Houston’s weather will calm down a bit, but rain chances will hang around for the weekend

Phew—after two days of warily watching the radar, we can take a break. Rain chances today and Friday will fall back into the 10 or 20 percent range, and we may even briefly see some sunshine during the afternoons. However, as an upper-level low pressure system evolves over Central and West Texas this weekend, it will create conditions favorable for rain there.

This means two things for our side of the state. First of all, areas west of Interstate 45 will see reasonably high rain chances in the range of 50 or 70 percent on both weekend days. And secondly, if your Mothers Day Weekend plans call for travel into the Hill Country, conditions look incredibly wet, with 4 to 8 inches of rainfall along the I-35 corridor and to the west of Austin and San Antonio. This is bound to lead to flooding and other issues this weekend there.

Thursday

Skies are cloudy this morning, but we should see some partial clearing this afternoon, and that should allow high temperatures to push up into the upper-80s. Winds will be light, out of the south. And the rain? Well, chances are about 10 percent that we see some very light showers. The air will be sticky, and lows tonight will only drop into the mid- to upper-70s. So yeah, pretty muggy.

Friday

Friday will be rather similar to Thursday, albeit with slightly stronger southerly winds, gusting up to perhaps 20 mph. Friday night will be warm again, as temperatures may drop into the mid-70s.

Saturday and Sunday

Both days will see highs in the mid-80s. Saturday is probably mostly cloudy, but Sunday may live up to its name with a little more sunshine. The question, as usual, is rainfall chances. Both days have about a 50 percent chance, and the further west of Houston you live, the greater overall chances there will be. Much of Houston probably will see less than one-half inch across both days, but areas such as Katy or College Station are at risk for 1 inch or more.

Next week

Monday should be a touch warmer, in the upper 80s, before a front arrives Monday night. You should set your expectations accordingly, and by that I mean that this front is going to bring some (very slightly) drier air to the region, but won’t modify temperatures too much. Highs for most of next week look to be in the mid- to upper-80s, with partly sunny skies, and lows in the low 70s. Rain chances remain, but overall they don’t look too high, or bring too much of the wet stuff to us.