Houston officially reaches the dog days of summer

Congratulations, everyone. We’ve reached the dog days of summer—the period of warmest temperatures during the year. Based upon temperatures from 1981 to 2010 at Bush Intercontinental Airport, the normal high temperature for July 27 kicks up to 95 degrees, from 94 degrees on July 26. The region’s normal high will remain 95, and the low 75, from now until August 21, when the high temperature drops back down to 94 degrees. Thus, while the temperature differential is admittedly slight, the next three-and-a-half weeks are in fact the historically warmest part of the year for Houston. The good news is that, in less than a month, we’ll begin (ever so slowly) sliding toward fall.

Friday

Hot and sunny conditions will persist today, with highs ticking up to near 100 degrees across most of the region except for the coast.

The heat will spread across Texas today. (Pivotal Weather)

Saturday

Some moisture will begin to work toward the area, and we could see some showers far to the southwest of Houston, such as Palacios, or to the east, such as Beaumont. Houston itself should remain dry, however, with mostly sunny skies and highs in the upper 90s.

Sunday

Slight rain chances will return to the forecast, as moisture levels begin to creep back up in Houston itself. The models are split at this point, but we can’t entirely rule out some scattered rain showers in the city. For the most part, however, expect sunny skies and highs in the upper 90s.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

After very dry (rain-wise) conditions for the second half of the month, the end of July should finally see the return of rainfall and some cooler temperatures. This will be driven by the combination of high pressure moving off, and a weak cold front pushing through the area and bringing some instability. Right now rainfall amounts look to average 0.25 to 0.75 inches for most people. Temperatures should fall back into the lower 90s to begin next week due to cloud cover and intermittent rain chances.

Rain accumulation forecast for now through next Thursday. (Weather Bell)

Where’s Matt?

Matt Lanza normally provides updates on Fridays, but he’ll be stepping away for the next three weeks because his wife is having a baby. In fact, she gave birth on Wednesday afternoon, bringing Franklin into the world. I’m thrilled to report that everyone is healthy, and Matt is over the moon.

Hello Baby Lanza!

See you on Monday.

28 thoughts on “Houston officially reaches the dog days of summer”

  2. “The good news is that, in less than a month, we’ll begin (ever so slowly) sliding toward fall.” We hope. Every year I worry this will less and less be the case.

    • It DOES seem like lately that Septembers have been HOT – as bad as July and August, and even when we get to October it’s still too warm.

  9. Congratulations to Matt and his family !!

    On a less important topic, I am curious when other regions of the country reach their traditional day of peak temperature and begin the trend down toward fall.

  11. I guess you never considered naming him Harvey? Congratulations to the Lanza family!

  14. Hey Eric,

    When you get some time, can you further explain the concept of “Normal” highs for Summer and what that means. I assume “normal” is a straight average of the high temp for any given day from 1981 – 2010, but it seems it might be a bit flawed. Do we know what was the “normal” high for days with high pressure aloft or at least no rain during that period of time? It would assume that if we are to have a sunny day between now and Aug 21, we would expect temps to be above 95 historically. Thoughts on that?

    • When they refer to the normal high, they’re referring to the historical average high. Some days will be warmer, some cooler. Some summers as a whole are warmer, some cooler. It’s averaged out to about 95F each day for the next few weeks.

  15. So this is officially the “dog days of summer”?

    Too bad I am a cat person.

  17. Welcome to Earth, Franklin! Your birthday will always be during vacation. 🙂
    Thanks Eric for standing in while the Lanza family learns how to sleep.

  23. Congrats on the baby.

    TIL, “Dog days of summer” is a misnomer, as it is referring to the dog star, Sirius, not so much dogs panting under the shade in hot summer days.

  25. Happy birth day to the Lanza family. I am so happy for you. The sleeping part eventually normalizes. We did it to our parents when we were born. What goes around comes around, I guess.

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