As Matt noted Friday, we’re in the midst of “fog season” in Houston, when warmer air moves over the somewhat cooler nearshore coastal waters, bays, and inland waterways. Much of the region saw fog this weekend, and it is especially dense this morning, with visibilities down to one-quarter of a mile, less for some areas. The fog should slowly begin to dissipate this morning with the rising sun. We’ll likely see fog of various densities through Thursday of this week before a strong cold front moves through the area.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

Aside from the fog, there isn’t too much to say about the region’s weather through the middle of the week. Days will be warm, with highs in the mid-70s, under mostly cloudy skies. Nights will be especially warm, with the cloud cover and moderate southerly air keeping lows in the mid-60s. This is about 20 degrees above normal for this time of year.

Rain chances aren’t going to go away completely, but each day will only have about a 10 to 30 percent chance of rain, and any precipitation that falls should be light. Accumulations through Wednesday should be on the order of one-tenth of an inch for most locations.

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Good morning, and happy Friday. Unfortunately, if you came to the blog seeking good news about sunshine and beautiful late winter weather this weekend, we are going to have to direct you elsewhere. It appears that Southeast Texas is going to be under the influence of an unsettled, somewhat dreary weather pattern for several days. But, if you needed a break from the colder weather, you will get that over the next few days as well.

Today

We’ve got a few showers in the Houston area this morning. An occasional, brief heavy downpour is possible.

Be on the lookout for some patchy areas of fog this morning as well. Otherwise, cloud cover should dominate the picture today. We may see a few breaks of sunshine, but I would not be too optimistic at this point. Shower chances may be mostly over after this morning, but we wouldn’t rule out a few showers later this afternoon, mainly west of the Houston area or along the immediate coast.

It will be milder again today, with high temperatures peaking in the mid-60s in most places, though some spots are likely to hit the upper-60s.

Tonight & Saturday

The weather pattern over the next several days will feature quick moving disturbances, none of which look particularly strong. Because of that, trying to time the best rain chances will be a little challenging. Tonight looks mostly dry, but a disturbance passing through on Saturday could set off a few showers or even a thunderstorm. Not everyone will see rain, but some of us could see briefly heavier downpours.

Temperatures will top off around 70 degrees on Saturday afternoon, after beginning the day in the mid- to upper-50s.

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January comes to an end today, and overall it has been a more or less typical winter month. Temperatures are going to end within a few tenths of a degree of normal, and rainfall totals will for the most part be slightly above normal. February, however, will start on a much warmer note—with spring-like days and much warmer nights. Winter won’t return until about a week from now.

Thursday

In addition to warmer weather, we’re now going to return to a wetter pattern without high pressure to shut rain chances down. Today, especially, should see some healthy rain potential as low pressure moves up the Texas coast. Chances will be best to the southwest of Houston, near Matagorda Bay, but coastal areas of the Houston region will also see a solid 50 to 70 percent chance of rain, with lesser possibilities inland later today. Accumulations should only be a few tenths of an inch. Cloudy skies should keep highs to about 60 degrees, with lows tonight only falling a few days off of daytime highs.

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Temperatures are generally in the low 40s across Houston this morning, ranging from 41 degrees at Bush Intercontinental Airport to 45 in Galveston at 6:15am. If, when you step outside, you think, “Oh this feels a bit chilly,” you might pause for a moment to consider the Midwest. The following map shows “wind chill temperatures” for the region this morning, and some of them are nearly 100 degrees colder than the air temperature in Houston. For example, Chicago has an air temperature this morning of -22 degrees, but with westerly winds of about 20 mph, the wind chill at O’Hare Airport is -49 degrees. Parts of Minnesota are near -60 degrees.

Wednesday

Today will be the last day that Houston sees long stretches of sunshine for awhile, before a warmer, grayer, and at times wetter pattern descends on the region. With partly sunny skies, we should see highs today climb into the mid-50s, and mostly cloudy skies tonight should keep lows in the mid- to upper-40s. After this, say bon voyage to winter for nearly a week.

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