In brief: Houston’s high reached a remarkable 99 degrees on Monday, smashing previous records. We’ll see one more very hot day before things cool off tonight with the passage of a cool front. Some areas may see lows in the 40s by Thursday morning. The only real blemish in the forecast is that the outlook remains very, very dry in terms of rainfall.
Record high
With slightly drier air in place, Monday’s high temperature soared to 99 degrees at Bush Intercontinental Airport. If you’re thinking this is crazy hot for mid-October, you’re not wrong. Houston’s record high for October 14 was just 92 degrees, set back in 2015. Shattering a record by 7 degrees—a record that has been set over the course of nearly 150 years of data—is definitely not normal. We’ll see another anomalously hot temperature today in the upper 90s for most of the area before a front arrives to provide some relief tonight.
Comet is visible
Our clear skies continue to afford a view of Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in the evening sky. It’s rather faint to the naked eye, but it can be easily seen with binoculars or a longer-exposure photograph. To find it, you should look to the western horizon within about an hour of sunset. The comet will have a fuzzy tail. You’ll need a clear view of the horizon and preferably be looking toward at least somewhat dark skies. Jake Miller, a reader from Fannett, a town between Houston and Beaumont, captured this photo last night.
Tuesday
With high pressure and a warm southerly flow, highs will again skyrocket into the mid- to upper-90s today, certainly breaking the record high of 92 degrees set in 2019. Skies will be sunny, with moderate humidity levels. By around midnight, or shortly after, we’ll start to see a pronounced wind from the northeast heralding the arrival of much drier air. Unfortunately, there will be no rain with this front. Lows tonight will drop to around 60 degrees.
Wednesday
This day will feel much different, with low humidity, sunny skies, and high temperatures in the mid-70s. Winds will be from the northeast, gusting to above 20 mph. Temperatures bottom out on Wednesday night, with much of Houston dropping into the low 50s, and outlying areas into the upper 40s.
Thursday
A sunny day, with highs again likely in the 70s, and lows in the mid- to upper-50s and low-humidity. Winds continue from the northeast.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
A more southerly flow returns, so expect a few clouds in the sky. However, at this time, it does not look like we’ll see much in the way of rain chances, perhaps 10 percent each day. Highs will generally be in the lower 80s this weekend, with nights falling into the low 60s. If you have outdoor plans, you should have no concerns.
Next week
Most of next week is likely to see highs in the 80s, lows in the 60s, and partly sunny days. I’d love to be able to point to some healthy rain chances in the coming forecast, but for now I just don’t see them.
This is crazy hot and it got me wondering what the highs and lows and means are for the month of October. One date stood out: October 18, 1895 the recorded high was 96 and the previous day was pretty close. Thankfully not the mean, but still.
In our measly existence, it’s definitely not the norm. However, in the millions and millions of years of this areas existence, I’m sure that it has been a lot hotter and a lot cooler than our ‘records’.
Absolutley, they have found ancient fossils of tropical plants in Antarctica, which proves the planet was much much warmer at times millions of years ago.
Antarctica wasn’t in the same position it was when those plants were growing. Continents move.
And when temperatures were higher, that change took place over hundreds of thousands of years, very gradually, with time for plants to adapt.
We’ve managed that same increase in a couple decades.
Sounds like a response from someone who doesn’t believe the science of climate change
So what? All that matters for humans is what’s occurring today, and the trends in recent years are alarming to anyone who has a modicum of respect for our planet.
Sad to say but Houston deserves to bear the brunt of the consequences given that our economy has benefitted tremendously from fossil fuel exploration and extraction over the years.
Sorry Martin. I just can’t let this go by. It is a fact that the planet is warming. The climate will change. Say 2 degf average since 1980. What is not a fact, but is a consensus is that it is anthropogenic. There are a few other reasons why warming could be occurring, convincing enough to be very wary of driving future US fiscal spending and the poo pooing of carbon burning (and picking on Houston). The cancel culture among scientists and their sources of grants does suppress healthy debate.
There is scientific consensus that climate change is largely anthropogenic. Period.
Anyone who look at the hard data and assumes otherwise is naive or willfully ignorant.
Finishing a personal opinion with a thinly-veiled attack on anyone who dares to claim they have read more about the subject than you is a pretty strange way to live a life “Martin”.
You do not know everything about the subject and getting alarmed by short-term trends without being able to see similar time-frame trends throughout history at the same resolution is a very shallow and ill-informed position.
As much as I hate to say it, there’s truth in that last statement. Unfortunately, those who profited the most from it can & will simply buy their safety and security elsewhere.
Imagine saying “I’m sure” and then following that with an assertion about historical temperature data. You’re overall goal here is to deny climate change. Just come out and say it, stop beating around the bush.
I read that comets typically are named after their discoverer, a person, spacecraft, observatory, and/or telescope. Can you explain how this comet was named?
I fear we may be living amidst another 1950s drought where most of Texas remained in a constant drought for 7 years. Multiple rivers dried up completely across the state during this time and farmers were absolutely crippled. This was of course followed by excessive rains during the spring of 1957 which resulted in major flooding off the Brazos river. Feast or famine has always been the Texas way.
Fortunately the state is better prepared now for droughts because of the man made lakes that were constructed across the state because of the 50s drought. The bad news is that the population has grown exponentially in Texas since the 50s, which will put extra stress on the lakes used for the high population and agriculture. Temperatures are also hotter now which will evaporate moisture out of the soil and lakes even faster. If you really think about it, other than a few brief reprieves here and there, we have sort of been in a steady drought since 2022. And the way things are looking, next year is probably going to be drought stricken as well.
This is how the drought of 2010-2011 started. It began around Oct of 2010 and save for a day here and there, we went rain free for over a year. That drought broke in Dec of 2011. Just because it’s starting like that doesn’t mean that it’s gonna end that way but it’s a scary thought indeed.
The comet visible in Houston in October 2024 is called Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, or C/2023 A3:
Discovery: Discovered in 2023 by observers in China and South Africa
Origin: From the Oort Cloud, a spherical shell of icy objects that surrounds the solar system
Visibility: Visible in the night sky from mid-October to early November
Best viewing: Look toward the west after sunset, toward the constellation Virgo. Binoculars or a telescope can help.
Rarity: Won’t be visible again for around 80,000 years, assuming it survives
Comets are made of dust, ice, and rock, and are leftover debris from the formation of the solar system. As they approach the sun, they release gases and dust, which create their tails.
I’d like to request a deeper dive into our current drought. Would be nice to have a discussion on historical context and what’s currently going on at the meso-scale especially since this lack of rain (or even clouds) extends over much of the US. Check out the current map on the US Drought Monitor site. Limited sample size of course, but I can’t recall these kinds of conditions so late in the year…it’s weird (meteorological term).
I think were well over a month here in The Woodlands without rain. Sure its not as hot but were knocking on the door of last summers record of no rain.
Great photo of the comet. We tried to see it last night. We saw Venus, looking very bright, but there was too much light pollution to see the comet.
I think the high yesterday at the airport was cooked, or at least accidentally inaccurate. I live in the near northwest area, and it got as warm as 92° here yesterday. That’s an average of two properly shaded thermometers. I can’t see such a big difference as being real.
I live close to IAH, and my thermometer reached a high of 98.2. I live in an area with lots of good, dense vegetation and foliage, so I think 99 is accurate unfortunately. I also have my weather station as well placed as possible to avoid interference and inaccurate readings given my available yard space.
Was 98 at our house near Katy yesterday as well. I know these things can fluctuate by location though.
I live 9 miles SW of IAH (in NW Houston), my weather station showed 97.8°. So, 99° seems plausible.
Katy and West Houston areas need rain badly.