Just jumping in with a quick update on Sunday to call attention to some potentially severe weather later today. The overall pattern is one in which low pressure over the southern Gulf of Mexico near Brownsville will move up the coast today, and into the Galveston region tonight. This low will combine with Gulf moisture, and upper-level energy, to produce a healthy chance of showers and thunderstorms later today and tonight. NOAA has placed the region under a “marginal” threat of severe weather.
Severe weather outlook for Sunday and Sunday night. (NOAA)
Effectively, this means we’ll see high temperatures in the upper 50s today, with an elevated chance of thunderstorms around sunset and overnight. The precise location of the storms will depend upon how far the low, and associated “warm front” move inland, but the biggest threat is probably damaging winds and an isolated tornado. We don’t anticipate rain accumulations above 0.5 inch or so for most people.
A strong cold front arrives in the area on Monday morning, and these gusty winds will bring drier conditions. Rain chances should diminish during the day, and skies should begin to clear by the afternoon hours or so. It will be a cold day in the 50s with the winds providing a chill, so bundle up accordingly.
We’re still looking at a cold week, with Tuesday night and Wednesday morning the coldest of the bunch. Chances of a freeze for inland area look decent, and we’ll have an estimated freeze line map for you tomorrow.
Good morning, and it’s a soggy one. This won’t herald a total washout this weekend, but it has brought autumn back to the region after a mostly summery week.
Today
Right off the bat, radar as of about 5:15 this morning shows numerous showers and embedded thunderstorms working across the region.
Radar shows a busy morning in the clouds with widespread rain and thunderstorms. (College of DuPage)
Expect off and on rain to continue all morning, gradually slowing down and becoming more infrequent this afternoon. We should dry out tonight.
The rain is actually occurring behind a cold front that has basically pushed through everywhere as of 5:15 AM.
Temperatures have fallen into the 50s almost everywhere already. They won’t get much higher than this for the rest of the day. (NWS)
Just about all of us are in the 50s now, and don’t expect it to get much warmer. We will probably drop another few degrees this morning before stabilizing this afternoon. By tonight, those temperatures will settle into the upper-40s to around 50 degrees.
It will also be breezy at times today, with a steady north wind around 15 mph, but higher along the coast and Galveston Bay where wind advisories have been hoisted.
Weekend
Saturday should be a bit of a gloomy looking day, but I don’t believe it will be a day where you need to adjust many plans. Look for a mix of clouds and a little sun. In the afternoon, there could be a few showers around. With a dry atmosphere, it would be unlikely that much of the moisture survives the trip from the clouds to the ground. I think the best chance for real showers or some rain to occur would be along the coast by later Saturday afternoon.
On Saturday night, expect a weak system to begin to organize offshore of Galveston. This will spread scattered showers and a chance of thunderstorms into Southeast Texas overnight and during the day Sunday. I don’t think Sunday will be a washout for everyone, but I do think most of us will see at least some rain. Near the coast, it could be heavy at times.
Total rainfall on Sunday and Sunday night should tally a quarter to a half-inch, with some coastal or far inland locales possibly seeing higher amounts. (NWS via Weather Bell)
All told, we should see another quarter to half-inch or so of rainfall, with isolated higher amounts likely, especially on the coast or well north and east of Houston. Temperatures will top off in the mid-50s on Saturday afternoon. They shouldn’t drop much below the upper-40s on Saturday night, and they likely won’t get past the mid-50s in most spots Sunday afternoon as well.
Hi all. You get Matt the next couple days. I just want to remind y’all about our annual fundraiser that’s underway through later this month. We have two cool t-shirt designs and umbrellas available to purchase if you’d like. The annual fundraiser helps support Eric and myself and our work keeping the site on time and online. Regardless, we appreciate your kind words and support throughout the year, and we are thrilled you choose us as a vehicle to stay informed.
On to the weather, and someone has to congratulate you for surviving the hottest November day on record in Houston. We hit 89° on Wednesday, which matches, with 9 other days, the hottest November maximum temperature on record in the city of Houston. The last time we hit 89 in November? Way back on November 6th of 2017. Almost a year to the day. The latest in November we’ve hit 89° would be on November 8th, done in back to back years of 1988 and 1989.
If you’re sick of the warm, ridiculously humid weather, we have good news. The end is pretty much here. Let’s walk through the forecast.
Today
We had quite the light show last night over parts of the Houston area.
In fact, some areas did receive over two inches of rain from the storms yesterday evening.
Total rainfall in the last 24 hours exceeded 2 inches near Tomball, The Woodlands, and in parts of northwest Houston. (Harris County FWS)
Some locally heavy rains also fell south of Houston. With the exception of a handful of remaining showers, it’s now quiet this morning. The cold front responsible for last night’s noisy storms is now sitting offshore. It’s still a bit humid, so southern parts of our area will have patchy dense fog to deal with this morning.
Otherwise, I would expect a good bit of cloud cover today, along with a chance for some lighter rain, drizzle, or showers at times. No serious weather is expected though. It will be noticeably cooler today with high temperatures probably not getting much past the low-70s in Houston. Areas south of Houston could still push mid-to upper-70s however.
Tonight & Friday
The next cold front arrives in the Houston area tonight. As it does so, expect showers and some embedded stronger thunderstorms to accompany it on its move south. The front should arrive in the far northern suburbs around midnight, give or take a couple hours, into the Houston area after 1-3 AM, and to the coast after 3-5 AM. Unlike our cold front last week, this edition will not come with a sharp, quick clearing line. In fact, the atmosphere behind tonight’s front will remain chilly, cloudy, and damp into much of Friday. Expect showers, perhaps a thunderstorm, and periods of light rain or drizzle along with a stiff north breeze during the day Friday. We should see around one to two inches of additional rainfall with this front.
Temperatures will remain mired in the 50s most of the day. Rain chances should dwindle as we get toward evening.
Note: This is a sponsored post in which I review a security system installed by Reliant.
Here’s a little secret: I have never been a big believer in home security systems. However, this has been a non-negotiable point with my wife, who turns out is a believer in home security systems. We had one installed in our first home, more than 15 years ago. It was a fairly basic system, and it seemed to make my wife happy. I paid the monthly bill and then forgot about it. Fortunately, we never needed the system to work during an emergency. Over time, I forgot the access code. My assessment of security systems never changed.
Uh-oh, it looks like we’re being invaded by Harry Potter characters.
Nearly a year ago, we moved into a new home, and because of Space City Weather’s relationship with Reliant, they invited me to test out their security system. (I paid for the installation, and received a discount for services because I am an electricity customer). As part of our Security by Reliant package, we had sensors installed on six doors, an interior camera, a doorbell camera, a motion detector, and sensors on the garage doors that allow them to be opened remotely. This was a nice package but far from “the works” I could have had installed. All of these features were non-intrusive in the sense that they blend into the house.
Reliant’s installer was friendly and helpful. Here we’re testing out the doorbell camera.
Now, I am sure that alarm systems have come a long way in the 15 years since I had one installed by another company. Nonetheless, I have been pleasantly surprised by the performance of the Security by Reliant system, and more importantly its ease of use. It is all pretty intuitive, and allowed me to turn my home into a sort-of “smart home” without investing thousands of dollars. I can do all of the important things through a single app, such as:
See who is at the front door
Let someone in the garage while I am away
Check out what’s going on inside my living room
Turn the alarm on or off
Adjust the thermostat
The Wi-Fi doorbell is especially nice, because it is easy to see who is there (whether we are home, or not) and to talk with him or her through the system.
My sister-in-law! Better pretend we’re not home 😉
I really just want three things from a security system: that it is reliable, that it provides a sense of security, and my wife is happy. (Ok, being honest, the last thing matters most). And the reality is that, at least after year one, Security by Reliant hits all three for me.
Reliant and I are teaming up to offer Space City Weather readers a special offer – if you sign up for Security by Reliant by clicking this link, or calling 1-844-443-0180 and mentioning promo code “SCW”, you’ll receive your first 2 months FREE!
