A cold front quietly moved through Houston during the overnight hours, and this will set the stage for calm, cool weather for the rest of the week. Winter is here, and it will feel like it.
Tuesday through Thursday
Not much to say about these days. We’ll see sunny conditions, with high temperatures in the mid-60s, and chilly nights. Look for lows in the upper 30s to 40 degrees for inland areas, and around 50 degrees right along the coast. We’ll also see some modest northerly breezes on Tuesday in the wake of the front.
Friday
Another front will arrive on Thursday night, probably after midnight, which will lead to a chilly day on Friday. I’d expect high temperatures of around 60 degrees.
Welcome back to our weekly Monday wrap-up of Harvey and flooding-related news you may have missed over the last seven days. Let us know if we missed anything in the comments. Previous recaps are here:
DEVELOPING STORM: here's a sneak peak into @HoustonChron's major investigative series on failures surrounding #Harvey and what Houston can do to prepare for the future. Lots of ppl here have been working hard on this for months & it's launching VERY soon: https://t.co/QowvqIg0Uc
Report: An uneven recovery after Harvey threatens to leave people behind (Rice Kinder Institute): Almost half of people from Harris County that responded to an Episcopal Health Foundation and Kaiser Family Foundation survey lost income from Harvey. Seventeen percent of people from 24 counties surveyed are now suffering a new or worsening health condition. Harvey’s damage has stretched people and resources thin and has led to cascading impacts that will continue to be felt in the region and threatens to leave vulnerable and lower-income populations behind.
After a cold, winter-like weekend in Houston, temperatures will moderate some. But we’re not going back up to warm, 80-degree weather any time soon, and in reality the overall pattern looks really pleasant for at least the next week or so. At this end of today’s post we’ll also take a preliminary look ahead at weather for the Christmas holiday.
Monday
After a chilly start with lows in the 30s for inland areas and 40s close to the coast, southerly winds and sunshine will allow for highs to warm into the low 70s. The return of a southerly flow will be brief, however, as a cold front pushes into the region—likely sometime between midnight on Monday night and sunrise on Tuesday morning. There won’t be enough moisture ahead of the front to produce any precipitation.
Sure, it’s cold out there on Monday morning. But it definitely could be colder. (Weather Bell)
Tuesday through Friday
Truth be told, there won’t be much change in our weather this week thanks to a front early on Tuesday, and an additional front Thursday. We’re going to see mostly sunny skies, mostly clear nights, highs in the low- to mid-60s, and overnight lows generally around 40 degrees for inland areas, and upper 40s to 50 degrees right along the coast. This is pretty typical weather for mid-winter in Houston.
Roughly three and a half months ago, Houstonians took to social media late into the night to post frightening pictures and harrowing accounts of flooding devastating the city. Houstonians took to social media again late into last night and early this morning, this time to post festive pictures and share (mostly) joyous accounts of about as good a snow event as you could hope for in Southeast Texas.
As I write this, we don’t have official totals in yet, but based on pictures from all over, it looks like anywhere from a coating to 2″, give or take, in most of the Houston area. Obviously, College Station did quite well last night. They received 5″ officially, which would rank it their second biggest snow on record.
For the “official” number in Houston, I’d expect somewhere in the ballpark of 1.5″, which would rank somewhere in the top 10 or 15 for Houston snowfalls on record. The king, unlikely to ever be dethroned, is Valentine’s Day 1895’s estimated 20″, followed by 4.4″ on February 12, 1960.
I know some people aren’t exactly overjoyed at the snow, especially those commuting early this morning. If you’re one of those folks, the good news is that most, if not all of the snow will be gone by about 9 AM.
Radar as of 6 AM shows lingering light snow near the coast and Bay Area. Snow should end completely by 7 AM or so. (GRLevel3)
That said, roads are icy in spots this morning, especially the flyovers on freeways. Use extreme caution while commuting. Any icy patches should dissipate as we warm above freezing by 7-8 AM. Temperatures will actually rise now that the snow has ended.
As we go through the rest of the morning, expect to see mainly cloudy skies. But things will get noticeably brighter as we work toward afternoon, and I think hopefully by Noon or so, Houston will see the sun again for the first time since before this cold snap began.
