An odd week of lower June humidity ahead for Houston

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year for Houston thus far, as IAH Airport officially checked in at 97°, besting the previous high for 2019 of 96° one week ago. The good news? We are done with that kind of heat for a little while. And we will also lose a good bit of our humidity this week too.

Today

Our somewhat rare June cold front has pushed through the region, and it will continue to progress south through the day today.

A cool front will push most of the way south across Texas today, allowing the early summer heat to loosen its grip on the state. (NOAA)

Offshore winds have arrived, and they will help lower the temps and humidity today just a bit. Expect highs in the low-90s this afternoon, a good bit cooler than we experienced yesterday. An isolated shower could crop up, especially south and west of Houston, but I think most areas will be dry with a mix of clouds and sun.

Tomorrow and Wednesday

Both days should see mostly sunny skies. I’m not going to say that Tuesday will feel delightful, but it’s not going to feel like high summer, that’s for sure. Expect tolerable humidity, with dewpoints in the 50s possible through the day. If you missed it on Friday, dewpoints in the 50s have only occurred during 0.8% of June hours since 2010. So this is a bit of a rare event. Temperatures will hover in the upper-80s Tuesday afternoon as well. It’s not often Houston fails to hit 90 in summer with sunshine. We will add back a couple degrees on Wednesday, back up around 90° or in the low-90s in the afternoon. Humidity should remain tolerable.

Morning lows will probably be in the 70s again Tuesday morning. But there is a chance that a lot of locations outside the city and away from the coast will dip well into the 60s Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Morning joggers, take note!

The NWS is currently forecasting lows in the 60s in much of the area for Wednesday morning! (NWS via Weather Bell)

As far as rain chances go, there should be at least a few showers around, primarily on Wednesday. The highest rain chances will be to the south and west of Houston, closer to Matagorda and Victoria.

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Hot weekend, but yes, we’re eyeing a rare June cold front next week

Last night saw some wild storms in parts of the area, especially southeast, south, and west of Houston. The storms did cause some damage, primarily west of Houston.

You can click here for a rundown of storm reports. The real show for many of us came after the storms, with a true spectacle of light, color, and clouds.

Today

My feeling is that the bulk of today will be calmer than what we have seen in the back half of this week. Yes, showers and thunderstorms may develop this afternoon once again. We would favor the highest rain chances today south and east of Houston, along the sea breeze as it moves in from the Gulf. So if you’ll be on the beach today, just be aware. Otherwise, it should be partly to mostly sunny today with a good deal of heat and humidity. Look for us to get into the low-90s on average with a few mid-90s possible.

Weekend

This weekend is going to feature legitimate summer heat. Expect both days to have plenty of sunshine. We should hit the mid-90s on Saturday and the upper-90s on Sunday. The humidity will make it feel like 100-105° at times tomorrow and probably just shy of 110° on Sunday.

Heat index values will push or exceed 105° at times this weekend. This map is for 4 PM Sunday. (NWS via Weather Bell)

This would be especially true near the bays and coast after the sea breeze moves through, raising humidity levels. Regardless, you’ll want to take it easy this weekend if outdoors. Drink plenty of water, and try to be in air conditioning if possible during the peak heating of the late afternoon and early evening. Our nighttimes will also be warm & muggy, with low temperatures generally in the mid- to upper-70s and around 80° near the coast.

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Heavy storms approaching Houston this evening

The National Weather Service has issued several watches and warnings for this afternoon and early evening as a fairly intense line of showers and thunderstorms is moving toward the Houston metro area from the west. These storms are capable of producing damaging wind gusts up to 60mph, and quarter-size hail.

Radar at 5:45pm CT Thursday. (kktv.com)

The severe weather has the potential to impact the entire metro area through around 8pm, but may linger across areas south of Interstate 10 until around midnight. The good news is they are moving rapidly from west to east, so individual storms should hopefully transition through the area quickly enough to avoid significant flooding problems.

Even so, it won’t be fun to be caught out in the storms, so please be weather-aware throughout this evening.

Storms possible again this evening, weekend still looks hot and sunny

Good morning. We have a couple of more days with the potential for storms across Houston, but we’re not expecting anything like the widespread, long-duration showers and thunderstorms we experienced on Wednesday. This weekend still looks quite hot and sunny, especially Sunday.

Thursday

A line of storms has fired up early this morning, but it is weakening as it moves toward the Houston metro area. Unfortunately, however, these thunderstorms could bring another quick 0.5-1 inch of rain to hard hit parts of southern Fort Bend, Matagorda, and Wharton counties. After these morning showers, the region should see a break until later this afternoon or early evening. By this point another line of storms moving out of central Texas should approach the Houston area.

NOAA severe storm outlook for Thuesday.

These storms may (hopefully) weaken again as they approach Houston, and NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has highlighted an area well to the southwest of Houston as seeing an “enhanced” chance of storms. Even so, in Houston we’ll need to be on the lookout for potentially severe thunderstorms late this afternoon and into the evening hours—right around the evening commute. The biggest threat will be damaging winds and possibly some hail. Since the storms will move through fairly quickly, we don’t anticipate any significant flooding, despite our sodden soils. Highs today will be in the low 90s.

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