Houston to turn warmer and wetter before the possibility of a weak front this weekend

In brief: After several drier days, some rain chances will return to Houston’s forecast. We are not expecting any days really to be washouts, however. I’m also holding out some hope that a weak front makes it into the city this weekend, providing for some slightly drier and cooler air. Fingers crossed.

Overall pattern shift

The high pressure that has held sway since last Friday, and basically shut off rain chances since then, is now shifting to the east. This does not mean you will see rain every day from now on, but over the next 10 days there will be at least a slight chance of rain most days. Total accumulations over the next 10 days may only be 1 to 2 inches, so we don’t have any real flood concerns at this time. It just should be a pattern that provides the potential for spoiling a few outdoor activities, but also helps our trees and plants before the long summer days that lie in our near future.

Tuesday

With that said, rain chances today are rather slight, and anything that falls would be a quick passing shower. However that does not mean sunshine will be abundant. Rather we should see mostly cloudy skies, and this will help limit high temperatures in the mid-80s for most locations. With dewpoints in the 60s it will feel moderately, but not oppressively humid. We can expect southerly winds at about 15 mph, with gusts this afternoon up to 25 mph. Overnight lows will only drop into the mid-70s.

Wednesday

A weak front will move toward the Houston region on Wednesday, and it will spur a slight chance of thunderstorms to the northwest of the metro area. As of now, I think the chance of any serious storms getting anywhere close to the city of Houston or its surrounding suburbs is quite low. But we’ll keep an eye on things. Skies will again be mostly cloudy, with a fairly robust southerly wind as on Tuesday. Rain chances turn a little bit higher on Wednesday night, perhaps 30 percent. Some far inland areas may see lows on Wednesday night in the 60s due to the proximity of the front, but most of the region should remain in the 70s.

Thursday and Friday

These will be a pair of hotter days as we see an injection of warm, southerly air into the region. Thursday probably will be the warmest day of the week, with some locations potentially hitting 90 degrees as skies become partly sunny. Rain chances are are low, but non-zero. Friday will also be fairly hot, but another slow-moving front will spur better rain chances. I expect most of the region will see some showers, or possibly even thunderstorms later on Friday or Friday night as the front slowly moves in.

Saturday and Sunday

It is not possible to say for certain, but at this point I think that weak front will make it all the way to the coast. As a result most of the area should see highs in the lower 80s this weekend, with a smidge of drier air, and lows in the 60s. There will still be a healthy chance of rain on Saturday, but I expect Sunday to be partly sunny and fairly nice. Again, the weekend forecast is very much in flux because we just can’t be sure how much oomph that front is going to have, but I have some hopes for a nice day on Sunday. We’ll see.

Next week

I think Monday probably will see a fair amount of sunshine before rain chances return again next week during the Tuesday through Thursday time frame. I don’t think we’re looking at anything extreme at all, but just more rain to help our soils remain in good shape for nature.