Sunday’s rainfall almost certainly marked the last significant precipitation of 2019 for the greater Houston area. The region experienced some extreme rainfall, punctuated by Tropical Storm Imelda in September. But overall, Houston came in near normal with annual rainfall—receiving a total of 51.93 inches at Bush Intercontinental Airport (the region averages just north of 48 inches per year). The wettest year on record came in 2017, driven by Hurricane Harvey, with 79.69 inches. Here’s the climate graphic, with Houston’s rainfall totals on the bottom:
The story is considerably more interesting to the east of Houston, in Beaumont, which bore the brunt of Imelda. That region, based upon its official monitoring station at Jack Brooks Regional Airport, has recorded 85.46 inches of rain in 2019. But this ranks only third in annual totals, behind 2017 (104.30 inches) and 2018 (88.75 inches), based on 117 years of data.
It seems pretty staggering that Beaumont’s three wettest years all occurred within the last years. It is difficult not to believe some kind of climate signal must exist in this data, but I will leave that analysis to actual scientists. Needless to say, this has been the wettest three-year period in the recorded history of Beaumont. Here’s hoping to more normal weather in the years ahead.
Now, on to the forecast.
Monday
Not much to say about today’s weather, which will be splendid in the wake of Sunday’s cool front. Look for sunny skies, with highs in the low 60s, and light northwesterly winds. Overnight lows will get down into the low 40s in the city of Houston—warmer to the north, cooler along the coast.
New Year’s Eve
Another pleasant winter day, although some clouds will begin to build during the afternoon and evening. We can probably expect a cloudy night to ring in the New Year, with temperatures at around 50 degrees. Sinking air in the atmosphere, however, should preclude the development of rain showers.
New Year’s Day
This will be a cloudy and cool day, with highs struggling to make it out of the 50s. There will be a pretty healthy chance of light-to-moderate rainfall during the afternoon, evening, and especially overnight hours. At this point, the best chance for heavy rainfall appears likely to remain offshore, so I’m anticipating totals of 0.25 to 1.0 inch for the Houston region, with the greater amounts likely closer to the coast.
Thursday
Drier air will begin to filter in to Houston, likely bringing an end to precipitation during the morning hours. Clouds will probably remain, however, with highs perhaps climbing into the 60s.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
The weekend looks exceptional under the influence of high pressure and a drier flow. Look, generally, for daytime highs in the 60s, lows in the 40s, and lots of sunshine through Sunday. Make your outdoor plans now.
Beyond
We don’t have much confidence in the details, but it looks like that beginning next week, perhaps around Monday (Jan. 6) or Tuesday, some significantly colder air may arrive. This will probably push nighttime lows into the 30s, but how far down into the 30s remains to be seen.
Went? Where did Houston go?
get with the lingo, “went” is the past tense of “lit”. As in “this place was went last year!”
I feel like west of Houston, like here in Cypress and in Katy, we didn’t see anywhere near these totals of rainfall. It’s been a struggle to keep my garden alive because it’s been so dry. Even Imelda didn’t drop that much rain on us. I’m curious to see rain totals to the west.
You are spot on!
Almost all rainfall gauges in the western half of Harris county recorded less then 40″ for the year.
https://www.harriscountyfws.org/
Agreed. We will finish under 40 inches for the year.
The regional variation is really interesting. I live on Galveston Bay, and got 78″ this year.
Not sure what is causing it but dry air seemed to park itself over the area for the year. Many times watching radar storms would dissipate as they approached the area then reform after passing, usually around the Conroe area.
Thankfully, even during Harvey we had less the 25″ for the event where around us most had over 40″.
Convinced we live in an uncharted desert. Kind of like Lower Desert next to LA Basin.🤪
I didn’t get to see the TV weather this morning, but in other words it looks like there’s not much chance of “heavy, drenching” rain for later this week, which I heard predicted by some of the TV ‘casters late last week and on the weekend. 🙂
Give them a break. Some folks yesterday got some pretty hefty rain. The NWS forecast last week showed heavy rain for this week. That forecast has changed.
Although a near normal year for Houston rainfall, the past couple of months have been very dry. Yesterday’s rain was not much to write home about ’round here, either. The ducks will have to find a new pond soon.
Warmer to the north, cooler along the coast?
That’s different.
But the rain deficit is along an West-East line…not North-South.
West of Beaumont aka Winnie area here… It should be noted that around half of our year’s rainfall fell in a 30 hr period too! My area got around 44″ inches in 30 hrs according to some of the graphics I’ve seen.
And after losing my home and belongings twice in 2 years, I’m ready for a dry spell!
Will you be helping us marathoners geek out on the forcast as the date gets closer?
Hi Kris — I will indeed. Look for the first, preliminary forecast on January 6. Good luck this year!
We’re certainly ready to dry out over in Beaumont. I knew it had been bad, but I didn’t realize that the last three years were at the top of the historical rainfall list. Maybe that’s why I hate to see it clouding up!
Houston is a disgusting swamp