In brief: The word for today is dreary, as we are going to see a wet and cold day in Houston. Sunshine briefly returns on Tuesday before a rainy end to the work week. Some areas, all told, may pick up 4 or more inches of rain through Friday. Also, our annual fundraiser ends later today!
Fundraiser ends today
Our annual fundraiser ends tonight. Believe me, it is not comfortable for Matt and I to ask for money like this, but your support is essential to maintaining and growing what we’re doing here at Space City Weather. And this year so many wonderful readers have stepped up to chip in with donations or purchases—thousands of you. Personally I am grateful for every one, and it makes the effort we put in every single day worthwhile. So thank you, Houston, for your generosity. We go onward, as ever, into the storm!
Flipping the switch on rain
In Sunday’s post I noted that our overall weather pattern had seemingly flipped the script, over night, from an exceedingly dry one to widespread rainfall. Indeed it is possible that, starting with yesterday’s rains, our region will receive more total rainfall this week than it did during the previous 90 days. We have another round of widespread showers today, and then again from Wednesday afternoon through Friday. This should nicely dent our burgeoning drought. And if you’re already tired of the gray and rainy weather, it does appear that by the coming weekend we’ll see a stretch of sunnier weather.
Monday
I have but one regret this morning, and that is that today is December 1. Every year, in November, I look forward to using the phrase “cold November rain.” However, last month it was never simultaneously cold and rainy. Today definitely fits the bill, except for the month. Anyway, today we’re going to see cold rain, especially for Harris County and points south.
Pre-sunrise we are already seeing light to moderate showers across much of the region, with additional showers building to the southwest as a disturbance propagates into the area. One question you may ask is, where is the moisture coming from if winds at the surface are cold and dry from the north? Well, not too far above the surface the flow is more southerly, allowing for an onshore flow overrunning the air at the surface. Thus there is plentiful moisture at about one-half mile and above, where clouds are forming. Although rain totals will vary widely today, you can probably expect somewhere between 0.5 and 2.5 inches. The showers should finally clear to the northeast by late this afternoon or evening.
The other major story of the day is going to be the cold air. Some parts of Houston may not get out of the upper 40s today. Our low temperatures tonight will be dependent upon whether we see clearing skies by the wee hours of Tuesday. Regardless, fairly gusty winds from the north will provide less than ideal cooling conditions. As a result I think even the inland portions of our region will escape a freeze, but for some locations in northern Montgomery County it may be close.
Tuesday
If you’re a sunshine person, today’s the day. Expect mostly sunny skies and no rain on Tuesday. Even so an ongoing, chilly flow from the north will keep highs confined to the mid-50s. Skies turn partly cloudy on Tuesday night, which should see lows near where they were Monday night, but perhaps a degree or two warmer. So another quite cold night.
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
Our next weather system arrives later on Wednesday, and this will set the stage for another rainy period from Wednesday evening through Friday morning. Highs on Wednesday may reach the upper 60s, with partly to mostly cloudy skies. The day should be mostly rain free, at least until the afternoon or evening. However, after this we should see plenty of rain showers from Wednesday night through Friday morning. It won’t be wall to wall storms, but we can expect accumulations of perhaps 1 to 3 inches area wide, with greater totals near the coast. I don’t think this will be enough to cause flooding conditions. We’ll watch things closely, however. A colder air mass will slowly sag into the region such that, by Friday, highs may only reach 60 degrees.
Saturday and Sunday
The upside of the rain this week is that, by the weekend, conditions should be a fair bit nicer. For now I expect partly to mostly sunny skies on Saturday and Sunday, with highs perhaps in the upper 60s to lower 70s. So if you have outdoor plans this weekend things should be pretty nice! I expect the mostly sunny skies and low rain chances to persist at least into the middle of next week.
