22Jan

Houston pattern for the next week: rain then sun, rain then sun

Posted by Eric Berger at 7:04 AM

The combination of increasing atmospheric moisture levels and rising air will create healthy conditions for rainfall today, and the potential for a bit of heavy rainfall later Wednesday evening and during the overnight hours. After this, a front will push through to return sunny conditions for awhile, but alas not through the entire weekend.

Wednesday

Light rain has begun moving into the Houston area from west to east, and a pattern of intermittent mostly light rain should hold for the daytime hours. Due to persistent cloud cover, high temperatures today will likely remain in the upper 50s. The potential for heavier rainfall will increase after sunset tonight, through about 3 or 4am CT on Thursday. Most of the region will likely see about 1 to 1.5 inches of rain, cumulatively, but there could be some areas with 2 inches or more of rainfall. We’re not expecting any real problems from this, just a soggy day and night. Lows Wednesday night won’t fall more than a degree or two most likely due to thick, insulating clouds.

Rain accumulation forecast for now through Thursday. (Pivotal Weather)

Thursday

As the rains move out, sunshine will move in on Thursday morning, followed by a front reaching the area by around noon. The afternoon should be nice and sunny, with highs in the upper 60s. Low temperatures on Thursday night should fall into the 40s, under clear skies, for most of the region except for the immediate coast.

Reliant returns to sponsor Space City Weather for 2020

Posted by Eric Berger at 10:00 AM

Amazingly, Space City Weather will turn five years old in October of this year. Long-time readers may remember that in the very beginning we ran a few advertisements, but they slowed down the site, offered content we could not control, and really generated very little revenue. In early 2017, we moved to a monthly sponsorship model, and in June of that year Reliant stepped in. They were a great partner in terms of message—reliability is in their name after all—and a well-known Houston brand. They have been with us ever since.

So we are thrilled to announce today that Reliant will again support the site for all of 2020. The company, and its president Elizabeth Killinger, believe strongly in the value we bring to to the Houston community, and want to continue supporting our efforts.

For our readers, this means we will continue to have no outside advertising on the site. None. No auto-play videos. No pop-ups. Just a clean interface with a message from our sponsor. This should make for lightning fast load times. Perhaps most importantly, it means we do not have to generate clicks for the sake of traffic. That’s right, no clickbait. Instead, Matt and I will strive to provide you with the most reliable forecasts we can.

From providing us with outstanding T-shirt designs for our annual fundraiser and hosting a generous giveaway of two AC systems, to keeping you informed when record breaking heat takes over the state, Reliant’s support of our site extends to our readers.

Also, because of Reliant’s ongoing commitment, we are able to invest in the site. This year, you can expect us to roll out a new daily newsletter and a site redesign. (We do look a little dated). The newsletter feature will provide full updates—no need to click through to the site—in a stylish format. Look for this in the first quarter of the year. We’re excited to bring it to you.

Finally, let me say a word about Reliant. They sponsor Space City Weather to show their support for what we’re doing, and because we all need electricity, they share helpful messages from time to time. This year, Reliant is empowering Texans to power your way with “Pick Your Free,” a new experience that personalizes power by helping customers find an electricity plan that is right for them.

Regardless of how you use and manage your energy, whether you like to monitor it regularly or set it and forget it, Reliant has you covered with plans that work for every lifestyle. For example, the new Reliant Truly Free 7 Days plan provides free electricity for the seven highest usage days in a monthly billing cycle, but there’s also the Reliant Truly Free Weekends or Reliant Truly Free Nights – all of which are actually free during the designated time period and come with a free Google Nest Hub. You can compare them here to see if any of these deals work for your household needs.

Thanks again to Reliant, and we’re looking forward to another great year of them powering Space City Weather!

21Jan

After chilly start today, focus turns to mid-week rainfall

Posted by Eric Berger at 7:02 AM

Good morning. Northern areas of Houston are seeing a light freeze this morning, but for the most part regional temperatures have remained in the mid- to upper-30s. We’re going to have one more sunny day before the clouds and potentially some heavy rain returns Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning.

Tuesday

Winds are calm this morning, but will shift to come from the east this morning, and this should help begin the process of returning some clouds and moisture to our skies. Still, today should be partly to mostly sunny, with highs in the upper 50s. By this evening, and during the overnight hours, expect mostly cloudy skies to build over the area, as lows generally fall into the 40s for most of Houston.

NOAA rainfall forecast for now through Thursday. (Pivotal Weather)

Wednesday through Thursday morning

Wednesday will start out mostly cloudy, and high temperatures will climb to about 60 degrees. However, during the day the upper atmosphere will gradually become more disturbed as an upper-level storm system approaches our area and a segment of the jet stream accelerates—with the net effect of forcing air at the surface to rise. This, combined with increasing moisture levels, will lead to a chance of moderate-to-heavy rainfall Wednesday evening through about sunrise on Thursday. Most of the area will likely see 1 to 2 inches of rainfall, which is manageable, but we’re concerned about Matagorda and Southern Brazoria counties which are already sodden from rainfall associated with Saturday’s front. There is a risk that some areas, especially near the coast, receive upwards of 2 to 3 inches with this system.

A pair of cool days before a wet Wednesday in Houston

Posted by Eric Berger at 6:48 AM

The forecast for this week is fairly straightforward. We’ll see a pair of cool and sunny days to start out, followed by widespread rain showers on Wednesday, before a cool and sunny weekend. As the region has has a relatively dry winter, the mid-week rainfall should help with the abnormally dry conditions for much of the Houston region—Galveston, Chambers, and Orange counties excepted.

MLK Day

It is clear and cold this morning, with freezing conditions on the far northern reaches of the Houston metro area, in places such as Huntsville, and lows of about 40 degrees in the city itself. With light northerly winds today, continued cold air advection will offset a mostly sunny day, and keep high temperatures at about 60 degrees. Low temperatures tonight will likely be a few degrees colder than Sunday night due to very light winds. This should allow for a more widespread, light freeze over areas such as Montgomery County.

Monday night low temperatures. (Pivotal Weather)

Tuesday

Another sunny, cool day with highs of around 60 degrees. By the late morning or afternoon, winds should shift around to come from the east, and along with building cloud cover this should help to moderate overnight temperatures, keeping them in the 40s for most of the region.