In brief: We’re experiencing a chilly morning, and we have one more cold night before we enter a generally warmer pattern. In addition to a mostly spring-like forecast, today’s post includes some musings on the passage of winter, into spring, into summer in Houston.
Thoughts on spring
Last night, a little after 10 pm, I let the dogs out for the final time before bed. As I stood in the dark, enjoying the quietude, I heard it. That characteristic zing of a June bug kamikazeing into the back door. It was the first of the season here, the first of what surely will be thousands over the coming weeks. In Houston, June bugs come in March. It is the way of things, the rite of passage from winter to spring to finally summer.
You can see it in the trees as well. Only a few days ago, leaves were still falling from the trees in my backyard. Now, it is pollen. There is so much pollen. It is the price we pay for shade in the summertime, and a price I will gladly pay. But do you know what did not fall from the tress this year? Acorns. By my fallible memory, we have had two mast years within the last half decade, when the acorns dropped from the trees for weeks on end, carpeting lawns and creating seas of seeds. There seemed to be billions of them. This year, I think I saw maybe one or two. Should we worry about the squirrels?
It is a time to think about such things. Planet Earth spun through the spring equinox this morning at 4:01 am local time. It’s OK, I didn’t wake up for it either. It just means the Sun is directly over the equator today, and that its light is shining equally on both the northern and southern hemisphere of the planet. Although by some definitions the spring equinox marks the beginning of spring, in our area spring more typically runs from late February into the middle of May.
After that, of course, comes summer. But on such a pleasantly crisp morning as we have today, there is no need to think about that quite yet.
Thursday
Temperatures have fallen to about 50 degrees, or a tad cooler, this morning under the influence of cool and dry northerly winds. Dewpoints are exceptionally low. Because of this, and ongoing winds of 10 to 15 mph, and higher gusts, the region will fall under a ‘red flag’ warning this afternoon from 1 to 7 pm. This means that wildfires could spread quickly. Highs this afternoon will reach the upper 60s for most locations under perfectly clear skies.
Winds will be subsiding later this afternoon, and early evening, if you’re headed out to the Houston rodeo. Temperatures will be in the mid-60s before the show, falling to the upper 50s afterward. So, slightly chilly. Low temperatures tonight will fall into the 40s for much of the Houston metro area. This may be the final night in the 40s for many locations this season, but there’s enough spring left in the calendar where I would not want to say that definitively.
Friday
This will be another sunny day, but temperatures will be warmer, in the mid-70s. We’ll also see those northerly winds swing around to come from the south, perhaps gusting up to 20 mph or so during the afternoon hours. As a result, lows on Friday night will only drop into the upper 50s.
Saturday
The first half of the weekend has no weather concerns, aside from some southerly winds gusting up to 20 mph or so. We’re going to see highs of around 80 degrees, with mostly sunny skies. With a warmer flow in place, lows on Saturday night will only drop into the mid-60s.
Sunday
Clouds should start to build on Saturday evening or night in response to increasing moisture levels in the atmosphere. Sunday looks to be a warmer, more humid day in the 80s. The region will see the potential for some light showers during the afternoon ahead of an advancing cold front. It’s a weak front, but it still could spark some scattered thunderstorms on Sunday night. Overall rain accumulations look fairly low for most locations, on the order of a tenth of an inch of rain, or two.
Next week
Monday is likely to be cooler as a modest amount of drier air filters in from the northeast. Let’s call it mid-70s, with the possibility of nighttime temperatures in the 50s. Most of the rest of next week should see highs in the 80s with lows in the 60s. There is a decent signal for rain showers from Wednesday night through Friday. An inch or so of rain sure would help us out, but it’s too far out to have absolute confidence in any such forecast. We’ll see.
😂 OK guys at SCW, you need to dial-up a couple days like today and tomorrow (low 50s, nada humidity) during each of Aug and Sept to help us survive summer! 😂
“And the Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
Rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.”
― Percy Bysshe Shelley
The equinox in Houston, Texas is similar to Groundhog Day in reverse for those up North. We have about 6 more weeks until summer “unofficially” begins. Summers here can be like their winters, long and unbearable. Having spent my share of time in the North I can truly say that I will take our summers over their winters…
My trees were dropping acorns like most old men drop hair. There were tons of acorns.
Wind, wind, and more wind……I want to fly! When will this end?!
AKA January Jumpers, February Flyers, March Marchers, or April Aviators!
What a lovely reflection on spring to kick off this post!
Enjoy the last cool weather for oh, the next eight months or so.
Same here. Last night was the first time I saw a June bug. I’ve been seeing crane flies over the past few weeks. That is also another sign that spring has arrived.
We have 2-3 huge oaks on our Magnolia property – they don’t always drop the same amount of acorns every year. Additionally, we only see acorn shedding in Autumn, not Spring.
Oaks have an irregular cycle for acorn production. There are “mast years” (boom year) that happen every 2 to 3 years.
As far as June bugs go, we rarely have them buzzing around these parts – an oddity indeed.
Long mulled over question: What is the point of sometimes adding “hours” to “morning”, “evening” etc. That is, what is the difference between morning and morning hours in weather descriptions?
I really appreciate your discussions, along with your forecasts. Today’s reflections on spring were almost poetic in style.
Sadly this will probably be the last day with weather like this until late October or November
I think around April 13th is historically the last Spring day to have 40-something degrees recorded in Houston.
Mr. Berger – You are not only an outstanding meteorologist, you an an excellent writer. When appropriate, more of your reflections on the weather would be most eagerly read. Kudos to you and Mr. Lanza – keep up the good work at Space City!
Is there any relief in sight for this wind tunnel we seem to be stuck in??
Yes, there tends to be little to no breeze in June through August.
The winds usually calm once summer hits. Temperatures are more uniform across the country in summer, so there isn’t that sharp temperature contrast that we get in the spring, causing tight pressure gradients. We still have cold air diving through the country right now, which influences stronger surface lows when they meet with the increasingly warmer air to the south. This is why we are usually battered with so much wind this time of year. April on average is the windiest month of the year in this area so I’m afraid we have only just entered the wind tunnel.
Spring in the South is the worst season. It’s a tease, you only really get a handful of really nice “spring” days, and you have to live with knowledge that on average, every day will be worse than the last for the next 6 months. It’s depressing, I loathe summer, but somehow spring is even worse.
Does government staffing affect any SCW products? Thinking not but curious.