has slowed down by at least six hours since yesterday and it now appears we won’t see much rain til after midnight Friday night into Saturday morning.

The official rainfall forecast between Thursday & Friday’s showers and Friday & Saturday’s front looks mostly minor. Expect about a quarter to half inch on average, with a few places seeing a little less or a little more. (NWS/Weather Bell)

We could have some thunderstorms with the front as it passes also, but as of now severe weather is unlikely. Behind the front, somewhat cooler temperatures will pour into the region.

(Space City Weather is brought to you this month by the Law Office of Murray Newman)

See full post