Happy New Year to you! So it rained a bit yesterday. Most areas received a quarter-inch to half-inch of rain, and just a few higher amounts to the north and along the coast.

We could certainly use some rain, and while the totals were fairly low overall, the pace of mostly steady light to moderate rain and just some occasional embedded downpours was helpful. We will now return to pleasant weather for the weekend.

Today & tonight

First, some fog. Use caution this morning, as fog has developed in parts of the area, restricting visibility. Look for any fog to lift by late morning, leaving us with partly to mostly sunny conditions. We should top off in the mid-60s or a touch warmer today. It will be a chilly night tonight with mainly clear conditions. We should drop into the low- to mid-40s in the city and around 40° in outlying areas.

Weekend

Saturday should be gorgeous. Expect sunshine and mid-60s once more. We will cool back into the 40s or low-50s Saturday night under continued clear skies. Sunday looks mainly sunny again. It will be warmer, with highs approaching or exceeding 70° in most spots. Winds should be light Sunday, but if you’ll be out on the bay Friday night or Saturday morning, it will be breezy with offshore wind gusts approaching 25 mph or so.

Monday

Onshore flow will be with us Monday, helping temperatures to warm from the 50s into the 70s in most places. We will see a few more clouds on Monday as well, so call it partly sunny.

Tuesday and beyond

Our next cold front is penciled in for Tuesday morning. As of right now, the front does not appear to have too much going for it as it passes through Southeast Texas, so while a brief passing shower will be possible, I think most places will stay dry.

Behind the front, it will turn breezy and cooler. Expect morning lows Tuesday around 50° or so, depending on the exact timing of the front. We will clear out quickly behind it, and warm into the low-60s. Temperatures will stay chilly behind the front for Wednesday, with morning lows in the 40s, if not some 30s in spots. We should warm back up through the 60s, perhaps into the 70s again toward next weekend, as onshore flow takes hold.

The details beyond next Wednesday are fuzzy, but I would expect us to be discussing some more rain chances, fog, and the potential for another cold front by next weekend or so. There are some questions surrounding that, but forecasts for the day 6 through 10 timeframe suggest above normal rainfall.

We will dive more into that topic in Monday’s conversation. More for you then. Enjoy the beautiful weekend!

Good morning, and welcome to 2020! Light rain has fallen across the region overnight, and with lows only in the mid-50s to lower-60s across the region this morning fog has developed near and along the coast. This should burn off later this morning. Overall, our forecast remains the same, with additional light-to-moderate rain possible today, and then clearing skies for a beautiful weekend.

Thursday

Rains have temporarily stalled this morning, but we expect an additional round of showers this afternoon into the early evening as an upper-level system moves across the area. Accumulations for today will likely be below one-half inch of rain. Rain or not, this will be a gray day, with highs in the mid-60s. Rains should end for most of us Thursday night.

Friday

Lows Friday morning will only bottom out in the mid-50s, and with light winds this should again provide favorable conditions for the development of fog. This soupy weather should end by around midday as a cool front pushes through Houston from west-to-east, bringing somewhat drier air and helping to clear out our skies. Highs Friday should be in the mid-60s, with overnight lows falling into the 40s.

Saturday and Sunday

As mentioned, this weekend will be a winner. Whether your plans include tailgating for the Houston Texans game or yard work or whatever, we’re going to enjoy sunny skies with highs in the mid-60s on Saturday, and sunshine and highs of around 70 on Sunday. Depending on your distance from the coast, lows will either be in the 40s or 50s.

Next week

Just as things begin to warm up on Sunday another moderate cool front will push into the region, likely around Monday morning-ish. This should help keep high temperatures in the 60s through Wednesday of next week, with overnight lows generally in the 40s. Oh, and there will be plenty of sunshine. Our next best chance of rainfall after today probably will not come until next Thursday or Friday—so yeah prepare for some very fine weather indeed.

Good morning—we hope everyone is preparing for a fun and safe celebration tonight. Mother Nature will be ready to do its part, bringing a dry and temperate evening to the festivities. Space City Weather will return to normal business on Thursday, so in the meantime please accept our wishes for a Happy New Year!

Tuesday

The last day of 2019 should be fine, with partly to mostly sunny skies through most of the daytime hours. We can probably expect a high temperature of about 60 degrees with very light winds. Some clouds will move in during the afternoon and evening hours, and temperatures during the run-up to midnight should be in the low 50s. Winds will remain light.

New Year’s Day

Whereas we once expected New Year’s Day to be a soggy affair, the better rain chances have now slipped into Wednesday night and Thursday. Therefore, we expect most of the daytime hours of New Year’s Day to be gray, but without too much, if any precipitation. Highs will reach about 60 degrees, or a little above, for most of the region. Rain chances increase during the evening and overnight hours as low pressure moves up the coast.

Thursday

Forecast models have been waffling on how best to handle the precipitation resulting from the low as it moves up the coast, through Houston, and into Louisiana. Right now the stronger thunderstorms and greatest amount of rainfall should remain off the Texas coast, and into Louisiana. But the Houston area could still see 0.5 to 2.0 inches of rain from Wednesday evening through Thursday evening, with even a bit more along the coast. As the low pressure system moves off to the east, a cold front will slide in behind it, bringing an end to rain chances by Thursday afternoon or evening.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

After a gray, and then wet start to 2020, the region should see several days of sunshine and pleasant weather with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. Enjoy!

Sunday’s rainfall almost certainly marked the last significant precipitation of 2019 for the greater Houston area. The region experienced some extreme rainfall, punctuated by Tropical Storm Imelda in September. But overall, Houston came in near normal with annual rainfall—receiving a total of 51.93 inches at Bush Intercontinental Airport (the region averages just north of 48 inches per year). The wettest year on record came in 2017, driven by Hurricane Harvey, with 79.69 inches. Here’s the climate graphic, with Houston’s rainfall totals on the bottom:

The story is considerably more interesting to the east of Houston, in Beaumont, which bore the brunt of Imelda. That region, based upon its official monitoring station at Jack Brooks Regional Airport, has recorded 85.46 inches of rain in 2019. But this ranks only third in annual totals, behind 2017 (104.30 inches) and 2018 (88.75 inches), based on 117 years of data.

It seems pretty staggering that Beaumont’s three wettest years all occurred within the last years. It is difficult not to believe some kind of climate signal must exist in this data, but I will leave that analysis to actual scientists. Needless to say, this has been the wettest three-year period in the recorded history of Beaumont. Here’s hoping to more normal weather in the years ahead.

Now, on to the forecast.

Monday

Not much to say about today’s weather, which will be splendid in the wake of Sunday’s cool front. Look for sunny skies, with highs in the low 60s, and light northwesterly winds. Overnight lows will get down into the low 40s in the city of Houston—warmer to the north, cooler along the coast.

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