Thanksgiving travel still looks mostly uneventful

Well, we sure didn’t start the holiday week on a bright and cheerful note, as Monday was a December or January-like gray Southeast Texas day. We will have a much brighter day today before we head into the holiday weekend with some low-impact unsettled weather to discuss post-Thanksgiving.

Today & tonight

Skies have mostly cleared out across the area, with the exception of a few spots south of I-10, as of about 5:30 AM. Expect those locations to clear out also, and we’ll have a mix of sun and just a few clouds in the area today. It will feel world’s warmer versus yesterday. Monday struggled to hit 50°, but today we should have no issues getting into the low-60s for high temperatures. Clear skies will continue tonight. Look for overnight lows to range from the low-40s northwest of Houston to the mid-40s in Houston and the upper-40s southeast of town.

Wednesday

The good news: If you’re traveling around the region on Wednesday, it should be mostly uneventful. There will be some low clouds or light rain and drizzle that materializes in the afternoon, mainly in East Texas. So just be prepared for some wet roads if traveling anywhere from Houston late. But any meaningfully significant rain will develop overnight and mainly over the open offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico or east into Louisiana.

If you’ll be traveling outside of the region on Wednesday, there shouldn’t be a ton of issues to deal with.

If you’re travelling nationally, there should not be serious issues outside of a couple spots. The Northeast will see some snow showers with breezy conditions, while a major storm will impact the West Coast. (NWS/WPC)

There will be snow showers and some gusty winds in the Northeast, so if you’re flying toward New England or the New York City airports, that could give you a delay. Atlanta and Chicago both look good Wednesday, so a couple trouble-free hubs will help matters. There will be no issues in Denver, but a storm bringing much needed rains to California may cause some issues at San Francisco or Sacramento. Overall, this is an acceptable travel day forecast.

Bringing it back locally, we’ll see clouds gradually increase during the daytime. Some light rain, drizzle, or a few showers may develop toward evening and that would continue into Wednesday night.

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Thanksgiving week forecast coming into better focus, and it’s not bad

Last week, when I looked at the forecast for Thanksgiving week, there was not a whole lot to be thankful for. We had the potential for heavy rainfall on some of the busiest travel days of the year, and overall the weather simply promised a cornucopia of “meh” conditions. I’m happy to report that the outlook for this week has brightened, and that we should see as much sunshine as showers.

On a completely unrelated note, we’re in the last week of our annual fundraiser. We’re selling t-shirts, sweatshirts, and umbrellas, as well as accepting donations to support the operation of this site. We’ve had a tremendous response so far; so thank you to everyone who has contributed.

Monday

After a cold front slogged through the Houston region on Sunday, we’re seeing a chilly morning with temperatures ranging from about 40 degrees far inland to mid-50s along the upper Texas coast. Scattered showers have developed overnight, and these rains should continue on-and-off for much of this morning as upper-level winds support the upward movement of air at the surface.

Monday will be gray, with some moderate rain chances. Accumulations aren’t a big concern. (National Weather Service)

Rains, for the most part, will be moderate, with accumulations of only a few tenths of an inch. They should end by this afternoon as this system moves from west to east. Temperatures will hang around the mid-50s today as skies will remain gray even after the rain departs to the east.

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Warmer weekend, wetter weather on the horizon

Yesterday ended up being a nice day after another cold morning. I wanted to highlight a couple superlatives from yesterday. At Bush Airport, we snuck down to 30°, once again, our coldest morning this early in the season since 1999 (11/3/1999). That’s our official tally for the date. Impressively, Hobby Airport got down to 32° on Thursday morning. It hasn’t been that cold this early in the year since 1969, when we hit 28° on November 15th!

So for the greater Houston area, it was our earliest freeze in about 20 years, though for a few parts of the area, it was likely our earliest freeze in almost 50 years!

No more freezing temperatures to discuss for a little while, but we will be discussing some more active weather once again.

Today and Saturday

Other than some passing high clouds perhaps, today looks great. Spectacular, even. We’ll warm up into the middle or upper-60s in most of the area. A few spots could push 70 degrees. We added about eight to ten degrees to morning lows today, and I expect we’ll add another six to eight degrees on Saturday morning. Most folks will sneak into the mid-to upper-40s tonight, though a few locations may neglect to drop below 50 degrees.

During the day Saturday, we should see a few clouds rolling back into the area. So we’ll call it partly to mostly sunny. We should be able to hit or exceed 70 degrees on Saturday afternoon.

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Warming up now, with concerns about Thanksgiving week weather

We’re seeing another morning of freezing, or near-freezing temperatures this morning across Houston, but the region will now emerge from the ice box to enjoy several really pleasant fall-like days. Unfortunately, by Sunday or so, our forecast for the coming holiday week turns a bit murky. We definitely have some concerns for the busiest travel days of the year.

Thursday and Friday

With high pressure in place overhead, we’ll see sunny skies, with high temperatures on Thursday near 60 degrees, and in the mid- to upper-60s on Friday night. Overnight lows will be comfortably above freezing, but still in the 40s for most of the region except for the coast.

Thursday night’s low temperatures will be cold, but not freezing. (National Weather Service)

Saturday

A very nice weekend day, with high temperatures generally in the low 70s for Houston, under partly to mostly sunny skies. After several days of northerly winds, a southerly flow will resume, bringing moisture back into the atmosphere, and setting the table for better rain chances as early as Sunday. Your dry skin, at the very least, will be happy.

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