Looks like another stellar fall weekend lies ahead for Houston

We’re seeing some fog over central and southern parts of the region, but that should burn off this morning. Houston will then have four days in the 70s before cooler, and sunny weather arrives for this weekend. Yes, it looks like we’ll have another stunning, clear and crisp Saturday and Sunday for you in the Bayou City.

Tuesday

If you like sunshine, soak it up today, because most of the rest of the work week will be cloudy. But for Tuesday, we should see plenty of sunshine, with highs in the mid-70s. Partially to mostly clear skies should allow low temperatures to fall to around 60 degrees on Tuesday night. So yeah, today should be really quite nice.

Wednesday and Thursday

Humidity and cloud cover returns for the middle of the week, as onshore winds get flowing. High temperatures both days should be in the mid- to upper-70s, depending on how much (if any) sunshine peeks through the afternoon clouds. Some very light rain will be possible beginning Wednesday night into Thursday, especially to the west of Interstate 45. But accumulations will be slight. With mostly cloudy skies, expect lows to only drop into the mid-60s both nights.

NOAA rain accumulation forecast for now through Saturday. (Pivotal Weather)

Friday

Confidence is increasing in our next cold front pushing through on Friday, perhaps later in the day, or late evening hours. Forecast models aren’t overly bullish on rainfall totals, which probably will end up in the 0.25 to 0.75 inch range. Highs Friday will depend on the frontal timing, but we can probably safely expect them to top out somewhere in the mid-70s.

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Anticipating a mild week, we look ahead to Thanksgiving

Good morning. We’ll have one more night in the 50s tonight before warmer weather returns—Houston has not had a nighttime temperature in the 60s since November 5th. Cooler weather should arrive just before the weekend. Don’t forget, we’re continuing our annual fundraiser this week—so far your support has been amazing and we really appreciate it.

Monday

With calm winds and high pressure, Monday will have some very pleasant fall weather on offer. Expect highs in the low 70s, mostly sunny skies, and a mild night in the 50s. Enjoy!

Tuesday

A moderate onshore flow should begin Tuesday, and this will lead to a bit warmer, and bit more humid conditions. We can safely expect highs to climb into the mid- to upper 70s, with mostly sunny skies. Lows on Tuesday night should only fall to around 60 degrees for most of Houston, albeit warmer along the coast, and slightly cooler inland.

Some parts of Houston may approach 80 degrees on Wednesday. (Pivotal Weather)

Wednesday and Thursday

The flow from the Gulf of Mexico should increase by the middle of the week, and at some point Wednesday we should transition from mostly sunny, to partly sunny, so mostly cloudy weather. Highs on both days will reach into the upper 70s—and test my suggestion that Houston could be done with 80-degree temperatures this year. Lows by Wednesday night probably will only fall into the low to mid-60s. Some slight rain chances return for both days, but accumulations where rain does fall should be very light.

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Sunshine returns for Houston and temperatures inch upward this weekend

With clouds and rain Thursday, we managed to only hit 48° for a high temperature. That was the third consecutive day of Houston not getting above 50°. When is the last time that occurred in November? That would be November 27 to 30, 1952.

We have not had a cold snap of this length in November since 1952. (NWS Houston)

No, the winter of 1952-53 was not especially cold. Houston only saw 3 nights of freezing temperatures after that November, none colder than 27°. One of the popular questions we’ve received is whether or not this cold weather so early means a cold winter. The unsatisfying answer I have to give you is that you simply can’t draw many conclusions about the subsequent winter based on this early season cold. It is just difficult to correlate it in either direction. But by any measure, this was one of the more powerful early season cold air masses in the U.S. in some time.

Now, we can discuss warming up a bit.

Today

Skies mostly cleared out overnight, and that has allowed fog to develop in many parts of the area.

Bright colors on this satellite image indicate fog, which is scattered about as of 5:45 AM. (College of DuPage)

Fog should dissipate over the next few hours, and by mid-morning we should be seeing the sun poke back out. Look for ample sunshine the rest of the way and high temperatures sneaking up into the upper-50s this afternoon. Break out the shorts, y’all!

Weekend

With clear skies, light winds, and a relatively dry air mass tonight, we should see temperatures actually get rather chilly again.

Another cold night is expected tonight with low temperatures running about 10 to 15 degrees colder than normal. (Weather Bell)

Expect upper-30s to around 40 or so in the city of Houston. Outlying suburbs will likely dip into the mid-30s. Folks way up north toward Cleveland or Conroe or Magnolia may drop to near-freezing. On the coast, look for Galveston to bottom out in the mid-40s.

Saturday itself looks lovely with sunshine and high temperatures around 60° or so. Expect Saturday night to be clear and chilly once more. Low temperatures will be about 3 to 5 degrees warmer than tonight, however. Look for around 40 in the city, mid- to upper-40s at the coast, and upper-30s in the northern and western suburbs.

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Cold November rain today, and a big weather-space anniversary

Good morning! We’re kicking off our 2019 fundraiser today—accepting donations, and selling t-shirts, sweatshirts, and umbrellas to support this site.

Our goal with Space City Weather is to provide a place for anyone living in the greater Houston area to find sensible information about weather forecasts without hype or nonsense. We don’t always get every forecast right, but we sure try, and we’re there whenever the weather matters to Houston. The site will always be free, and your contributions are most welcome to compensate Matt and me for our time, and server expenses to keep the site lightning fast. We also have a couple of exciting plans for 2020 that you’ll be supporting.

When you go to the fundraiser site there are three choices: An umbrella, and two collections of t-shirts with the designs below. One design celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the other highlights the region’s awful September weather. Click on any of the campaigns to make your selections, or just use the donate-only button. We truly appreciate your support during this fundraiser, which will last through the end of November.

2019 fundraiser t-shirt designs.

Thursday

Speaking of space, today marks perhaps the most significant weather moment in NASA’s history. On this date in 1969, lightning struck the Saturn V rocket about 36 seconds into the flight of the second human mission to the surface of the Moon. A flight controller named John Aaron saved the mission with a command so obscure that commander Pete Conrad did not recognize it: “Flight, EECOM. Try SCE to Aux.” Read more here.

While Houston won’t see much lightning today, there should be plenty of overcast skies and mostly light to moderate rainfall as moisture pushes in from the Gulf of Mexico. We don’t have any flooding concerns, but this will be a gloomy day with highs in the upper 40s and on-and-off rain until around sunset. It will be, dare I say it, a cold November rain? This evening a reinforcing cool front should push through the region and dry out the atmosphere.

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