The last of the rain showers associated with Monday night’s cold front are pushing through the coastal areas, and drier air is flowing into the region from the northwest. After days and days and days of mostly cloudy conditions, Houston should now see a nice stretch of mostly sunny and dry weather.

Tuesday

Areas well inland, near Conroe and College Station, are already seeing clear skies this morning, and this general trend will move into Houston and the coastal areas later this morning with the influx of drier air. The clearing skies should allow highs today to get into the mid- or upper-60s. The primary concern will be winds, which could gust up to about 20mph as the front pushes in. Temperatures tonight will drop down to near 40 degrees in the city, with cooler conditions further inland, and a bit warmer near the coast.

Wednesday

A beautiful, mostly sunny day with highs in the mid-60s. As a more southerly flow returns later in the day we can expect more moderate nighttime temperatures about 10 degrees warmer than Tuesday night.

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The first 10 days of February have been mostly cloudy, with intermittent light rain showers. Monday will be no different, but after a cold front sweeps through Houston tonight, we should finally have a stretch of drier weather, with several days of partly to mostly sunny skies. The coming weekend, for a change, also looks quite nice in terms of temperatures and sunshine.

Monday

In advance of the front, muggy and warm air is holding sway, and because of this we’re again seeing some areas of fog where this warmer air is moving over cooler waters. Skies again today will be cloudy, with scattered, light showers during the daytime. Rain chances improve later this afternoon and during the evening hours, as low pressure ahead of the cold front moves into Houston. Accumulations likely will be highest near the coast, where there is the most moisture to work with, and as much as 0.5 to 1.0 inch of rain could fall. Severe weather is unlikely with the frontal passage.

Tuesday and Wednesday

This time, the front will be deep enough to scour clouds from the region. Tuesday, and at least part of Wednesday, should see partly to mostly sunny skies. These will be fine winter days, with highs in the low- to mid-60s. Tuesday night will be cool, perhaps getting down to around 40 in Houston, but by Wednesday night things will be warming up as the onshore flow resumes.

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February is not Houston’s prettiest month, at least not recently. In February of 2018, 82% of all observations at Bush Airport reported some degree of overcast skies. “Overcast skies” in this case would be defined as any observation reporting “OVC” for the cloud deck. That could be anything from a high, thin overcast with some sun peaking through to low, gray clouds or fog. Either way, some sort of grayness to the sky.

So far in February of 2019, we’re averaging 85% of observations featuring overcast conditions. Typically in February, Houston averages about 45% of observations with overcast skies. Basically, with the exception of the time right around sunset, it’s been gloomy so far this month for the second year in a row. And this weekend will not help that cause.

Today

Winter is back in force today. How far has the temperature fallen since this same time yesterday morning?

In Houston, we are running about 35 degrees colder than at this same time yesterday morning, starting today in the upper-30s or low-40s. Changes are a little greater north and a little less so south. Temperatures won’t move much today. Expect highs in the low-40s at best with a bit of a gusty north wind continuing.

Cloud cover will dominate today, with perhaps a few sunny breaks if we are lucky. In addition, we could see some sprinkles or light rain, especially along the immediate coast, as well as north of the Houston area, up toward Conroe or Huntsville. Up north, any of that light rain could mix with or even fall as ice pellets (sleet). It would be conversational, not impactful, but a good reminder of where we sit on the calendar.

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The region’s anomalous warmth continued on Wednesday, as the city set a record high temperature of 82 degrees for February 6, breaking the mark of 81 degrees set in 2017. This also marked the first time Houston recorded a daytime temperature of 80 degrees or warmer this year. Lows this morning have only dropped down to around 70 degrees—more typical of late May or early June than this time of year—but this mid-winter warm spell will finally end today as a cold front sweeps through the area.

Thursday

Patchy fog has developed near the coast this morning, but for the most part coverage is thin inland due to some moderate surface winds mixing things up. The front should reach areas northwest of the region this morning, push through the city itself around noon-ish, and move off the coast this afternoon. In terms of rainfall, we’re still looking 1 to 3 tenths of an inch of rain, with the potential for some thunderstorms near the frontal passage. It’s probably not a bad idea to send your kids to school with a sweater for this afternoon, but temperatures aren’t really going to start falling until around sunset. Winds will gust this evening at or above 20mph, and lows Thursday night will drop into the low 40s, generally.

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