Heat advisory in effect due to high humidity, temps in upper 90s

Good morning. Northern parts of the metro area may be clipped by fast-moving thunderstorms this morning—Conroe and areas north—but by far the biggest story of the day will be heat. The National Weather Service has issued a “heat advisory,” indicating that the heat index will reach 106 to 111 degrees. This essentially means that the temperature in the shade, when factoring in humidity, will feel much warmer than the actual temperature in the mid- to upper-90s. If you’re in the sunshine, the effect will be even more pronounced.

Thursday

Aside from the heat, and partly sunny skies on Thursday, southerly winds may gust up to 20 mph across the area, reflecting higher pressures to the south and lower pressures over the continental United States. These winds are not reflected in the heat advisory temperature above, but may provide some limited cooling despite the high humidity today. All in all, however, it will be a hot summer day in Houston, with highs ranging from the mid- to upper-90s. The other notable factor will be nighttime temperatures that likely don’t fall below 80 degrees on Thursday night or the next few nights.

Friday

This will be another warm and windy day, although highs probably will top out in the lower to mid-90s. Skies will be partly sunny.

Saturday

The first half of the weekend looks similar to Friday. We can’t entirely rule out a few scattered showers, but for almost everyone this should be a good day for outdoor water activities with a fair amount of sunshine and highs in the low- to mid-90s.

Sunday, Monday, and beyond

The forecast for the latter half of the weekend is a bit more tricky to parse out. A combination of weakening high pressure and the likelihood of a storm system in north Texas mean rain chances for the Houston region should go up beginning on Sunday, particularly for areas north of Interstate 10. That’s not to say forecast confidence is high, but I do think we will see healthy 50 percent rain chances on Sunday and Monday, with a lot of the area seeing perhaps 0.25 to 0.75 inches.

Frankly, the rain should be welcome, as high pressure appears likely to build again during the middle of next week, and send temperatures back into the mid- or upper-90s with lots of sunshine.

AC sweepstakes reminder

We’re now 10 days into our AC sweepstakes with Reliant. You can learn more details about the contest here—Reliant is giving away one complete AC system to Houston-area readers in July, and one in August. You (or a friend or family member) can enter here.