Well, I hope you enjoyed that weekend. Sunday, especially, offered a mix of cool, dry air, and sunshine that were just about perfect for fall. It was hard not to spend most of the day outside. The good news is that next weekend should have a similar mix of pleasant fall air and sunshine.
Monday
Clouds have returned this morning to most of the metro area, indicative of the region’s changing air flow. As a result we’ll see higher temperatures—mid-70s, mostly—and higher humidity throughout the day. Skies should remain partly to mostly cloudy. Low temperatures on Monday night will not cool down much, only falling into the mid-60s for most of the area.
Low temperatures on Tuesday morning could support the development of fog. (Pivotal Weather)
Tuesday
After several colder nights, the combination of these warmer nighttime temperatures, moisture returning from the Gulf of Mexico, and light winds will probably lead to the development of some widespread fog on Tuesday morning. A weak front will move into Houston, and perhaps stall near the coast, on Tuesday. This is unlikely to have much of an effect, but may generate a low chance of showers, perhaps 10 or 20 percent around I-10 or points south. For the most part this should be a partly to mostly cloudy day, with highs in the 70s.
Wednesday
This should be a partly to mostly sunny day, with highs in the 70s.
Houston hit 57° officially on Halloween, a couple degrees warmer than expected, which allowed us to experience the fourth coldest Halloween maximum temperature since official records began in Houston in 1889. It was the coldest Halloween since we also hit 57° back in 1993, which featured the all-time October low temperature of 29° too.
A few other superlatives across Texas from yesterday:
Amarillo was 14° on Thursday, the second coldest October temperature on record (back to 1892).
Lubbock hit 16° on Thursday, their coldest October morning on record (back to 1913).
Midland hit 16° on Thursday, their coldest October morning on record (back to 1930).
Abilene hit 20° on Thursday, their coldest October morning on record (back to 1885).
Dallas hit 30°, their 9th earliest freeze on record.
By any measure, this is not just an early season cold air mass, this is one of the earliest wintry air masses in Texas in recent years.
Houston is close to a record low this morning, but as of 6 AM, we’re just a couple ticks short.
Temperatures this morning (as of 5:30) are in the 30s almost everywhere away from the coast and middle of the city. There were quite a few pockets of subfreezing temperatures too. (NOAA)
As I write this, Houston officially sits at 37°, our coldest temperature since at least April 2nd. We will see if we can shave another degree or two off of that reading for the official low temperature and have our coldest morning since early March. The record low this morning is 35°, set back in 1993. The coldest readings in the metro area this morning seem to be right along Spring Creek to the north, with several sites reporting 31° as of 5:30 AM. Elsewhere, Conroe is down to 30°, Navasota has hit 29°, and Huntsville shows 28° so far. Pretty chilly!
Rest of today
The rest of Friday looks great. Sunshine will dominate, with nothing more than a few high clouds and temperatures will quickly warm up through the 40s and into the 50s. Most of the area should top out around 60 degrees or a little above that with much lighter winds than yesterday.
Weekend
Both Saturday and Sunday should see mainly sunny skies. There could be a period or two of some higher clouds at times, blemishing the otherwise blue sky. But that’s about as bad as it would get. Morning lows on Saturday should still be cold, but they will end up a good bit milder than this morning, bottoming out in the low- to mid-40s.
Instead of widespread 30s, Saturday morning should feature widespread lower and middle 40s across the region. (NWS forecast via Weather Bell)
A secondary cool front is going to push through on Saturday morning, which will just serve to reinforce the cool, dry air already over the area. Look for Saturday afternoon to still top off in the mid-60s. Sunday’s morning low and daytime high should be very similar to Saturday.
The rains are over for now, but the cold weather is just beginning. Cold air pushing into the Houston region on Thursday will be amplified by gusty winds, especially along the coast. Already this morning, Galveston has recorded a gust of 46mph, while inland areas are generally seeing gusts in the 20s. In terms of temperatures, much of Houston could see record lows on Thursday night.
Thursday
As a deep layer of cold, dry air moves into Houston this morning we are already seeing clearing skies across the region. But despite ample sunshine, high temperatures Thursday will only get into the low- to mid-50s. As a result, this will probably be the coldest Halloween day since 1925. Winds should begin to die down late this afternoon or early evening, about the time when the sun goes down. Temperatures during trick-or-treating, will likely fall into the upper 40s, on their way down to the mid-30s overnight for much of the area. Will it freeze in Houston? Probably not as our relatively wet grounds should help moderate our temperatures just a bit. But it will be pretty close.
Forecast low temperatures for Friday morning. (National Weather Service)
Friday
After a cold and frosty start—Houston’s record low for this date is 35 degrees, and we may tie or beat that—sunshine will help push Friday’s highs up to around 60 degrees. The absence of winds should help this feel quite a bit warmer than Thursday. Low temperatures Friday night, too, should be 5 to 10 degrees warmer than Thursday night.
Good morning. A cold front is moving into the western part of Houston this morning, and should push through most of the city this afternoon. The two issues related to the front are rainfall today and tonight, and then very cold air moving in behind the front to end this week.
Wednesday
High temperatures today ahead of the front should reach about 70 degrees for most. This morning a very narrow wedge of cooler air at the surface will push into Houston, and this will filter through the region. For the most part, rain showers during the daytime hours appear likely to be fast moving, and relatively brief—right now we do not anticipate the very heavy, organized rain we saw Tuesday in locations such as Tomball and The Woodlands. However, since that rainfall was not well forecast I do not have particularly high confidence in rain forecasts for the next 24 hours.
Temperature forecast for 5pm Wednesday. (Weather Bell)
Wednesday night
The rest of the front, meaning a much deeper mass of colder air from higher up in the atmosphere, will push through Houston tonight, and this will drive the potential for some heavier rain, most likely between about 10pm Wednesday and 6am Thursday, moving from inland areas toward the coast. Again, these showers shouldn’t last too long, but some areas may have the potential for 1-3 inches. (Most of Houston will likely see less than 1 inch of rain). Temperatures Wednesday night will get down to around 40 degrees for most locations.
