In brief: Autumn arrives in the Houston area today, with plummeting humidity and comfortable, if not cool temperatures this weekend! While next week offers a warming trend, humidity levels and morning lows stay under control, allowing for continued mostly pleasant, warmer weather.
Fall’s first real front
Welcome to autumn, my friends! As of this writing, our much discussed cold front has entered Grimes, northern Waller, and northwest Montgomery Counties. We will now get multiple days of comfortable, pleasant autumn weather, so get outside and enjoy it. Hopefully you can dial back the AC a little too. With that in mind, our partners at Reliant have some energy saving tips at the end of this post to help take full advantage of the nice weather.
Indeed, temperatures have fallen in the Brazos Valley with 60s now in College Station as of 5:30 AM. Temperatures are as much as 20 degrees cooler than they were 24 hours ago just west of I-35 in Central Texas. It’s coming.
Today & tonight
Before the front hits, look for a few scattered showers or a thunderstorm. The wind will crank up as well. Calm winds this morning will shift out of the north and will gust at 30 to 35 mph behind the front, stronger perhaps on Galveston Island, by Galveston Bay, or in the Brazos Valley.
Temperatures in the low-70s this morning may drop back into the upper 60s in spots today. But generally, they’ll hang near 70 degrees. Dewpoints will fall into the 40s this evening making it feel exquisite, albeit windy. Look for overnight lows to drop down into the 50s everywhere, even Galveston with some pockets of 40s possible in the usual colder spots.
In terms of clouds vs sun, we should see more clouds than sun this morning and more sun than clouds this afternoon.
Saturday and Sunday
Perfect. That’s about all we need to say. Winds will remain a little gusty on Saturday, though not as strong as today, and they’ll back off even more on Sunday. Highs around 70 on Saturday, lows around 45 to 50 away from the water on Sunday morning, and highs in the low to mid-70s Sunday afternoon.
Next week
For those of you that enjoy Houston for warmer weather than this weekend provides, next week should be a return to warmer conditions. Look for a slow increase in both temperature and humidity, though probably not returning anywhere close to the levels we have been dealing with. I expect to see highs near 80 on Monday, the low to mid 80s on Tuesday, and the mid-80s on Wednesday. Morning lows will also slowly nudge up to the mid-50s Monday, near 60 Tuesday, and the low-60s Wednesday. Some overnight guidance tries to keep lows in the 50s through Wednesday. Usually we end up warming back up a little faster than expected in these scenarios so I’ll keep us warm for now and Eric can tell you I was wrong on Monday.
That said, despite the warming trend, we are probably now at the point on the calendar where even on hotter days, the evenings and mornings aren’t half bad. The week looks rain-free at this time as well.
A message from Reliant
Fall weather is finally arriving this weekend, bringing cooler temperatures and a break from the long Texas summer. The milder weather often provides relief for many of us as we’re relying less on air conditioning. Here are a few ways to maximize savings during the cool front:
- Follow the “4-by-4” principle. Set your thermostat four degrees higher when you’re away from home for more than four hours to reduce electricity usage and costs.
- Try to use natural ventilation and open windows when the weather is nice rather than running the AC or heater.
- Change air filters regularly. Dirty air filters make your AC work harder than it should and reduces air flow. Take note of when to change your air filter along with the size so you have them in stock or are ready to purchase when the time comes.
- You may not think of leveraging your ceiling fan when thinking about staying warm, but it can be a useful tool. Set your ceiling fan to rotate clockwise to help force warm air down from the ceiling into the room and create a more comfortable environment. Turn off ceiling fans when you leave a room to cut back on unnecessary energy usage.
Milder temperatures can naturally reduce energy usage, but it’s also a great time for maintenance to improve your home’s efficiency and prepare heating systems for the colder months ahead.
- Inspect insulation. The best way to do this is to hire a professional to check it throughout your house.
- Seal air leaks. Common places for leaks include windows, doors, attics and basements. Add weatherstripping around doors and caulking around windows to seal leaks, which helps keep indoor air in and outdoor air out. By sealing air leaks around your home, you can improve comfort and potentially save up to 10% on total energy costs.
- Tune up your HVAC before winter and summer to make sure you’re comfortable even on the coldest and hottest days of the year.
Customers can visit reliant.com/falltips for more information on ways to stay comfortable without spending more.
