Today marks our 18th straight day of heat advisories or heat warnings. We close June on the same note we’ve been singing (with rampant falsetto) since mid-month. Heat waves are often judged by how many temperature records are broken. So have there been many temperature records broken the last couple weeks? The answer is not really.
For the month of June, through yesterday, we set or tied a total of zero record highs at Bush, two at Hobby, none at Galveston, and none in College Station. Despite the general lack of record highs, we’ve managed to reach a frequency and consistency of 110+ heat index values that is rare for this region. It’s why we emphasized that this would be an abnormal heat wave for us.
Nighttimes have been more intriguing, with seven record warm minimum temperatures set or tied at Bush, seven at Hobby, none in Galveston, and five in College Station. The lack of any nighttime relief really contributes to defining how rough this has been.
Fortunately, we are past the peak of things it seems and we can start discussing how this will change.
Today and tomorrow
More of the same. Sunny and hot, with highs in the upper-90s and lows near 80, and a near zero chance of rain. Heat advisories will likely be needed for one more day tomorrow.
Sunday & Monday
This will be the transition period. Look for generally more of the same again. Expect mid to upper-90s for highs and upper-70s to near 80 for lows. However, the new wrinkle on these days will be rain chances. Sunday looks meager at best and mostly south and east of Houston. Let’s call it a 5 to 10 percent chance of a shower Sunday. That’s better than zero, but the odds remain stacked against you. By Monday, that rain chance should improve to 20 percent or so. Better!
Fourth of July Tuesday
This will be the trickiest day, because I could see our rain chances fizzling here or being something like 10 to 20 percent again. Or, coverage could increase a fair bit during the afternoon hours, with not everyone seeing rain but some folks needing to scurry indoors for a time. Let’s call it about a 30 percent chance of rain on Tuesday afternoon, with the highest odds south and east of Houston; higher chances than Monday but still relatively low. As of now, I’d expect that most evening events will be able to go off without issue.
Look for mid-90s or a little hotter on Tuesday with evening temperatures generally dropping back into the mid to upper 80s for fireworks or other activities.
Wednesday through Friday
We get a big boost in moisture beginning Wednesday, and this should translate to more scattered to numerous showers and storms through the late week period. While it’s tough to pin down the exact timing of rain chances each day, I would say that the chance is at least 50 to 60 percent on all three days. So there’s a good chance your neighborhood should see at least some rain at some point later next week.
Due to the clouds and showers, we should see high temperatures ease back into the low (!) or mid-90s at worst, more seasonable for early July. Nighttimes should be more firmly in the 70s. Eric will be back in the saddle Monday. Until then, stay cool!
Thank goodness for rain chances, cloud coverage… anything to keep the sun from setting Texas ablaze!
I’m with you – bring on the cloud cover to block the sun’s rays. And, throw in some rain. Make it rain…rain.
There is no real difference between 100 degrees and 95 degrees. Hot is hot. Stay inside until November or move away from this disgusting swampy Houston weather.
It does matter when you factor in humidity to calculate heat index. We get it Bob you hate hot weather and Houston, calm down, lol
Does this surface of the sun June experience mean that we can expect August to feel like the heat of no return?
No. Last year had record (or near record, can’t remember) May, June, and July. August ended up being pretty cool and rainy. So it doesn’t really foretell anything about the rest of the summer.
Didn’t actually work like that last year…in fact August was our most comfortable month of summer I think! Can’t really say much about August based on how this month has gone.
The psychophysical inflammation that heat like that causes is finally fizzling out…
It’ll be really nice to return to abnormal 💦
I think June has been extra tough because we had such a nice, long, cool Spring! All the way into May. Then BOOM! No acclimatization time. I finally got there a few days ago, though. Gonna make the cooldown feel like Heaven. That’ll be nice.
No record highs? I thought that this felt like normal summer weather.
Hopefully you read beyond that paragraph to the part where we explained why it wasn’t “normal” summer weather.
I have probably written a similar post before.
Those of us who were in Texas in the early 50s can remember when it really was hot. Much of the state was in extreme drought and West Texas was regularly covered in immense dust storms. The drought and the heat and the dust storms lasted for several years.
There was very little air conditioning and the temps were extraordinarily high. I have distinct memories of the TV weatherman saying night after night that the high temperature in the state was 116 degrees in Wichita Falls.
I was in high school at the time and none of the schools were air conditioned. But in the 1950s, they had the common sense to not start school until Sept 20 or thereabouts.
In Dallas, drinking water became scarce and it had a woodsy taste. At one point, you could literally walk across White Rock Lake. And it was no trick at all to fry an egg on the sidewalk.
Movie theaters were air conditioned and were a great place to cool off, especially in the afternoons. However, when you walked out of the movie theater into the afternoon heat, it quite literally felt like you had walked into a blast furnace.
Hope we never see another weather episode in Texas like the 1950s. Even with our current air conditioned comforts, I would be fearful that today’s climate alarmists would be throwing themselves out of tall buildings.
Also remember no A/C in school. Went to Parker Elementary for K thru 5th grades (1960-1966). No a/c… you just opened the windows & ran a big metal fan.
“…and you Liked it!”
Why do you call people pointing out facts about how our pollution is causing negative changes in the climate “alarmists”?
Go shut yourself in a closed garage with your car motor running for a few hours and then come explain how all the crap we spew in the air that is caught in our atmosphere isn’t a problem with time.
We aren’t talking one off weather patterns. It’s a gradual change in the basic temperatures of things like the ocean that ultimately affect how weather patterns forms. I’m almost as old as you and I have watched the slow changes with my own eyes. Why haven’t you been paying attention?
Where are the great flocks of birds we used to see here in texas? Used to have hundreds of bugs on your car windshield? How about now?
/smh
Let’s keep it positive. Fall Day (date when temps drop to 65 or lower) is only 87 days away with a margin of error of say 14 days… If you get bored in these dog days of summer it would be an interesting post as to just when past Fall Day have occurred in Houston. I vaguely remember a really strong cold front passed through Houston during the Republican National Convention in the Astrodome circa 1992?
A neighbour just came back from the Cascades where it was 54 during the day, it is not nice nor decent to hear things like that.