By raw temperature values, June and July 2022 were each the hottest June and July that Houston experienced in about a century and a half of records. The average temperature last June was 86.7 degrees, and July was 88.0 degrees, both of which beat the previous monthly records by 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit. So far, the average temperature in June and July has been slightly lower than the torrid pace of 2022. However, to me, this summer feels hotter, and a look at the underlying data reveals why this is so. We can see this in both the heat index—which factors in both temperature and dewpoint—as well as nighttime temperatures.
Another way in which this summer’s heat has been extreme has come in terms of nighttime temperatures, making it feel like it is never cool outside. Here’s a look at the number of nights this summer of 80-degrees or warmer.
So what is going on here? The primary driver appears to be an anomalously warm Gulf of Mexico. We can see the warm water’s influence in the sharp jump in heat index (again, higher humidity) and very warm nights at Hobby Airport. This sizzling Gulf of Mexico may portend bad things for hurricanes when the tropics season really gets going in a few weeks, or wind shear may come to our aid. We cannot be sure. But the Gulf’s heat is pushing our temperatures and humidity higher this summer. There is also an underlying impact from the urban heat island effect, but there has not been much urbanization around Hobby Airport between this year and last.
The bottom line is that the planet is warming, and the heat records we’ve seen falling in recent years are a consequence of that. It is probably not correct to say this is “extreme” heat any more. This is simply hot summer weather during an El Niño event. Some of our readers do not like us referencing climate change on this site, and that’s fine. We do not do it often, but sometimes plain talk is warranted. We are an objective, reality based site, and report what we are observing. One reader wrote me yesterday, saying we should stay in our lane. Well, ma’am, weather is our lane. And yes, there is a significant gulf between weather observations and the general climate. But climate is the background influence on local weather conditions. And the planet’s overall thermostat is rising. We can either pretend this isn’t happening, or we can have an adult conversation about what we should do about it. Put simply, the recent summer heat in Texas, and Houston, is abnormal; and in the history of meteorological observations here, it is unprecedented. Also, it sucks.
Now, on to the forecast. Which is hot, humid, and generally pretty awful until the weekend.
Tuesday
High temperatures today will reach 100 degrees for much of the area, with sunny skies and fairly high humidity. Winds will be fairly light, out of the southwest at around 5 mph. Low temperatures tonight will only drop to around 80 degrees, although winds may be a bit more gusty from the south. Rain chances are, with the sinking air, very nearly zero.
Wednesday through Friday
As high pressure holds sway, this hot and sunny pattern will more or less persist. Of this, there is not much more to say.
Saturday and Sunday
By this weekend the omnipresent high pressure system will start to recede to the west, and this should allow a series of atmospheric disturbances to push southward into the Houston area. It remains too early to be able to offer a definitive forecast for what this will mean. But probably, Saturday will be mostly sunny, with highs in the upper 90s, and perhaps a 30 percent chance of rain. Sunday should see a few more clouds, with highs in the mid-90s, and an even healthier chance of rain. By no means are we expecting a washout, but you might hope for 0.25 to 0.5 inches of rain through Monday.
Next week
Some rain chances persist into Monday, but after that conditions locally look drier. Highs, probably, will climb back into the upper 90s next week as we continue rolling toward the peak of summer in early August.
Thank you for the adult conversation! Keep up the good work!
Thank you for your honest, science based reporting!
Thanks for keeping it real Eric!
Regarding wet bulb globe temperatures… Is there someplace where we can find real-time or near real-time wet bulb and globe temperatures? I dug through the NWS site, but only found historical charts, not same-day data.
Here’s an experimental product, i.e., it’s not used operationally. From the opening paragraph you can see that WBGT depends on latitude, cloud cover, etc., which makes it less amenable to a real-time product. At any rate, it still provides a reasonable number to go by. https://www.weather.gov/tsa/wbgt
www dot weather dot gov/tsa/wbgt
Love you guys! Keep being you!
Add me to the chorus of applauding adult conversations and science-based reporting.
Plus, this “not cooling off at night” is for the birds.
You are doing a great job making it real. Keep at it. Thanks! A thought, we are breaking records, some set back in the 70’s. Meaning to me that yes it’s hot, but we’ve experienced a similar hot decades ago. So is the world really coming to an end or are we just in a similar cycle that us baby boomers have experienced previously? Also, is the El Nino/La Nina transition predictable? Thanks again.
Good question. Is this part of a cycle that has been exacerbated by where things will eventually wane? Or is this a true crisis?
“By raw temperature values, June and July 2022 were each the hottest June and July that Houston experienced in about a century and a half of records.” And then this summer feels hotter because of the moisture in the air and relentless nighttime heat.
Hottest in 150 years. So no its not the same that you experienced in the 70s. it is not a similar cycle that anyone has experienced. The climate has changed faster than any previous natural cycle has caused and will continue to
I’d like to think the world doesn’t have to be coming to an end for us to take action. And even if it IS just some cycle, if we can do anything to mitigate it, I’d be in favor of that, too.
“Some of our readers do not like us referencing climate change on this site, and that’s fine.”
Dear god, sticking your head in the sand or putting your fingers in your ears and whining won’t change reality. The only people who politicize climate change are those who deny it and/or its causes. Sure, there is a difference between climate and weather, just like there is a difference between your house being on fire and it being hot in your house. Well, if it’s hot in your house because your house is on fire, you might want to know how your house caught on fire. Climate directly impacts our local weather conditions, especially now coming into hurricane season and how simmering the Atlantic and the Gulf are.
Stay in your lane? I would think that the climate and how it impacts our weather is about as in your lane as you can get.
Amen! Well said.
I appreciate you in this lane! And thanks for the science based real talk. I trust you guys.
And I’d like to return this birthday present today of 100F degree weather please. 😉😑😆
Bravo – keep at it!
Just stay true to reality and your scientific facts. I love reading this weather news every day. It is a breath of fresh air with no political or sensational social BS. So many people have been blinded by the promotion of fabricated and tainted science.
Keep it up, this is an excellent source of genuine and reliable information.
Geoscientist here, thanks for the great writeup as always! Appreciate you guys being thorough and truthful.
Adding on to the other comments… Thank you for stating the facts and always appreciate y’alls reporting! This paragraph was VERY well put.
“We are an objective, reality based site, and report what we are observing. One reader wrote me yesterday, saying we should stay in our lane. Well, ma’am, weather is our lane. And yes, there is a significant gulf between weather observations and the general climate. But climate is the background influence on local weather conditions. And the planet’s overall thermostat is rising. We can either pretend this isn’t happening, or we can have an adult conversation about what we should do about it.”
Looking at historical data, hasn’t the Earth gone heating and cooling cycles for eons?
Those cycles occurred over tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years, not over a couple of centuries. It’s a significant difference in the rate of change.
Yeah. We never had a little ice age, or medieval warming, or a Minoan warming, or Holocene warming, or cold periods in between the warming periods, nothing happening over a few centuries, only over millennia and more. But if nothing is happening over centuries, only over millennia and more, then this is just a minor change not worth noticing either.
Leveut, you missed the point, are purposefully trying to mislead, or you aren’t willing to be objective. What Donna was referencing was large and global temperature shifts over hundreds of thousands of years and you’re mixing it up with pretty minor and more localized temperature differences over the last hundred or thousand years. Very different timescale. The Minoan warming you reference isn’t even noticeable on a global scale. The Holocene warming at its hottest is much cooler than today’s global mean temperature. Make no mistake that today’s temperatures and the rate of change of temperature is vastly different from what we’ve seen before.
Regardless of past history we can look at why the Earth is heating up. The science of greenhouse gases is pretty simple (you can even do an easy experiment at home if you’re skeptical) and the more of those gases we pump into the atmosphere the worse the heating will get.
You guys are great! Thank you for all you do! I support and appreciate your reporting of factual science based information 100%.
Keep up the good work yeppers climate change. We enjoy reading space city weather every morning and thank you.
Thank you. Well said.
Thanks for keeping the discussion of weather, climate change and the effects front and center. We can have these discussions without hysteria and finger pointing. We must identify the causes of global warming. Once we know them, then we can plan to mitigate or reduce the consequences.
Stay the coarse, steady the helm…
Excellent straight talk Keep up the good work; we rely on you!
Many thanks for your no BS reporting and for commenting today on the wider picture on reasons for the extreme temperatures we ( and other parts of the world) are seeing ( and suffering).
I’m British born, but a naturalized US citizen now. It astounds and saddens me that a lot of those around me will not or cannot see a link between how we behave and its consequences. ClimTe change seems to be so important to so many but the silence on its denial here ( or at least where I am in Texas) is deafening.
Thank you for reminding me that we are a part of this change. I hope others listen too.
Keep up the good work.
Sarah Holloway Smith.
So grateful for your straight talk as well as your incredible professional expertise in navigating the science of weather. I wish we could all just focus on what we could all do to help us slow our heating roll. I for one would love information on that. We recycle, turn up the thermostat during the day (no can do at night…hot flashes), and use renewable resources when we can. Thank you –
Fact based science is what we all should pay attention to and act on. Thank you for reporting the facts.
Thanks for continuing to report the science-based facts! We appreciate you.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for giving us a factual science based report daily.👏👏👏
Still hoping that mankind can perform a miracle and bring us back from the brink of this devastating climate pattern/calamity that we have created 🥲
Came here to thank you for today’s editorial comments, but I see that I am late to the game — and in good company!
Climate change is real and it’s beating us over the head with these extremes in not only heat, but record setting flooding in the Northeast. To bury our heads in the sand is not the answer. Thank you for presenting the facts.
We need more clear and plain talk about weather facts and climate change. It should have never become politicized. Curtailing the truth to appease some has to stop, so I’m glad you explained the climate situation we are currently dealing with in a way that is easy to understand, and hard to deny. Thank you!
To the person who asked you to stay in your lane: There are probably over 25 sources of weather information/forecasting available in the Houston area. So you should just pick a different one. Unfortunately, this one is the best, most accurate, most immediate, and most reliable one in this area. So you have a choice to make.
Just adding to the kudos…sometimes it seems like there are only comments from the willfully ignorant here. It’s a delight to see so many educated readers commenting.
It’s one thing to be skeptical. It’s another to have an irrational meltdown over a single word or concept and ignore what’s happening before your eyes. The latter aren’t ready for reality. Thanks for keeping it real.
Thank you for “reporting what you are observing.” I’m a fan of truth telling and I trust you guys to do this.
Agree completely, Eric, with your thoughts about climate change. And, for those who “can’t take it”, it’s a free country (but they’ll be here if there’s a hurricane in the Gulf). Significant flooding in Vermont, New York and Pennsylvania along with out of control fires in Canada (and, soon, the US I’m guessing) is beyond troubling. It’s also time to acknowledge our electric grid in Texas has been kept alive thanks to wind and solar.
There are no “quick fixes” and we are going to have to come to terms with “climate management” which I don’t think we are ready for.
Have to love the contradiction here. On the one hand, “We are just people. There is no way we can change the weather.”, but on the other hand, “And I have been wondering what they are doing to make it so hot…on purpose. Is some science laboratory doing this?”.
Not to mention the fact that when we follow the money it leads to entrenched fossil fuel interests.
Leaded gas, lead water pipes, lead paint. I just feel bad for some people who were exposed to that stuff back in the day.
It is hot. Period. Personally, what I find annoying is when we say, “what are we going to do about it”. Stop crying about things we can’t control. Enjoy it as best u can; jump in a pool, go to a river, go to the beach, grab a cold beer and enjoy! If u have time to worry about weather, then you are doing ok.
Thank you for the straightforward conversation about climate change. We need to hear about it, understand it, accept it, and get to work.
Exactly
Kudos to your sensitive & diplomatic reply to climate change deniers. Your position was calmly & coolly stated. If only our summer weather would follow your example. Keep up the fine work.
Great info ⚘
Thanks for your real talk. Change is not going to come unless we face the face that climate change is happening and there are things we can do to slow it down.
Thanks for always keeping us informed.
Guys let’s try not to recriminate each other or attack each other. We are all suffering under the oppressive sun in this hot state. Try not to get so upset with the word choice of others. Can’t we all just get together and agree that it’s hot outside?
Your forthright and honest assessments are always appreciated; having the information without the hype sometimes seen on broadcasts and other sites somehow makes whatever the conditions are more tolerable. Thank you!
I appreciate your comments regarding the relationship between climate change and weather. SCW’s posts reflect your team’s commitment to the climate sciences, and I continue to earn from your presentations of forecasts based on the underlying data. Excellent work.
Yeah, we all read this wall of text.
If you read more than a sentence of this and your rambling lunatic sensor didn’t start blaring than you need to have it tuned up.
I agree that it is hot outside. It sucks but it’s summer in Houston. I think it’s ridiculous for people to fault our wonderful meteorologists for discussing climate change! And then fault them for responding to tacky comments. Why doesn’t everyone who has a problem with it just unsubscibe? I love my Space City Weather and appreciate all the time and trouble the guys go to to keep me informed.
Couldn’t agree with you more re: comments about climate change. Thank you thank you thank you!
Thanks for your straightforward reporting. It’s ironic that the scientific methods and data that give us your accurate forecasts come under attack when they also describe what is happening to the climate. Please continue to draw the connections between weather and climate change.
Temperatures are increasing, but I would say that we shouldn’t do anything about it. This may be an over correction from our attempts to thwart the upcoming ice age that was predicted in the 1970s. Climate and the entire cycle of the earth, sun, moon, and other atmospheric and celestial cycles–all of that is far beyond human understanding. Trying to “do something” about that is like trying to fix a computer when you have no idea what is inside it.
This weather hasn’t felt very hot at all. I think that it is dry heat, which is not hot.
Hi! I was just wondering what is going on with hurricane season? We’ve seen no reports here about that.
It’s mostly on their other site, “the eyewall”.
Hi Ruhi! The short answer is not too much, yet. However when things get going there will be more mentions of it here.
In the meantime, if you want to know everything, you can check out our companion tropics site, The Eyewall.
If only the multiplying part excluded your genetic material…
Brilliant! This guy launches a homophobic ad hominem attack against the Secretary of Transportation then gets offended when he is asked in a reasonable, calm tone not to sire offspring. Keep up the good work!
Eric and Matt, thanks for telling it like it is, the unvarnished truth based on factual information. As a geologist I am well aware of the climate shifts Texas has seen over millions of years, and I can believe that the world is getting warmer. The scientific evidence keeps piling up that we are influencing this warming. I seriously doubt we will do anything about it though, with the typical arguing by parties in their entrenched silos stifling action.
I don’t ever recall the nights being so warm. Last night it was 94 degrees at 8:15PM when we start our nightly walk; I don’t think it’s ever been that warm. At 6AM when I took out the trash it was 84 degrees. Again, absurdly warm.
Now about climate change. I am not a climate change denier, but I also don’t like coffee table discussions of climate change–it’s really just a form of virtue signalling–and it’s pretty obvious that this is a divisive topic. My suggestion for you is to avoid discussing it with your usual posts that forecast the next few days of weather, and leave it to special posts or guest posts which engage in hard science, meaning you need a climatologist to chime in.
I like this. Yes you nailed it ….it’s all coffee table talk and over stims the comment gallery. Take it away.
Thank you. This is why I like y’all best. Straight talk
Eric & Matt – THANK YOU for your message to your subscribers today on the underlying reasons for the high heat and heat indices in not just the Houston area, but the south, southeast, and southwest in general. It is indeed time to have honest, straight-forward discussions about warming here in the U.S., and around the globe. I’d love to share your comments from today on my website, SPIDItech.com. May I have your permission, please, with credits back to both of you, of course? Many thanks! – Sid Sperry, President & CEO, SPIDI Technologies, LLC, Guthrie, OK. (The Yankees fan and “Donut sender guy”.)
Thank you for your plain talk, otherwise known as telling the truth with facts. People who don’t like hearing about climate change are in denial. By the time they admit that it’s happening it will be too late. Please don’t “soften” the blow to make them feel better. We are adults and need to step up to accept hard truths. Thank you!
There’s this saying: “Follow the money”. It’s very telling that insurance companies, the Pentagon, and even the big oil companies acknowledge that human-driven climate change is a real thing.
Thanks …your straight talk is why y’all are the best
Thank you for refusing to ignore science! Never thought I would have to say that.I am 78 years old and never thought I would have to defend FACTS.
Guys … bravo for calling it as it is! Stay the course. We won’t get out of this mess by denying the facts, figures, and science.
Science is important. Facts are important. That makes your work important! As a geologist, the Earth’s climate DOES change cyclically over millions of years. However, based on the measurement of carbon dioxide from ice cores, that sine wave has DEVIATED from its normal cycle in the last 100 years (way shorter geologically, yeah?). That delta between the expected warming climate and the climate data of NOW is not explained by any naturally occurring phenomena. It can be explained by the excess of carbon dioxide that humans have emitted into our atmosphere from burning fossil fuels. No hyperbole, just cold hard fact. (Pun intended.)
If you can’t trust Eric and Matt to communicate the current and best info on the weather and it’s underlying drivers then I think you have others things driving your commentary. I am fine with everyone having an opinion, it’s part of our society after all, but just being oppositional about the topic of climate change comes off as “flat earther” stuff at this point but hey you be you and I will keep appreciating and enjoying the fine work Eric and Matt do and trust them to share their knowledge and expertise to the best of their ability. I will bet on their competence and integrity anytime. Thank you to you both.
Thank you! Respect your knowledge and great answer!
How dare you talk about anything factual that conflicts with my preconceived notions?
I’m a long time reader (followed Eric since the SciGuy days!) who very rarely comments, and while I’m tempted to argue with some of the loons, I’m just going to add my voice to the VAST majority of comments here that appreciate your delivery of facts and info and science, instead of worrying about culture war nonsense. I’m reminded of a favorite saying of many of the folks who get so upset about people talking about climate change: “Facts don’t care about your feelings.” Keep up the GREAT work, y’all!
Thanks for rebuffing the science deniers and expressly insisting on your belief in and emphasis on science. There’s so much news (noise) about science denial, attacking schools and libraries, and your support, clearly asserted, is welcome.
Thank you for the no hype weather. About your comments on nighttime temperatures. The most potent common greenhouse gas is water vapor. With a high fraction of water in the atmosphere, high humidity, the lid on radiation cooling is on tight. Many esteemed institutions dismiss water vapor as a greenhouse gas but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have an effect as we are feeling in Houston.
Now this is useful. Yes – what is the word on humidity vis-à-vis earth warming effect. Seems like a potent feedback loop.
I like the idea above about a separate site. Maybe combine with Eyewall. Not much to say there except 3 months of the year. Your calling could be to educate the thinking middle. Get some guest bloggers. I have tried on Twitter. Went with Bastardi for a while and couldn’t stand it. Did the pendulum swing to Michael Mann…way to political. There just isn’t anyplace to go to get some good input for thinking people. I did see something on Twitter about climate being a non-linear system response to linear input. Fascinating. There is fodder to change minds. The thinking middle majority and folks like Elon Musk are what will change anything if indeed change is needed.
Please be more civil in future comments or your IP will be banned.
Regarding the reply over Houston Summers in the 1970s versus the 2020s; I do not recall the 1970s being as hot as in the 2020s. Oh, it was hot in the 1970s, just that temperatures were closer to normal than now.
There is lot more concrete in the Houston area and it appears less trees. However, a recent YouTube stated that there are more trees in the World than now. I’m not sure how accurate that statement is.
There appears to be more people stopping by the Ellington Airport recycling center. Unfortunately, there is a minority of individuals for whatever reason puts the wrong products in the wrong containers.