Sorry for the delayed post this morning, but sometimes things happen. Fortunately, the forecast has not changed too much, with the potential for showers and thunderstorms both Friday and Saturday before a decreasing chance of rain Sunday, and drier conditions early next week.

Friday

Expect a stormy summer day. Most of the ingredients needed for rainfall will come together early this afternoon, with ample moisture, lift, and instability across the region. Some of these storms could produce locally heavy rainfall, and we can’t rule out some street flooding. However, I expect that most areas that do see rain will probably see about one-half inch. Highs will probably be in the low 90s, but local conditions will vary on the amount of cloud cover and rainfall. Rain chances retreat, but do not go entirely away, tonight.

Saturday

We expect to see similar conditions on Saturday, with moisture and atmospheric lift driving another round of (probably) widespread showers. These will not be all-day storms, but certainly they will have the potential to move through and disrupt any outdoor activities. High temperatures, again, will be dependent upon cloud cover and localized rainfall.

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The Houston region will remain in a wetter-than-normal pattern through the weekend before conditions dry out some, and our weather turns more August-like; which is to say hotter and a bit sunnier, without the relief of afternoon showers.

Thursday

Rain chances aren’t ideal today as some drier air has moved into the area, but there still should be activity later this morning and through the afternoon hours scattered across the area. Chances are probably slightly better (40 percent) for the eastern half of Houston versus the western half (30 percent), but at this point we’re splitting hairs. High temperatures today should generally be in the low 90s, although as we saw yesterday it can get hotter in locations where there aren’t a lot of clouds. For example, Wednesday’s high temperature was 96 degrees at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

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Good morning. Houston remains in slightly-cooler-than normal pattern for early August, which is most welcome considering that this typically is the region’s warmest time of year. I don’t see a return to 100-degree days any time soon, but next week does look like it will be a little warmer, with slightly less cloud cover.

Wednesday and Thursday

These will be summery days, but with just enough cloud cover to take the edge off of high temperatures. Rain coverage will be lower than we saw on Monday and Tuesday, but there still could be a few showers today streaming in from the coast. Mostly, however, we’ll just see partly sunny skies with highs in the low- to mid-90s on both Wednesday and Thursday. Don’t get me wrong, these will still be hot days, but they should be below the criteria set for heat advisory days, and for August this weather is pretty, uhhh, temperate.

Friday and Saturday

After a cold front stalls north of the Houston region late this week, a couple of upper-level systems may move into the area that should prompt air at the surface to rise, and in turn this will increase our rain chances. This should push the likelihood of rain on both days to about 50 percent—with slightly better odds east of Houston, and slightly worse to the west. High temperatures on Friday and Saturday will depend on the extent of cloud cover and rain. A few areas may stay in the upper 80s, while sunnier locales jump up into the mid-90s.

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Houston saw more scattered rather than widespread showers on Monday, and that pattern should more or less hold for most of this week as Houston lies beyond the edge of a high pressure system. This will allow for some areas to see downpours today, and others just sunshine, nearby clouds, and humidity.

Tuesday

Houston will see partly sunny skies today, with highs in the lower 90s. We can expect showers to develop offshore and move inland throughout the day, although again, coverage should be more scattered rather than widespread. Where storms set up, people may see up to about one-half inch of rain fairly quickly, but the storms should move off pretty quickly.

Wednesday and Thursday

Conditions for rainfall become slightly less favorable during the middle of the week, as we may see some capping of the atmosphere. I’d peg rain chances at 20 to 30 percent both of these days, with mostly sunny skies and high temperatures in the low- to mid-90s.

We continue to get a lot of questions about African dust. Some of the latest computer models suggest the dust will remain mostly at bay from the central and upper Texas coasts this week—although the dust will remain in place over the Gulf of Mexico—so that shouldn’t be something we have to worry about too much in terms of allergies.

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