Galaxy Lights offers a new holiday attraction for Houston

Note: This is a sponsored post written and published in conjunction with our relationship with Reliant.

This holiday season there’s a new lighting attraction in Houston, and it has a space theme. With a background in astronomy and a professional interest in aerospace, I was intrigued to check it out. For the first time, Space Center Houston has debuted an indoor and outdoor light show to celebrate both space exploration and the holiday season. It’s called Galaxy Lights, presented by Reliant.

I had a chance to visit the display earlier this month, which is running from 6pm to 10pm daily through January 5, and I enjoyed the experience. There are three main elements absolutely worth checking out during your visit. The first comes inside the space center’s main hall, where a high-tech kinetic light show dances overhead, with dozens of lights moving in choreographed sequences. This was pretty cool, and something I’d never seen before.

A view of the kinetic light show at Space Center Houston.

From there, it was off to the trams, to ride through a tunnel of lights underneath Saturn Lane—all told there are 250,000 lights along the way—to reach the large building where the titanic Saturn V rocket is housed. This large building is bedecked with lights. Once at Rocket Park, you walk through an outdoor display of lighted structures, including a 35-foot tall shooting star, shimmering planets, and more space-related light displays.

From Rocket Park, one can enter the building itself, to see the Saturn V booster lit up with some impressive 3D projection mapping. A short video story about “Commander Quest” is projected onto the rocket. There was more to see back in the museum, too, including the original film “Holidays in Space,” which includes footage of astronauts celebrating the holidays in space.

For families and adults, Galaxy Lights is a welcome new addition to the region’s holiday lighting scene. A full tour takes about two hours. The public price is $19.95 for admission, but on Reliant Wednesdays now until Christmas you can bring a new, unwrapped toy for the KHOU Toy Drive benefiting The Salvation Army of Greater Houston and receive $5 off general admission to Galaxy Lights.

Houston’s weather this week—boring, and beautiful

Houston’s forecast remains on track, with more or less mild, seasonal weather ahead. There will be some absolutely gorgeous days this week. Speaking of wonderful things—Matt and I want to thank our dear readers for generously contributing to our annual fundraiser, which ended on Sunday. We had more support than ever before, and are already planning some exciting initiatives for early 2020.

Tuesday

It’s a chilly morning, with lows down around 40 degrees for most of the region. However, winds out of the north died on Monday evening, and today they will slide around to come from the east, and then the southwest. This will allow high temperatures to nudge up to around 70 degrees. With mostly sunny skies it should make for an absolutely gorgeous day. Low temperatures on Tuesday night should be about 10 degrees warmer than Monday night.

Low temperatures on Tuesday night will be mild. (Pivotal Weather)

Wednesday

A weak front will push into Houston on Wednesday, keeping the region’s air dry, and making for another lovely day with highs of around 70 degrees and mostly sunny skies. Low temperatures on Wednesday night should fall somewhere in the 50s for most.

Thursday

After this weak front washes out, Thursday should see the return of the onshore flow, and this—finally, after four solidly sunny days—should see at least a few clouds develop in the sky. Highs will likely warm into the mid-70s, with a moderately warmer night and lows down around 60 degrees.

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Pleasant, mild weather on tap for most of this week in Houston

November ended on a warm note, with 11 of its last 13 days seeing warmer than normal daytime temperatures. Despite the month’s very cold start, therefore, overall November ended with an average temperature just 2.3 degrees below normal. In terms of rainfall, most regions only got about one-quarter to one-half of normal rainfall, and seasonal forecasts suggest this winter will be bit a drier than usual over the next three months.

Monday

Temperatures this morning are chilly, ranging from the upper 30s north of Houston to about 50 degrees in Galveston. (Please note: This is not hell freezing over because the Texans beat the Patriots on Sunday night—welcome to the new normal with Deshaun Watson and Deandre Hopkins). Like on the aptly named Sunday, the region will see full sunshine today, and we’ll remain on the chilly side in the low 60s as high pressure over the region allows for the continued flow of cooler air from the north. Low temperatures tonight likely will fall into the 30s for areas north and west of Houston, and down to about 40 in the city itself.

Expect cold conditions in Houston on Monday night. (Pivotal Weather)

Tuesday

Mild and benign weather continues as winds slowly begin to ease from the north, and transition to the south during the day. Expect highs of around 70 degrees with mostly sunny skies. But before the onshore flow can get too worked up this week, a modest cool front should push through on Tuesday night. We don’t expect any shenanigans with this front, as our atmosphere should remain pretty dry, so rain chances are minimal. Lows will get down to around 50.

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Houston’s super sticky weather will end on Saturday night

Good morning. Our annual fundraiser ends this weekend—so this is the last time we’ll be bringing it up. You can help keep the site running smoothly by donating, purchasing a t-shirt, or an umbrella. (I love seeing these around town!) Every year Matt and I are deeply humbled by the tremendous support of our readers. Thank you very, very much.

Friday

If you’re thinking it feels sticky this morning, you’ve got that right. Lows this morning—generally in the low 70s—are about 5 degrees warmer than typical high temperatures for late November. Overall, conditions for Friday will continue a warming trend we saw on Thanksgiving, with highs near 80 degrees despite the thick cloud cover. Spotty, very light showers will be possible. Low temperatures Friday night will again struggle to fall below 70.

Saturday

More of the same. High temperatures on Saturday should again reach about 80 degrees, with sticky humidity levels and mostly cloudy skies. Very light showers will again be possible, with a slight chance of thunderstorms Saturday evening and night as a cold front approaches the region. The (broken?) line of showers should push through the region between roughly 6pm and midnight on Saturday. The best dynamics for storms should remain well to the north and northeast of the metro area, so I’m anticipating mostly light rain for Houston itself. Drier and cooler air follows later Saturday night.

NOAA severe weather outlook for Saturday and Saturday night.

Sunday

This should be a splendid day in the wake of the front, with morning lows in the 50s, and highs in the 60s under sunny skies. Winds should not be too bad, perhaps only 5 to 10mph out of the north.

Next week

Clear conditions should hold on through Wednesday or so, with highs rising from the 60s to the low 70s. Overnight temperatures will bottom out on Sunday and Monday nights, with lows generally in the 40s for Houston.

Overall, there’s not strong trend heading into next weekend, but we do not foresee any kind of heavy rain or storms—nor a return to these really sticky conditions the region is experiencing at present.

Have a great holiday weekend and we’ll see you on Monday.