Matt Lanza

Gray Friday, great Saturday, rain beyond

After a day or two to remind us that Houston can have beautiful weather in the cool season, we’ll go gray today, with a little rain. We begin the march back to a warmer pattern as well.

Today

Radar shows sporadic rain across the area this morning. Some of what you’re seeing on radar may not actually be reaching the ground well north of Houston. The air is still a bit dry there yet.

Occasional showers and rumbles of loud thunder as of 6:35 AM are working their way east through the area. Nothing serious however. (GR Level 3)

 

We’ve also heard some thunder in and around Houston this morning. That should kick off to the east over the next couple hours. The rest of the day likely sees scattered rain, mainly in southern parts of the area. Some of it could be moderate to briefly heavy along the coast. And yes, rumbles of thunder will continue to be possible, but we aren’t expecting any severe weather from this system. It’s entirely possible some inland areas see nothing more than a few raindrops. Most of us will see gray, cloudy conditions for much of today.

Models show rainfall & some thunder working through the region today. The steadiest will be at the coast, and all rain should be through our area by mid to late afternoon. (Weather Bell)

 

Temperatures will grind upwards into the upper 60s to near 70 degrees this afternoon.

(Space City Weather is sponsored this month by Darrell Lee’s The Gravitational Leap)

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Space City Rewind: Houston’s Great Snow of 1895

Note: In our second installment of the Space City Rewind, we tackle the biggest snow on record in Southeast Texas. Our first installment about the November 1992 tornado outbreak can be found here.

“All of Wednesday night polar spirits swept the earth until boundless snow had deformed the withered heath and the people of this section for the first time within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, looked out upon nature fringed with a beard made white with other snows than those of age.” – Brenham Daily Banner, February 15, 1895

Back on Christmas Eve in 2004, much of South Texas was blanketed in white, as a perfect setup to create a miraculous White Christmas occurred. Galveston received four inches of snow, Angleton six inches, Friendswood three inches, and Bay City 8-10 inches. While the 2004 Christmas Eve miracle stands almost on its own for modern Southeast Texas snowstorms, the great Valentine’s Day snow of 1895 stands alone as Southeast Texas’s and the Gulf Coast’s greatest snowstorm of all-time. The following interactive map shows snow totals from this remarkable event, which affected a swath from Texas to Maryland.


Above: An interactive map with snow reports and some details from the 1895 storm

So why did this event occur? How disruptive was it for coastal residents? Will we ever see its like again? Put your feet up, because the latest installment of the Space City Rewind takes you back to the 19th Century: The Great Snowstorm of Valentine’s Day 1895.

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After record heat, thunderstorms Tuesday

After a weekend which has seen two record high temperatures broken in Houston, we turn our attention to thunderstorms and the possibility of severe weather on Tuesday. There’s been some “noise” about that being a possibility, so we want to give you a quick synopsis. Eric will have the latest in the morning.

Cooler Weather to Come

We hit 85° on Saturday, breaking the record of 82° from 1999. We exceeded that Sunday, hitting 86° and breaking the 95 year old record high of 84° from 1922. A weak cold front will push through tonight, and that will end the record warmth. This is evident when you look at dewpoints. The HRRR model below shows the higher dews getting blunted back southward as the front rolls through.

A cold front will wipe out the record heat and humidity overnight, as seen by dropping dewpoints after midnight. (Weather Bell)

 

So tomorrow is a transition day. We’ll see a mix of clouds and sun, maybe a shower, and temperatures peaking in the low 70s. Meanwhile, an area of low pressure will develop in West Texas, bringing places like Lubbock (that hit 91° yesterday) a chance of snow. That becomes our weather-maker for Tuesday, bringing us rain & thunderstorms.

(Space City Weather is sponsored this month by Darrell Lee’s The Gravitational Leap)

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Houston’s weather pendulum swings back

The pendulum of weather this winter has been fierce and rather erratic at times. While not as extreme as what we saw in January, another strong shift of the pendulum is underway, back in the warmer direction.

Today & Weekend

We have an interesting variety of temperatures across the region this morning.

Temperatures are being impacted by low clouds and range from the 30s and 40s north to the 50s and low 60s south and along the Gulf. (NOAA/NWS)

 

We have a band of low clouds oozing up from South Texas this morning, and that’s keeping places south of Houston mild. However, if you go north of the metro area, clear skies and light winds have allowed temperatures to drop into the 40s and a few 30s in ideally sheltered spots.

Low clouds should give way to a bit of sun, before new clouds arrive later today. There is a very slight chance of a shower or some light sprinkles, primarily south and west of Houston this afternoon.

The majority of the weekend should be problem-free. We will see clouds around, interspersed with sunshine. An isolated shower or a little light rain is possible but probably nothing you need to plan around.

Temps are going to surge again however. While it shouldn’t be quite as warm as we saw earlier this week, there is a good chance we see that Saturday and perhaps Sunday reach the 80 degree mark. As Eric pointed out earlier in the week, Houston is going to at least threaten the record of seventeen 80+ days in meteorological winter (December 1-February 28). We are at 14 now, and if Saturday and Sunday both hit 80°, we’ll be at 16 days. That will give us over half of February left to tie or break the record of 17 days. What’s winter?

Official forecast high temperatures for Saturday show record highs being tested all across Texas and Oklahoma. Houston’s record high on Saturday is 82°, set back in 1999. (Weather Bell)

 

No other issues this weekend, but watch for the potential of fog in spots, especially near the coast by Sunday.

(Space City Weather is sponsored this month by Darrell Lee’s The Gravitational Leap)

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