After the region’s coldest weather in four years temperatures in Houston will now rapidly swing upward. Within a couple of days average temperatures will rise about 40 degrees higher than they were this past weekend, a remarkable swing. By late week overnight lows should be about 25 degrees warmer than normal.
Today
Winds have already shifted from the north to the southeast, and correspondingly humidity levels have begun to rise. From lows around 50 degrees this morning, temperatures will climb to the mid-60s later today under cloudy skies, with a slight chance of rain. Lows tonight will only fall into the low 60s—in other words, almost not at all.
Tuesday
A gusty day as onshore winds continue to blow inland. Scattered rain chances on Tuesday morning will give way to a mostly cloudy, very warm day, with highs in the upper 70s.
Wednesday and Thursday
The region’s warmth continues, with partly sunny days, highs in the upper 70s (perhaps even touching 80 degrees in a few areas), and very warm nights in the mid- to upper 60s. Last Saturday’s average temperature—the average of the day’s high and low—was just 32 degrees. I expect the average temperature toward the end of the week to be in the low 70s for most Houston.
(Space City Weather is sponsored by Westbury Christian School for this month)
Friday and beyond
Oh, my dear runners. As we’ve been discussing for more than a week now, the forecast for the Houston Marathon has been kind of a mess, and somewhat dependent upon when a cold front will move through the region. While forecast remains somewhat uncertain, it now appears less likely the front will move through before race day. This will set the stage for a warm, humid, and potentially rainy event. In its 44-year existence the marathon has never been canceled, so it is likely to proceed unless there are major thunderstorms on Sunday morning (which I wouldn’t rule out at this point).
For the weekend in general, a cold front will move into northern Texas by Friday morning, but the models are now in general agreement that it will stall before approaching the Houston area. Friday should start out with partly sunny skies, but see increasing clouds and some rain chances during the latter part of the day.
After another warm night, all of that moisture that’s blowing in from the south this week will push precipitable water levels up to very high levels for January. This will set the stage for a wet period from Saturday through Monday, although at this time it’s impossible discern exactly where or when heavier rains will come. Nevertheless it does seem likely that 1 to 3 inches of rain will fall across Houston during this three day period, and the most likely outcome is warmer weather for the weekend. Although the timing is not locked in, a real cold front now seems unlikely to push through the region before Monday or Monday night, after which temperatures should finally moderate back more closely to winter-time norms in Houston.
Posted at 6:55am CT on Monday by Eric
I’m just glad they didn’t turn off the A/C at work this weekend. If they did, the heat would be on all week and well into the next. I can wear a jacket in the office when needed, like this morning, but there is a limit to what I can take off.