After a foggy Wednesday, more perfect weather to end the week in Houston

A dense fog advisory is in effect for Houston this morning, and will persist through 9am or 10am. Visibility will be as low as one-quarter mile for some areas, and less than a mile across much of Houston. Please take care during your morning commute today, and expect delays in marine operations.

Wednesday

After the fog burns away this morning, temperatures will be warmer today for most of Houston, as the next cold front pushing toward the region is doing so only slowly. That should allow high temperatures today to reach about 80 degrees under partly sunny skies later today. The front should finally move into Houston and through the region this afternoon, and reach the coast by around the evening. Rain chances with the front are near zero.

As of about sunrise, a cold front has yet to reach most of eastern and southern Texas. (Weather Bell)

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

We’re going to see a run of three days of absolutely gorgeous weather, with high temperatures in the 70s and lows generally in the low- to mid-50s, and dry air. Skies should be mostly sunny. Our only concern is that, at this point, we could really use a bit of rain as the region has dried out quite a bit since Harvey. (More on that Thursday).

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Winter is coming to Houston. No really, it is.

Most of us remember last winter, right? November was 4.4 degrees above normal, and then came December. While the month had a couple of decent fronts, the second half had a run of extremely warm days and nights, including 80 degrees on Christmas and an overnight low of 71 degrees on Christmas night. Here’s what that looked like:

December, 2016, high and low temperatures. (NOAA)

Temperatures this November have averaged about 5 degrees above normal, too, a lot like last year. But I’m willing to bet that December won’t see a repeat. Indeed, as I’ll discuss below, there are good reasons to think that a good chunk of December will see cooler than normal temperatures.

Tuesday and Wednesday

Temperatures will warm into the upper 70s today, and humidity levels will rise a bit. However, a weak cool front will arrive on Wednesday morning to put a lid of temperatures for the rest of the week. This front could spur a few showers near or along the coast, but for the most part we won’t see any precipitation. Highs Wednesday should be in the mid-70s with continued sunshine.

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Post-Harvey week in review: November 27, 2017

Welcome to our week in review of news and stories about Harvey recovery and flooding issues you may have missed over the last few days. If you weren’t able to check out last week’s edition, you can find it here. Feel free to share any links we may have missed in the comments. On to the news.

Reads of the week

What bond investors weren’t told about a threat facing Cinco Ranch (Houston Chronicle): Ten municipal utility districts (MUDs) in the Cinco Ranch area have had over 70 bonds sold since 1992 and only one of those disclosed a flooding risk to those neighborhoods.

Harvey was three months ago. These displaced families are still in limbo (Texas Tribune): A pair of Houston families grapple with the same decisions and problems that many thousands in our area are going through a few months after Harvey.

Houston housing

Harris County proposing dramatic overhaul of floodplain regulations (Houston Chronicle): Harris County (not Houston, for now) may require developers to use the 500-year floodplain for new development, as opposed to the 100-year floodplain as it is now.

A House’s Flood History Can Be Hard To Find (Houston Public Media): Trying to find out if a home you’re considering buying or renting has flooded is often pretty difficult to do.

Rental market tightens, but it may not last (Houston Chronicle): Houston’s apartment occupancy has experienced a heck of a reversal over the last few months. More volatility may be in the future.

How Much Damage Did Harvey Do To Texas Homes? There May Never Be An Exact Answer (Texas Tribune): With a substantial amount of money coming in and numerous government agencies involved in the recovery effort, some things may fall through the cracks when assessing the scale of the disaster, concerning advocates.

We may never know precisely how much damage Harvey did to Houston neighborhoods. (Texas National Guard)

Displaced by storm still yearn for home (Houston Chronicle): 47,000 flood victims are still displaced in hotels all over the country. The housing aspect of the recovery usually moves slowly, and in a post-Harvey world, it’s no different.

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Historically, Houston’s coldest 90-day period begins now

Houston just enjoyed a splendid week of weather, and truth be told there’s more great fall-like weather to come for the region—nothing too hot or too cold. However, winter is not too far off. And as this graphic published on Twitter by climate scientist Brian Brettschneider shows, we are entering the historically coolest period of weather for the region:

When does the 90-day period of coldest weather begin? (Brian Brettschneider)

This indicates that the coolest 90-day period for Houston (and most of the Gulf Coast outside of Florida) runs from the end of November through the end of February. And indeed, there are some signs of more winter-like weather in the extended forecast, as I’ll discuss below.

Monday and Tuesday

After a cool start to the work week, highs will jump up into the mid-70s on Monday, and upper 70s on Tuesday. With relatively dry air (especially on Monday) and sunny skies, both days should feel quite pleasant, and nights will be mild with lows in the upper 50s to 60 degrees. As moisture levels begin to rise Monday night, we could see some fog on Tuesday morning.

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