Good morning, and it’s certainly nice to wake up to no power issues related to the grid across Texas. ERCOT’s status is normal. That being said, we do have some considerable travel issues to contend with this morning. Those should slowly improve today, and the weekend looks like a pretty nice one, if you like calm winter weather.
This morning
Current temperatures across the Houston area are in the mid to upper-20s away from the coast and generally around the low-30s at the coast.
Wind chills are about 10 degrees colder than this, with mostly low to mid-teens around the region.
Precipitation ended for most folks yesterday evening, and radar is quiet this morning across the area with everything basically offshore now. But the damage is done in terms of road conditions west of Houston. Icy patches are still being reported west of Katy and in far northwest Harris County. While you should be able to maneuver for the most part around the Houston area this morning, please use extra caution on bridges and overpasses, which could still have some icy patches.
If you are traveling away from Houston today, use extreme caution. If you can postpone travel to Austin or Dallas, it’s probably advisable, as road conditions should not improve a lot today in those areas. Travel to San Antonio is probably manageable after this morning, but again, please drive carefully. Monitor road conditions at drivetexas.org.
Rest of today
Clearing is not expecting to be total today, and the most I’d bank on right are perhaps some brightening skies this afternoon. Otherwise, a lot of clouds. That will keep temperatures from getting much above 35 degrees today. It’s just straight up cold.
Tonight
Another round of light to moderate freezing temperatures should be expected tonight.
Continue to keep plants and exterior pipes protected especially and make sure to check on any vulnerable friends, family, and neighbors, as this is a prolonged cold event for our area.
Weekend
The weather this weekend looks just fine. After the chilly start to Saturday, we’ll warm up well into the 40s during the afternoon with sunshine. It will be cold again Saturday night, but this time only the outlying areas will see meaningful freezing temperatures. Expect low to mid-30s in Houston and along the coast and upper-20s to 30 or so away from the city and coast.
Sunday looks delightful as well. We’ll see more sunshine and highs push back above 50° Sunday afternoon!
Early next week
A weak disturbance will likely stay offshore on Monday, but I do expect us to see some clouds and at least a rain shower chance along the immediate coast. Any rain won’t amount to much there, if it happens at all. Once that system passes, it will usher in a bit of a reinforcing shot of cooler, drier weather, along with more sunshine for midweek. Look for highs in the 50s Monday and Tuesday and perhaps cracking 60 again by Wednesday. Lows will be in the upper-30s to near 40 on Monday morning, then probably back in the 30s on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.
At this point, I’d expect generally cooler than normal weather to continue through at least Valentine’s Day. Perhaps warmer weather will be in the cards after then. We’ll see.
Yeah, mostly quiet, except for the mowers at the park before 8 a.. Only in Houston. On a day school is cancelled.
CCISD cancelled classes, no ice to be seen, no snow, only got down to 29 degrees. I guess 29 degrees is too cold for kids to walk from drop-off to the building. Nowhere else but Houston! And maybe Miami.
Don’t forget that school buses have to be picked up from League City and driven north of Clear Lake, usually on highway and overpasses, by around 6 a.m. for High School. The Superintendent could of waited until around 5 a.m. but I think it’s better to decide by 9 p.m. the night before. They could of called a liate arrival, but they have weather days planned in their calendar
I think it’s fine for kids to get the day off. It really is quite cold today
I would have had most school days off in the winter then when I was a kid.
Thank you again! I had no problems taking Westheimer this morning (Galleria area). ALTHOUGH I will say PTSD is real. 🙁 And auto start on your car is a genius invention. 😀
Stay warm everyone!
Can you advise if a trip from Brazoria County west to El Campo, 36 to 59, returning after 7 is wise? Concerned about driving conditions later.
Matt: I see what you did there in that closing paragraph with the Valentine’s Day and “in the cards” reference. Sneaky and clever but that makes you so wonderful.
Glad to hear that the weekend will be calm cold wonderful winter weather. You can always put on more clothes in the cold – but, if you take too much off in the summer heat, you’ll get arrested.
Well it only got down to 26 here in the woodlands which isn’t as bad as it could have been. The plumbing and power still works. Today is going to be very cold though and I wonder if it will even break above 32.