We’re coming to the end of June in Houston, and the city’s official temperature has peaked at 98 degrees so far. Although I don’t anticipate that the city’s temperatures will hit 100 degrees over the next week, as we get into July the overall probability of hitting the century mark will rise. With that in mind, here is some 100-degree day climatology for the city of Houston:
- Earliest 100-degree day: June 2, 2011
- Average first 100-degree day: July 24
- Average number of 100-degree days: 5
The absence of 100-degree days in June is probably a decent sign for the rest of the summer in terms of extreme heat, but alas there are few guarantees when it comes to weather.
Tuesday
Moisture levels are lower than Monday, so I expect few if any rain showers across the metro area today. Most probably, we will see hot and sunny conditions with high temperatures in the low- to mid-90s. If you picked today to skip work and head for the beach, you made a good choice weather-wise.
Wednesday and Thursday
Atmospheric moisture levels won’t be too high during the middle of the week, but neither will high pressure be dominating our weather. Therefore we will likely see some scattered showers develop, especially during the afternoon hours. However I don’t expect particularly significant accumulations from any rain. Both days should be mostly sunny and in the low- to mid-90s.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
The weekend bringing us into July looks hot and sunny as high pressure begins pressing in from the west. The net effect of this will be highs in the mid-90s, ample sunshine, and near zero rain chances. Again, this will be an excellent weekend for any outdoor water-based activities. (Except ice sculpting. Bad for that, I am afraid).
Monday and next week
The high pressure that builds this weekend over Houston won’t stay that long, and I expect it will move on by earlier next week. The combination of falling pressures and increasing moisture will probably generate some clouds and decent rain chances, especially beginning on Tuesday and Wednesday (July 4th). We’re not anticipating any kind of a washout, so I wouldn’t be too concerned about showers during fireworks just yet.
Since the average can be influenced by a few overly hot (or not so hot) years, I wonder what the “typical” year might bring, maybe using a median instead of an average? Like, if there were 5 hypothetical years to consider, and the number of 100 degree days for each year were 3, 3, 3, 3, 20. The average would be 16, but the median would be 3. Or, maybe over a very long number of years, the average and the median are close. Just wondering.
The lack of 100 degree highs notwithstanding, yesterday afternoon, after storms had dropped a half inch of rain in less than an hour, when the sun came out and began to bake off the standing water… Well, you really need to be a connoisseur of Houston summertime heat and humidity to appreciate just how miserable it was. To compare it to a sauna would be inadequate as who takes a sauna in full sun?
All I intended to do was make the brief stroll from my front door to my mailbox and I can’t imagine attempting anything more ambitious in such conditions. Standing there for a moment, the sun beaming brightly while my glasses fogged and t-shirt clung like elastic wrap with not even a breeze remaining from the storm just passed, it was superlatively sultry.
I am hoping for rain on the 4th. I’m in unincorporated Harris County, and my neighbors tend to go overboard with fireworks. Hoping a little rain will get them to call it a night a little early (11 pm instead of 1 – 2 am), especially since it’ll be a Wednesday night with work the next day!
Dammit I was planning an ice sculpting contest. Now what do I do?
Well we could all move to Antarctica, or Nome Alaska. However, we definitely would want to return here during winter.
🙂 You guys done good by “ordering” up that nice 3/4 inch of rain in my area of The Woodlands yesterday afternoon. Can turn off my irrigation system one time, woo hoo! However, the cat ordered you to “nix the thunder” as he cowered under the bed. The cat is the true home owner, you know 🙂
Any ideas as to why it has been so windy lately?
Any thoughts on the dust cloud that is in the news? Do you think the dust will be bad this weekend?