Summary: Houston’s temperatures are in the 40s this morning, but this will be the last time until Monday as a decidedly warmer pattern sets in. It will also eventually become wetter, with some decent rain chances on Saturday and Sunday ahead of the front. Our highs will be the in the 70s before conditions turn colder on Sunday night.
Also, as a programming note, we wanted to answer a question that a lot of people have been asking about the ‘polar vortex.’ There has been a lot of chatter online about whether we’re going to experience another outbreak of Arctic air in Texas at the end of this month. Look for a post later this morning by Matt to address these concerns. The short answer is that we don’t see a particularly hard freeze coming at this time.
Wednesday
Temperatures this morning are generally in the 40s, with the usual few outliers. Conroe is in the upper 30s, and it looks like Galveston will remain at about 50 degrees. However, with winds from the southeast we’re already seeing the beginnings of an onshore flow that will bring warmth and humidity into the region. Those winds will turn fairly gusty later today, blowing at times up to 25 or 30 mph.
Skies should be clear this morning, but with increasing atmospheric moisture I think we’ll see partly to mostly cloudy skies this afternoon. We’ll be saying goodbye to the sunshine for awhile. Expect highs in the low 70s, with temperatures on Wednesday night only dropping into the low 60s. Some very light showers may be possible after midnight.
Thursday
This will be a gray and warmish day, with highs in the low 70s. Winds will be from the south, perhaps gusting up to about 20 mph. Some light rain showers will be possible, but any accumulations are likely to be on the order of a few hundredths of an inch. I’d put chances at about 20 or 30 percent, so pretty scattered. Thursday night will be cloudy and mild, in the low- to mid-60s.
Friday
This will be another day a lot like Thursday—gray and warm with low chance of light rain.
Saturday
As the atmosphere turns more turbulent this weekend we’re likely to see an uptick in rain chances. You probably have a greater than 50 percent chance of showers, especially for areas north of Interstate 10, and to the northeast of Houston, including locations such as Kingwood. In terms of accumulations most areas will see a few tenths of an inch of rain, but a few areas may see higher totals. Temperatures, otherwise, will be in the low 70s.
Sunday
This day also looks fairly warm, in the low 70s. Our weather, ultimately, will depend on the rate at which the front slogs through the area. I don’t have great confidence in those details yet, but my sense is that we’ll once again see fairly widespread showers before some cooler air starts to arrive Sunday evening or overnight. Lows on Sunday night may drop to about 50 degrees. We’ll see.
Next week
We’ll see clear skies and colder weather to start next week, with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s through Wednesday. At this point Tuesday morning looks like the coldest day, with lows possibly dropping into the upper 30s. Some rain chances return later next week, and it’s not clear to me whether we’re going to warm above the 60s. So if 70s and humidity are your jam, enjoy the next few days before somewhat colder air returns.
Next weeks forcast is more my jam.
I am done with cold below 40, but it obviously isn’t done with me.
Sometimes I feel like the weather here is Ike coloring with highlighters. Haha
Seriously though…thanks for the sanity check.