Cool and pleasant this week, with a healthy chance of rain Sunday

A cold front quietly moved through Houston during the overnight hours, and this will set the stage for calm, cool weather for the rest of the week. Winter is here, and it will feel like it.

Tuesday through Thursday

Not much to say about these days. We’ll see sunny conditions, with high temperatures in the mid-60s, and chilly nights. Look for lows in the upper 30s to 40 degrees for inland areas, and around 50 degrees right along the coast. We’ll also see some modest northerly breezes on Tuesday in the wake of the front.

Friday

Another front will arrive on Thursday night, probably after midnight, which will lead to a chilly day on Friday. I’d expect high temperatures of around 60 degrees.

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

Saturday and Sunday

After a cool start Saturday morning—by far the better weekend morning for long distance runs, due to lower humidity—highs on Saturday should reach near 70 degrees under mostly sunny skies. This is also the better day for outdoor activities due to the possibility of rain on Sunday.

Sunday will start out warmer, with lows for most of the area likely not falling beyond the mid-50s. There should be enough moisture return to the region such that showers and perhaps a few thunderstorms will be possible during the day on Sunday. At this point I’d guess about half or more of the region sees some precipitation, with accumulations likely from 0.25 to 1.5 inches of rainfall. (Rain chances appear to be slightly better to the north and east of Houston). Showers end Sunday night or Monday with the passage of a weak cool front.

Christmas watch

We are now 13 days from the Christmas holiday. Next week looks a little warmer than this one, with highs generally ranging from the mid-60s to lower-70s. Looking ahead to Christmas itself, the most likely outcome remains for normal, or below normal temperatures. But this far out there is a lot of variability in the forecast. I’d say there’s about a 30 percent chance of cold weather, with highs in the 50s or below, a 40 percent chance of highs in the 60s, and a 20 percent chance of highs in the 70s, or above.

We probably won’t have too much of a better handle on the Christmas forecast until Friday or so.