Weather-wise, this past September was pretty terrible. There were the floods of Tropical Storm Imelda, which were especially terrible north and east of the Houston metro area. Then there was the heat: Highs were 98 degrees, or above, for the first eight days above, and overall this was by far Houston’s warmest September on record. Finally, the region saw no cool fronts to bring down overnight temperatures, so it remained hot and muggy throughout the month.
Although this region has had worse extreme weather during past Septembers—such as the landfalls of the Great Storm of 1900 and Hurricane Ike in 2008—I would argue that end-to-end this has been the worst overall September weather in Houston. Good riddance. Fortunately, October promises to be better with a cool front likely in about one week’s time.
Tuesday and Wednesday
The heat continues. With Houston falling under the influence of high pressure the region will continue to see hot and mostly sunny days and warm, humid nights. Expect high temperatures on Tuesday and Wednesday to reach 90 degrees, or warmer, for inland areas. Nights will be extra sticky, with lows for much of the region only falling into the upper 70s. Rain chances remain near zero, except possibly for a few isolated areas near Matagorda Bay.
Thursday and Friday
A front will move into north Texas toward the end of this week, and some scattered, mostly light rain showers associated with this could drift into the Houston area—especially north of Interstate 10. However, accumulations should generally be quite low, on the order of one-tenth of an inch for most. It’s not clear how much, of any, drier air from this front will work its way into Houston, but highs should still push up to about 90 degrees for everyone.
Saturday and Sunday
At this point, the weekend looks mostly hot, mostly sunny, and mostly dry. Look for high temperatures around 90 degrees.
Next week
The cold front remains on schedule for about next Monday, with about 85 percent of ensemble members in the European model showing its passage early next week. Some light rain is possible on Monday with the front’s passage, but we’ll have to work out those details later. We’ll also have to see how cold things get, but some lows in the 50s for inland areas are possible by next Tuesday or Wednesday morning. And aren’t we just so ready?
Tropics
A few people have asked about the new, yellow blob on the National Hurricane Center map aimed toward the Gulf of Mexico. We mentioned this yesterday, and told you it had a low chance of development. (The hurricane center gives it a 10 percent chance over the next five days). The bottom line is that the most likely scenario, no matter what develops, is that the aforementioned cool front prevents this system from ultimately moving toward Texas.
Reliant AC contest winner
As you may recall, during this summer, Reliant sponsored two contests for Space City Weather to win two complete AC systems. We’re thrilled to announce the winner of the second and final competition is Wendy Royer. She’s been using that system during this late summer-heat, although we’re hopeful she’ll be able to turn it off next week.
“We are absolutely stunned to have won this incredible gift! Our A/C Unit is fourteen years old so the timing of this is wonderful. We are thrilled to be Reliant customers for life!” Wendy said.
Thank you to Reliant for providing such great prizes during this very hot summer.
September has supplanted August as the Cruelest Month when one wonders if the weather will ever get cooler. At least for 2019 the Title goes to September.
I’m just thankful in some respects that the worst of Imelda’s torrential rains did not occur further west in the heavily developed areas in and around Houston.
1.16 inches for September here. According to the above chart…our school colors are closer to brown and red. Right now I’ll take moisture over a cold front.
I hate “yellow x’s”, even when they stay yellow…come on cool/cold fronts!
We did have a super rare cold front in July that brought the temperature down to the upper 60’s for a few nights and lower humidity levels. That was nice
This has been awful.
My law partner suggested I try this weather site a number of weeks ago. I can honestly say it is the finest source of on-point weather information I have ever encountered. Thank you very much for your efforts, accuracy, and plain speaking.
I was in Dallas over the weekend where on local news hey mentioned that there were going to set a record for most days with high temperatures above 90, they were at 29 on Sunday and 23+ days with a high over 95. Officially DFW had no rain, not even a trace in SEP which was a new record and they are on a streak of 32 days with no trace of rain. They share our pain.
Other than the tropical storm, September wasn’t the worst ever. I’m not interested in the cold, or even 50s, because the house is drafty and the heat doesn’t work so well.
I know we need timelines for everything but what does it really matter if we say, “warmest on record”
when earliest “record” is only maybe 150 years ago ? Lot more info out there that is harder to calculate not on a thermometer or rain gauge prior to 1880 or so.
I do rely on your website in as weather
thanks
Robert
I just want to go on record as saying September 1961 wasn’t so great either. Hurricane Carla came calling – my first hurricane. It was exciting for a 6 year old but misery for the grownups who had to deal with what came after.
I recall that last year the first real cool front was also well into October. Last year we got about four weeks of fall before winter set in. But fall is a great time of year round these parts. I hope this isn’t the new normal.
Thanks for your help.Great site. I am perplexed by all the hand-wringing over the heat though. Did y’all just get here?
It was the hottest September in Houston ever, so I don’t really understand the relevance of your question.
Because we’ve had about 5 months of hot weather now? Can you blame people for being sick of it? lol
Yea,Kelly! they would gripe if they were hanged with a new rope.
Not even close. The Labor Day holiday of 1999 ??? was horrible, 113 F here in Sugar Land. The electrical grid in Texas was hanging on by a thread with rotating brownouts across the state. 85 F inside the house since the electricity had been cut off so many times.
One day (or a few days) does not make a month.