In brief: Typical summer weather will be with us to start the week, but rain chances increase Wednesday afternoon and especially Thursday and Friday as a change in the pattern over Texas leads to potentially cooler temperatures and wetter weather.

Good morning, and we hope the situation has improved for you this weekend. I know there are still hundreds of thousands without power, a situation that remains frustrating and disappointing all around. We have had some modest fortune with the weather the last few days, with officially 90 on Saturday and 93 on Sunday. Last year this weekend was 99 and 98 degrees respectively. I’m certainly not trying to lessen the real complaints of extreme discomfort so many have endured, but we are lucky this isn’t even worse.

As we attempt to recover some degree of normalcy this week, the weather will stay pretty normal for July as well, but that may begin to change late week — and not in the hotter direction either.

Today and Tuesday

Today and tomorrow will essentially be cut from the same cloth: Look for sun, clouds, and the requisite 20 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms as the sea breeze nudges inland. It will probably be a touch hotter today and tomorrow than we saw this weekend, with low to mid-90s. Heat will be on the higher side, and for those of you still without power and for the line workers trying to get you back, it will be important to take it as easy as possible, stay hydrated, and catch a break in some AC whenever possible. Here is a list of Houston area cooling centers and shelters if you need locations.

Wednesday

Rain chances will probably nudge up closer to 40 or 50 percent on Wednesday afternoon. As high pressure amplifies over the Four Corners region, we end up on the “downstream” side of that, where disturbances can swing through and help enhance our rain chances a bit. Highs will be in the 90s with higher humidity. Low temps continue in the upper-70s.

Thursday and beyond

The trickiest parts of the forecast come late this week. A rather aggressive trough in the upper atmosphere for July and potential cool front will likely start to infringe on Southeast Texas. For us that means much higher rain chances and perhaps somewhat cooler temperatures. For now, expect highs near 90 or in the low-90s. But rain chances will bump up to around 50 to 60 percent. Some of the rain could be locally heavy late week.

We’ll keep track of this through the week to see how it all evolves, but have the umbrella very handy Thursday and Friday.

Beyond that, the odds of below average temperatures actually go up a good bit for next weekend and a decent chunk of next week too. Now, below average temperatures in late July in Houston aren’t open the windows and air out the joint stuff. However, this will be welcome I think after our recent bout of heat and minimal electricity.

We will take what we can get. This will likely also come with continued daily rain chances. Last summer this is not.

Tropics

A quick note on the tropics only to say breathe easy and that it looks quiet for the next 7 to 10 days. We’ll have some additional color at The Eyewall on this later today.

In brief: Today’s post offers some thoughts about the need for a reckoning with power distribution in the greater Houston area, and greater resiliency given the conditions we regularly experience. In terms of a forecast, we will see additional thunderstorm chances today and Saturday before a hotter and calmer pattern begins Sunday.

Is this CenterPoint’s ERCOT moment?

Three and a half years ago nearly everyone in Texas had a bogeyman for the power issues that bedeviled the state during the Valentine’s Freeze of 2021. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power, and at least 250 people were killed directly or indirectly by the freeze. Property damages in the state approached $200 billion when “rolling” blackouts never actually rolled. It was a disaster—both natural and manmade.

The underlying issue was power generation, in particular the failure of power plants under extremely cold conditions, and an insufficient supply of natural gas for power plants. The reasons for this lack of preparation are complex, and partly political. The bottom line is that the organization tasked with supplying the vast majority of the state’s electricity and managing the grid, ERCOT, received the majority of the blame. This led to a reckoning for ERCOT and, at least theoretically, reforms that will prevent future issues. So far, so good.

The failure of Houston’s power grid during the derecho in May and, most recently Beryl, is a distribution issue rather than a generation issue. There was plenty of power available, it just could not be delivered to residents. There are three electricity distributors in the Houston region: CenterPoint, Texas-New Mexico, and Entergy. However by far the largest distributor is CenterPoint, which has drawn the lion’s share of angst and anger since the outages began early on Monday morning. Let’s face it, being without electricity, especially in the middle of July in Houston, is absolutely miserable.

We have been pretty clear here at Space City Weather that the region should not have experienced such widespread outages. Beryl knocked out electricity to more customers than Hurricane Ike did in 2008. At Beryl’s peak, 85 percent of CenterPoint customers lost electricity. This matters because Ike was much larger and more powerful than Beryl, and brought hurricane-force sustained winds across large chunks of the Houston metro area. I’m not saying Beryl wasn’t a nasty storm, but its winds were quantitatively, and significantly, less than those of Ike.

I am far from an expert on the distribution infrastructure that delivers power into homes. It is complex, and I salute the linemen working long hours to restore service. However, Houston’s electricity distribution system is not working. It is failing us. Many residents have now experienced two prolonged outages in three months. I realize that CenterPoint can no more control the weather than I can. But after Hurricane Ike our system should have been hardened for future similar (and lesser events, like Beryl). I realize there are no easy solutions, but there are things we should be studying and the implementing, such as concrete poles, underground lines, microgrids, and other ideas.

Whatever company officials and politicians say in the coming days, the harsh reality is that our transmission system failed the Beryl test. Badly. And if we do nothing it will happen again and again.

Just as ERCOT faced a reckoning after the great freeze, our distributors need a reckoning after Beryl. The status quo, and political leaders who enable it going forward, are unacceptable. What we have seen this week is unsustainable for a city that bills itself as the energy capital of the world.

Friday and Saturday

Parts of the Houston area saw rain showers on Thursday, and some of these developed into fairly strong thunderstorms. A few locations just west of downtown picked up 1 to 1.5 inches of rainfall. This overall pattern of plenty of moisture in the atmosphere and an unstable boundary will persist today and Saturday. Therefore we are likely to see a similar pattern for the next two days, with showers developing near the coast later this morning and migrating inland this afternoon. Unfortunately, a few areas within these stronger storms will see lighting and briefly strong winds.

The upside to this pattern is partly to mostly cloudy skies, with cooler temperatures. Highs both days will be around 90 degrees, with light winds from the southeast. Overnight lows will generally drop into the upper 70s.

Sunday

By the second half of the weekend, high pressure should expand into Southeast Texas, setting the stage for a warmer pattern. We can expect mostly sunny skies and high temperatures in the mid-90s. Rain chances will be low, perhaps 20 percent, but not non-existent.

Next week

Hot, full-on summer weather arrives next week and our region will need electricity fully restored to cope. We are looking at highs generally in the mid- to upper-90s for most of the area, with mostly sunny skies. The first half of the week should be rain free, although chances for some scattered showers arrive during the second half of the week. Rain chances may improve further by next weekend as some sort of dying front approaches the region. We shall see.

To the extent possible, have a great weekend everyone. After a long period of activity, this site will go quiet on Saturday and Sunday, and then following our normal schedule of daily posting next week.

In brief: Today’s post discusses elevated rain chances today, and the rest of the week, which should help keep daytime highs a bit cooler. However, with higher temperatures on the horizon next week, power losses really need to be restored by then. I also list my top five most impactful weather disasters in Houston.

Ranking Beryl in the pantheon of Houston weather disasters

I’ve lived in Houston since 1997, covered weather on a semi-regular basis since 2001, started blogging about hurricanes in 2005, and been a certified meteorologist since 2014. I have tromped around flooded Houston streets during Allison, heard the winds howling downtown during Ike, and froze my tuchus off three and a half years ago during those “rolling” blackouts that never actually rolled.

The following list is totally subjective, but it’s coming from the perspective of someone who has probably written more words about the weather in Houston than anyone past or present—probably about 3 million words, or nearly six times the length of War and Peace. Anyway, after all that writing and thinking about Houston weather, here is my list of top five most impactful weather events since I got here:

• 1. Hurricane Harvey (2017). The competition for the top spot is not even close. The worst flood storm in US history and very likely the defining event of my career. I’ll never forget any of it.
• 2. Hurricane Ike (2008). At the time, it was the second costliest US hurricane ever, ranking behind only Hurricane Katrina. It still ranks among the top 10, and was a devastating wind and surge event.
• 3. Valentine’s Freeze (2021). We froze. We lost power. Our pipes burst. The roads iced over. The entire state of Texas, of Texas, was under a freeze warning at one point. This event impacted almost everyone in our community.
• 4. Tropical Storm Allison (2001). Before Harvey this was Houston’s flood of record. The Texas Medical Center flooded. Downtown Houston flooded. Everything flooded. Crazy rains that night. If you know, you know.
• 5. Hurricane Beryl (2024). At this point I’m prepared to put Beryl on this list due to its widespread disruptions to power and internet connectivity (still down for many, I realize). Beyond that, the storm downed hundreds of thousands of trees, and caused serious coastal flooding due to surge.

There are other serious contenders for this list. Dwight Silverman told me he believes the Drought of 2011 should be on the list, and it did cause serious structural problems in Houston, and utterly disrupted our flora and fauna. I also considered Hurricane Rita, which led to the death of 107 evacuees. Rita ultimately missed Houston, but no one who evacuated will forget that nightmare, and it led to statewide reforms in how Texas and local communities manage evacuations. Tropical Storm Imelda’s rains were catastrophic for parts of the Houston region, but a non-event for others. Other events, like Tropical Storm Frances (1998), and the Memorial Day and Tax Day floods, were also more localized phenomena.

Those are my thoughts. What about yours?

Thursday

With a boundary just offshore, and plenty of moisture in the atmosphere, we’ll start to see rain chances increase today. Coastal areas will see coverage of about 50 percent, with a few stronger thunderstorms. Areas further inland will have lower, but not non-existent chances. Increased cloud cover and rain-cooled air should help keep temperatures a bit lower today, in the low 90s for most, possibly even a touch lower near the coast. Humidity levels remain high, of course. Winds will be light, out of the southeast.

Friday and Saturday

The pattern will be more or less the same the next couple of days, with partly to mostly cloudy skies, and healthy rain chances. Showers and thunderstorms will be most likely during the afternoon hours, with daytime heating and the seabreeze providing a trigger. Highs will range from 90 to the lower 90s for most locations.

Sunday

Chances start to back off a bit, but there will still be a modest chance of rain. Look for highs in the low 90s with partly sunny skies.

Next week

High pressure starts to edge upward heading into next week, and this will increase our daily temperatures into the mid-90s, and then possibly the upper-90s. Rain chances will decrease for the start of the week, but should be on the rise again toward the end of next week. In any case, this is going to be hot summer weather in Houston, and people are going to need their power back on.

In brief: Today’s post discusses why Beryl’s winds were so strong hours after landfall, and then looks ahead to a forecast with some decent rain chances and slightly cooler daytime highs.

Hurricane Beryl’s persistent winds

Normally as a hurricane traverses land it starts to weaken fairly quickly. But Beryl didn’t as it moved north from Matagorda into Fort Bend County and Sugar Land. The storm maintained much of its strength and bulldozed right into the heart of Houston with near hurricane-force sustained winds and higher gusts. Why?

I chatted a little bit about this with Eric Blake, a forecaster at the National Hurricane Center, on the social media site X Tuesday. He noted that just as it was coming ashore, Beryl was starting to intensify rapidly, with a closed-off eyewall. He believes it would have been a Category 2 hurricane with just six more hours over the water. Thus, there was a lot of momentum built up by the storm.

So I think the storm’s long-lasting winds were a combination of factors. First, as Beryl moved north at about 12 mph, it crossed much of Houston just six hours after landfall. Second, as the storm came ashore with such momentum toward intensification, it took some time and interaction with land to unwind that momentum. Only after this could it start to weaken more rapidly once it passed north of Houston.

Weather isn’t all bad

I’m a weather and space nerd, so when I’m outside I always like to look up. Mother Nature has delivered us some harsh blows of late, but the skies were beautiful on Tuesday evening. I took this photograph of mammatus clouds just at sunset on Tuesday south of Houston, while walking around my neighborhood.

Wednesday

Skies today will be mostly sunny, with just very light northeasterly winds. Expect high temperatures in the low-90s for most locations, with inland areas possibly hitting the mid-90s. It will be a very warm day, with plenty of humidity. Areas near the coast, such as Matagorda and Brazoria counties, may see some showers and thunderstorms develop this afternoon, but most of our area should be rain-free.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Our pattern turns slightly more unsettled toward the end of the week as a stalled boundary will open the door to increased rain chances, especially for locations south of Interstate 10. Daily rain chances for these coastal areas will be on the order of 50 percent, with slightly lesser odds inland. Showers should mostly occur with peak heating, during the afternoon hours. Overall accumulations through the weekend don’t look excessive, but areas closer to the coast could see 0.5 to 1 inch of rainfall, or a little more. The increased cloud cover will help to moderate daytime temperatures a bit, with highs expected in the range of upper 80s to lower 90s.

Next week

We’re going to really need our utilities to deliver on restoring power for everyone next week, because as high pressure likely becomes a little more dominant, we’re going to see daytime temperatures creep back upward. I’m not expecting a full-blown heat wave, but this kind of pattern typically produces highs at least in the mid-90s in the Houston area in July. That’s pretty hot to be without power.