Expect a pair of chilly days before a weekend warmup: The question is, will rain ruin outdoor festivities?

In brief: Houston has a dynamic forecast over the next several days with a cold snap, followed by a weekend warm-up. Rain chances return on Saturday, with the period of Saturday night and Sunday looking especially wet. Then we’ll see a mild Monday followed by another sharp cold snap. Buckle up!

Thursday

A cold front pushed offshore on Wednesday night, and we’re now seeing an influx of drier and cooler air. Temperatures are around 60 degrees in much of the Houston region this morning, and that’s where we’ll likely top out during what will be a mostly cloudy, and cool day. Some very light, misty showers will be possible for the next couple of hours, but after that we should be rain free for 24 to 36 hours. Winds will be breezy, from the northeast. Low temperatures tonight will drop into the low 40s for most of the area.

Lows temperatures on Friday morning will be downright chilly. (Weather Bell)

Friday

This will be a fine, winter-like day. Expect highs in the mid-50s, with partly sunny skies. Yes, we should clear out for several hours during the daytime with moderate northeasterly winds. Friday night will be a bit warmer, but still should see temperatures drop into the 40s in Houston. Some rain chances return to the area after midnight.

Saturday

Skies will be mostly cloudy on Saturday, with highs around 60 degrees. The cold front that moved offshore on Thursday will pull back, and come ashore as a warm front. This will help drive increasing rain chances. During the day time I expect to see at least some scattered showers, with increasing chances Saturday evening and especially during the overnight hours. Although we are still about a day away from having high resolution modeling for this time period, it does appear as though there is a risk of rain to mar any holiday activities during the daytime and early evening on Saturday.

The eastern half of Houston is at risk for excessive rainfall on Saturday night and Sunday. (NOAA)

Sunday

At this point it appears the best chance for sustained and modestly heavy rainfall will probably come between midnight on Saturday and noon on Sunday. I don’t expect any real serious flooding issues, but most of the area should see on the order of 2 inches of rainfall from Saturday through Sunday night, with higher totals certainly possible. Rain chances continue into Sunday night. The bottom line is that it’s going to be a wet weekend, especially beginning some time Saturday evening or night into Sunday. Highs on Sunday will be about 70 degrees as dewpoints rise.

Monday

Skies should clear out on Monday to give us our warmest day of the forecast period. Expect highs in the mid- to upper-70s.

Rest of next week

After Monday’s warmth a fairly strong cold front will push into the area, bringing mostly sunny and colder weather. Houston could drop into the 30s, even, for a few nights next week with some of the far inland areas seeing a light freeze. Highs for a couple of day may only reach the 50s. All of that is to be determined, but much of next week does look quite a bit cooler.

26 thoughts on “Expect a pair of chilly days before a weekend warmup: The question is, will rain ruin outdoor festivities?”

    • With respect, I understand Eric to be indirectly referring to holiday activities such as, personal and company Christmas parties, school winter dances, small cummunity parades, Zoo lights, Coca Cola Classic Christmas lights, maybe decorating for the holidays, Christmas shopping, toy drives, homeless holiday prep, and a lot of other holiday activities that Houston and surrounding communities may do that could be impacted by weather; even more so with simply driving. Hope everyone stays safe out there! Peace Peeps!!

      Reply
      • Here we are in drought conditions and there is a ‘risk’ of rain? Shouldn’t it be a ‘hope’ of rain!
        Priorities guys!

        Reply
    • Saturday is the 11th Street Festival in the Heights, not necessarily a holiday observance, but it is outdoors along 11th Street.

      Reply
    • Craftidote in the Heights is this weekend, and the East End Flea at East End Barbers. A lot of markets and activities.

      Reply
    • Craftidote in the Heights is Saturday, as is East End Flea at the East End Barbers. A lot of markets and activities.

      Reply
  1. We are taking our youngest granddaughters to Santa’s wonderland in College Station on Friday night. We will be there From 3:30-9pm. Will it be Cold, windy and raining the whole time?

    Reply
    • Denise Reiter … we are lucky enough up here in Magnolia to receive the KBTX TV channels (based in Bryan-College Station).

      From the KBTX website Weather section (you can easily find the website on your computer or smartphone):

      Friday (day)
      54° with Scattered Showers
      Cloudy with an isolated shower, especially by evening. High around 54F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.

      Friday (evening)
      44° with Showers Late
      Cloudy with showers. Low 44F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

      Reply
    • Denise Reiter … we are lucky enough up here in Magnolia to receive the KBTX TV channels (based in Bryan-College Station).

      From the KBTX website Weather section (you can easily find the website on your computer or smartphone):

      Friday (day)
      54° with Scattered Showers
      Cloudy with an isolated shower, especially by evening. High around 54F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.

      Friday (evening)
      44° with Showers Late
      Cloudy with showers. Low 44F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

      Reply
    • According to the Weather Channel, in College Station, there will be a 35% chance of rain for the day of possibly 0.15 inches. At 7 to 8 pm, there is a 10% chance of light rain. At 9 pm there is a 10% chance of moderate rain. Hopefully, y’all will be in your vehicle by 9 pm. I hope this helps.

      Reply
    • And the Hourly for Fri afternoon/eve:

      2 PM 12/6 52°
      1% rain , NE 8 MPH

      3 PM 12/6 52°
      1% rain , NE 8 MPH

      4 PM 12/6 53°
      16% rain , NE 8 MPH

      5 PM 12/6 52°
      24% rain, NE 6 MPH

      6 PM 12/6 49°
      24% rain , NNE 5 MPH

      7 PM 12/6 48°
      49% rain , NE 6 MPH

      8 PM 12/6 46°
      24% rain , NE 5 MPH

      9 PM 12/6 46°
      53% rain , NE 5 MPH

      Reply
  2. No mention of the extremely under performing event yesterday? Got a whomping 0.11” along the coast where most of the rain was forecasted to be by models and forecasts. 😂

    “I don’t expect any real serious flooding issues, but most of the area should see on the order of 2 inches of rainfall from Saturday through Sunday night, with higher totals certainly possible.”

    Lol, ahhh here we go again.

    Reply
  3. Sunday’s road races (Andy Stewart 30K and Conroe 10 miler, to name a couple) look to potentially be soakers. Get those snug-fit base layers ready.

    Reply
  4. After the epic fail on the rain yesterday I do not expect to get much of anything on Sunday either especially since they are already predicting that most of it will be to the east.

    Reply
  5. This is why I never trust any forecast. Just 2 days ago, they were showing most of Matagorda and Brazoria County, possibly getting between 5 and 6 inches of rain. Now we will be lucky if we even get 1 or 2 inches. And that will go down, I promise you. I only picked up 0.20 in my rain gauge yesterday. Im willing to bet my paycheck that I won’t even pick up an inch before everything is said and done.

    Almost every storm system that moves our way always dumps most of the rain in far East Texas while we barely get thrown a bone where I live, it’s so frustrating.

    Reply
  6. Oh and what do you know? NWS now says regarding Sunday: “The highest expected rainfall totals with this event have lowered a bit and shifted off to the east.

    Why did I know this was going to happen???

    Reply
    • Actually this time is worse even than usual. These useless weather models totally changed their forecast in the past day or two.

      Reply

Leave a Reply. URLs require moderation.