On Sunday, the high temperature at Bush Intercontinental Airport reached 91 degrees. This came to within one degree of the all-time record for Oct. 14, set in 2015. We can consider this the last hurrah of summer for 2018, as fall will more fully assert control this week, and seems unlikely to relinquish its grip completely in the weeks ahead. I can confidently predict that we will see no more 90-degree temperatures this year given the overall cooler outlook for the next two weeks. (The latest 90-degree day on record in Houston came on Oct. 29, 1991).

Monday

Today, our weather will make a dramatic shift from summer into serious fall-like conditions. By 7am a cold front had already pushed through northern areas such as Huntsville and Conroe, and should move off the coast by around noon today. What will follow can probably be best described as Seattle-like conditions, as temperatures fall from the mid-70s this morning across the region into the 60s this afternoon, and 50s tonight.

This will not be a classic blue-norther front, as the cold air mass is rather shallow, and this will allow plenty of clouds to form a few thousand feet up in the atmosphere, and this essentially means that we’ll have on-and-off rain showers later Monday, Monday night, and Tuesday.

Tuesday

Houston’s last high temperature of 60 degrees, or below, came back on April 8 when a strong cold front hit the region. A portion of the region may not reach 60 on Tuesday, as clouds blanket the region with intermittent rainfall.

We may see some brief, localized heavy showers but for the most part rain amounts will be completely manageable. Conditions will be dreary out. Fireplaces may be needed inside. Dare I say it will feel almost winter-like out there?

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Temperatures have fallen nicely this morning, generally into the upper 50s and low 60s for inland areas, and mid- to upper-60s closer to the coast. A pre-sunrise step outside felt entirely refreshing after our five months of summer, and truth be told we have even cooler weather on the way. A front that should reach the metro area is already bringing snow to the Texas Panhandle. It won’t get that cold here, of course.

Friday

I hope you enjoyed Thursday, because we’ve got a similar day on tap for Friday, with splendiferous highs in the low 80s, mostly sunny skies, and relatively low humidity. Alas, dewpoints will be on the rise later today as the onshore flow returns, and we’ll be looking at temperatures about 5 degrees warmer tonight, with a corresponding rise in humidity overnight. Our first taste of fall may have been fleeting this year, but we’ll have more of a feast in a few days.

Saturday

This should be a reasonably nice day, with high temperatures in the mid-80s and partly sunny skies. Southerly winds will continue, kicking up humidity levels. We can’t rule out some scattered showers later in the day.

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The temperature at Bush Intercontinental Airport fell to 64 degrees this morning, which semi-officially means that “fall” has arrived in Houston. According to our records, this is the second-latest date on which a 65-degree or cooler night has come to Houston in the months of September or October. The only later date came back in 1904, on October 13th.

Despite the long wait, we can now look ahead to very fine weather in the coming days, so let’s get right to it.

Thursday and Friday

Hello, fall. We’ll have two sunny days, with high temperatures around 80 degrees. Thursday night into Friday morning should actually be a couple of degrees cooler than this morning, but Friday night will be a smidge warmer as we begin to feel the rumblings of the onshore flow.

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