Stubborn clouds should hopefully exit, setting up a fairly nice weekend in Houston

If Wednesday was a pretty nice autumn day, yesterday was definitely a pretty gloomy autumn day. What will today bring? Read on.

As we head into the weekend, another reminder that our annual fundraiser is ongoing for a limited time! So get in there and get some swag if you desire. Or you can just make a donation. Whatever the case, we are grateful and thankful for your support!

Today

It’s always a bit of a roll of the dice in autumn and winter if a low deck of stratus clouds will actually clear. It’s tough to tell on satellite exactly how extensive the low clouds are today, but there are a couple things we can note based on that and observations.

A satellite image from just before 6:30 AM shows a complicated mix of low and high level clouds, as well as patchy fog across much of eastern Texas. (College of DuPage)

I always love the image above from the College of DuPage because the color scheme accentuates low, middle, and high clouds. In the Houston area, it seems we have a pretty decent batch of middle and upper level clouds moving through that are obscuring the ability to see low clouds on the image (like you can near San Antonio). Those middle and high clouds may have also helped prevent much of the fog and low clouds from expanding near Houston this morning, meaning as the sun comes up, we may see the sun in spots.

Whatever the case, expect increasing sunny breaks today between periods of cloud cover across the area. If you’re south, east, or west of Houston and under some fog, that should lift by mid-morning. Highs will be in the low to mid-70s today, perhaps deeper into the mid-70s if the clouds clear enough.

Weekend

Saturday looks like a winner of a weekend day. We’re expecting sunshine and highs in the mid-70s after morning lows near 60 degrees. Sunday will be a bit trickier. It should start out great, with lows in the 50s and sunshine. If you’re headed to the Texans game, no issues. We’ll see clouds increase through the afternoon, with a chance of showers, especially north and west of Houston. Highs will make it into the mid-70s south and east and low to mid-70s north and west, with some far northwest locations possibly a couple degrees cooler.

Monday

The timing of the front for early next week continues to shift a bit, and we’re now pushing it out to Monday night. For the most part, Monday looks partly sunny, warm, and humid for November, with a chance of a shower or two.

High temperatures will probably hit 80 degrees on Monday before a cold front sends us right back to autumn on Tuesday. (Pivotal Weather)

We’ll see highs well into the 70s, if not around 80 degrees or so. In fact, there’s probably about a 60 to 70 percent chance that we hit 80 degrees or better on Monday, as long as the timing of the front stays where it is.

Tuesday

With the front plowing through Monday night, we will wake up to a different season on Tuesday. It will be breezy and much, much cooler Tuesday, with highs in the 60s and offshore winds probably gusting north of 25 mph. Some lingering clouds will stick around, but any showers or thunderstorms with the front will probably occur in the pre-dawn hours.

Wednesday morning looks chilly, with lows in the 40s area-wide. (Pivotal Weather)

Wednesday

We’ll have a chilly start to the day Wednesday with lows in the 40s. Daytime highs will only warm into the upper-50s to around 60 degrees. But it looks dry!

For those of you traveling, it looks spectacular basically anywhere within driving distance of Houston. No issues are expected across Texas, Oklahoma, or Louisiana. If you’re headed to Colorado, it looks fine. The only trouble spots may be the Northeast, where a departing storm will likely cause air travel delays into the hubs. Winds will probably be the main issue there. Some lake effect snow is possible in the Great Lakes. And the cold front that gets us on Tuesday morning will be crossing Florida with showers and storms on Wednesday afternoon.

Thanksgiving Day

It looks great. Morning lows in the 40s and daytime highs in the mid-60s or better.

Beyond Thanksgiving it looks like we’ll warm back to 70 or so by the weekend before our next front attempts to make an appearance late in the holiday weekend.

Thanksgiving forecast comes into focus, and it looks anything but fowl

We’re only a week out from Thanksgiving, and you’re going to have to forgive me for the holiday puns. I can be a real goose sometimes. In any case, we’re talking puns because the forecast in the days ahead looks really pheasant, I mean pleasant, and there’s not a whole lot to say. We’ll see moderate weather through about Monday, at which time a cool front will arrive to bring weather that feels like Thanksgiving into Houston. So that’s something we can all look forward to.

I’d be remiss if I did not remind you that we’re in the midst of our annual fundraiser, that time of year when we ask for your help to keep Space City Weather going, and ensure that what we do can be maintained free for everyone. You can visit our store here. To the many of you who have already bought merchandise or made a donation, thank you very much.

Much of Texas is experiencing a mild morning Thursday, with lows generally in the 50s for most of the state. (Weather Bell)

Thursday

For the eastern half of the area there is a slight chance of some very light rain this morning, but for the most part we should be mostly cloudy. The clouds may thin somewhat, but the relative lack of sunshine should limit high temperatures to around 70 degrees today, with a light northeasterly breeze. Skies should remain mostly cloudy overnight, with lows perhaps dropping to around 60 degrees in Houston, and a bit cooler inland.

Friday

Expect a pleasant day with partly to mostly sunny skies and highs in the mid- to upper-70s. With dewpoints at around 60 degrees the morning will be a bit sticky, but the afternoon humidity should be comfortably low. A weak, reinforcing cool front arrives on Friday but it won’t be particularly noticeable. Lows on Friday night should again drop to around 60 degrees.

Saturday and Sunday

The weekend continues to look fine, especially Saturday, for outdoor activities. Highs on Saturday will reach the mid- to upper-70s with light northerly winds shifting to come from the east. After another mild night with lows down around 60 degrees, Sunday will again be mostly sunny with highs in the 70s. It will, however, be a tad more humid and we can’t rule out some light showers during the afternoon hours. Overall chances remain pretty low, however, perhaps 20 percent or less.

A front early next week could bring some beneficial rains to the Sabine River area. (Weather Bell)

Next week

The timing for the region’s next significant cold front continues to bounce around, and now we’re back to Monday afternoon or evening. Ahead of the front we’re going to see a warm day (for November) with highs of around 80 degrees and pretty decent humidity. Some light to moderate rain is possible ahead of, or along with the front, but we’re not expecting anything serious.

The arrival of the front will put and end to the humidity, and bring a slug of much drier air into the region for a few days. Highs on Tuesday and Wednesday will likely in the low 60s, with lows dropping into the 40s. So, expect a chilly start to Thanksgiving Day. Accurately forecasting high temperatures for Turkey Day this far out is difficult, and will depend on the extent of cloud cover. But I’d ballpark highs somewhere in the mid-60s, with a milder night in the 50s. Rain chances for the holiday look low, to non-existent. A warming trend may bring highs to around 70 degrees before the next front.

Calm end to the week for the Houston area, with our next front en route before Thanksgiving

After starting off nice yesterday, clouds did creep back for the afternoon. Most of that has cleared or is off to our east now. But we’ll fight the cloud cover forecast a bit again today. Hey, if clouds are the hardest part of our forecast, we’ll take that.

Meanwhile, just a quick reminder that our annual fundraiser is ongoing. We have a merch shop open for a limited time, or if you just want to donate to the site, you can do that too. We sincerely appreciate all the support!

Today

Clouds are going to linger this morning east of Chambers County, especially in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area. These are stubborn low clouds that are a little more difficult to eradicate in mid-November, but hopefully some sunny breaks can emerge in those areas today.

Satellite image from about 6:30 AM showing low clouds east of the Houston area and clear skies over most of the region. (College of DuPage)

Some model guidance does nudge those clouds back west a bit, so places like Baytown or Mont Belvieu run the risk of seeing some clouds perhaps for a time later today. But overall, let’s call today mainly sunny with highs in the low-70s.

Thursday & Friday

Both days look partly to mostly sunny and calm. We should see warming conditions with highs in the mid-70s tomorrow and upper-70s perhaps on Friday. Morning lows stay in the 50s. There could be a little patchy fog on either morning, but that should lift rather quickly after sunrise.

Saturday

A weak “cool” front will swing through late Friday or early Saturday. You probably won’t notice it at all, but it will act to sort of reinforce this autumn air mass a bit. We’ll top off in the mid-70s, with morning lows again in the 50s. Expect a mix of sun and clouds.

Sunday & Monday

Clouds increase on Sunday, and we should see at least some scattered showers return to the picture by later in the afternoon or evening. Highs will be in the mid-70s, but they could be slightly warmer if clouds arrive slower Sunday afternoon.

A cold front will swing through Sunday night or Monday morning sometime it appears, which is a bit faster than it appeared yesterday. With it, showers appear likely, but rain totals should lag what we just saw recently in the area. Expect a cooler day on Monday, with low to mid-70s, although at some point, temperatures could drop 10 degrees or so, depending on the exact timing of the front.

Tuesday’s highs should be in the low-60s at best for most of the region with some areas probably not getting out of the 50s. (Pivotal Weather)

Tuesday through Thanksgiving

Behind that cold front, we’ll have a bonafide cool day on Tuesday, with highs probably in the low-60s at best and morning lows in the low to mid-50s. Wednesday morning should see 40s for lows, as could Thanksgiving morning. Highs should be in the 60s both days. The forecast appears to be dry for both Wednesday travel and Thursday festivities. We’ll keep an eye on things, however, just in case. Warmer temps should follow into Black Friday and the weekend.

Calm and pleasant weather for awhile as the Thanksgiving outlook comes into slightly better focus

Good morning. After several days of gray and rainy weather, we’ll begin to transition to drier and sunnier weather. Our forecast for the days ahead really looks remarkably consistent, and for November, quite pleasant. Conditions start to look more dynamic next week as a stronger front moves through on Monday or Tuesday, setting up a cooler pattern that will likely persist through the Thanksgiving holiday.

Tuesday

By and large the rain is over. Over the last several days the Houston region, generally, picked up 2 to 4 inches of much needed rainfall that will help our ongoing recovery from this summer’s deep drought. There is still the potential for some isolated, light showers today, but with the low pressure system continuing to push eastward, the impetus for widespread rain has departed the building. We should actually see a bit of sunshine later today as the clouds start to break a bit. As a result high temperatures will reach about 70 degrees, with a light northerly wind. Low temperatures tonight will drop into the mid-50s, generally, in Houston. It will be a bit cooler for outlying areas.

Seven-day rainfall totals for the greater Houston region. (Harris County FWS)

Wednesday and Thursday

As high pressure builds over the area, we should see a pair of mostly sunny days with high temperatures in the low 70s. Winds will be light, generally from the north. Expect lows to drop into the mid- to upper-50s.

Friday

Friday may be a bit warmer, with highs in the mid-70s, and perhaps a few more clouds. Lows on Friday night will drop into the upper 50s.

Saturday and Sunday

The first half of the weekend looks splendid for any outdoor plans you have. Skies should be mostly sunny, with reasonably dry air, and highs in the low 70s. Lows on Saturday night will probably drop into the 50s, although there’s a bit of uncertainty. Sunday looks similar, although it will probably be partly cloudy due to a passing disturbance, and we can’t entirely rule out some light showers later in the day and during the evening hours. Call it a 20 percent-ish chance.

Our temperatures will be steady Eddie for awhile. (Weather Bell)

Next week and Turkey Day

Monday should be in the 70s ahead of the passage of a cold front, perhaps during the afternoon or maybe not until the overnight hours. There is a fairly decent signal for rainfall with this front, so I’d count on a healthy chance of precipitation on Monday and Tuesday, and perhaps lingering longer. We’ll see. In terms of temperatures it now appears as though the front will knock highs down to about 60 for a few days, with lows perhaps in the 40s or 50s. We’re getting to the fuzzy point of the forecast now, but at this point Thanksgiving does appear to be on the chillier side. Whether the holiday is rain free, well, I don’t have great confidence one way or the other.

Space City Weather fundraiser

We’re in the midst of our annual fundraiser, which is your one opportunity to support Space City Weather during the year. You wouldn’t believe how many people write to me during the spring or summer months and ask if they can’t buy a t-shirt. So don’t miss your chance now: Head on over to our pop-up store to pick up some merchandise or make a donation. Thank you!