Good evening. Matt did a pretty good job of covering our bases this morning, but I just wanted to put out a reminder about the likelihood of a hard freeze for the northern half of the Houston area tonight, and on Saturday night.
So far it’s been an interesting day, with some moderate precipitation falling across the area. Although some inland parts of the region saw a wintry mix, temperatures remained just above freezing for most of the Houston area today, precluding snow, or sleet, from sticking to the ground. However it’s tantalizing to think that had it been a few degrees cooler today much of the city might be under a half of inch of snow. So close. But now the precipitation is moving out of the area so I don’t expect any problems on Houston area roadways tonight.
And a good thing too, with very cold overnight temperatures coming. A hard freeze warning, which means temperatures could fall below 26 degrees, is in effect for most areas north of Interstate 10 in the Houston region:
Freeze warnings for Friday night and Saturday morning. (National Weather Service)
A new year, and a new month, mean a new sponsor. And for January I’m pleased to announce that Westbury Christian School will sponsor Space City Weather.
(Westbury Christian School)
Here is a bit more about the school:
Westbury Christian School is a fully accredited, college preparatory school serving approximately 500 students from age 3 through 12th grade each year.
Conveniently located near major employment centers south and west of downtown, WCS is committed to excellence in academics, student activities, and spiritual development and offers competitively priced tuition to allow working families the opportunity to give their students a unique private education taught from a biblical perspective. WCS actively works to maintain diversity in its student enrollment, which reflects the populace of the neighborhood in which it is located, serving families from a variety of religious faiths, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds.
The challenging academic program at WCS – including the open-enrollment Dr. David M. Lacey Advanced Placement (AP) program offering 17 courses across core disciplines – is designed to ensure college-readiness, while expanded classroom space and extracurricular offerings in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) encourage students to pursue careers in Houston’s key industries.
The Wildcat athletic program – which fields boys and girls middle school, junior varsity and varsity squads in a variety of team and individual sports – helps WCS students strengthen their bodies and build character while learning the importance of teamwork.
With instruction and extracurricular opportunities in band, chorus, ballet, theatre and the visual arts, the Fine Arts department at WCS helps students express their unique creative talents, individually and collectively, on the WCS stage and through appearances at recognized local and state competitions.
The campus ministry program ensures WCS is a welcoming place for all who are seeking spiritual growth, and local service projects and out-of-town mission trips allow students to show God’s love to those in need of a helping hand.
In its first 40+ years, WCS has helped thousands of hard-working students – including more than 1,300 alumni – prepare for success in every aspect of their personal and professional lives.
Their support allows us to continue to make the best possible forecasts we can make. Thank you for considering them for all any education needs. By doing so, you’ll be supporting this site!
For more information on sponsoring Space City Weather, please click here.
This roller coaster of a winter shows no signs of letting up as we head through the opening days of 2017. We have sleet, wind chills in the teens, a widespread freeze…and 80° weather to discuss. Here’s how it will unfold.
Friday & Weekend
Cold weather has now settled into the region.
6 AM temperatures are cold enough for perhaps some sleet or ice pellets to mix in, mainly north of Houston. (NOAA)
Expect a chilly, raw day today. We’ll have a stiff north wind, coupled with temperatures not getting much warmer than they are on the map above. In addition, we’ll have clouds and occasional light rain and drizzle throughout the day. Temperatures will be cold enough for perhaps some sleet or ice pellets to mix in over the area. Fortunately, the precipitation looks light enough and temperatures just warm enough that this shouldn’t be anything more than “conversational” wintry precipitation.
HRRR model forecast radar for today shows potential for some sleet to mix in at times, but probably no travel problems or ice accumulation. (Weather Bell)
But don’t be shocked to see or hear some ice pellet pings today.We’ll clear skies out, and actually, the weekend is going to be an absolutely beautiful winter one for Southeast Texas.
Oh, my fellow runners, if you want to be depressed then take a look at the GFS ensembles that came out this afternoon. I’ve annotated the forecast, which takes into accout about 50 different runs of the GFS model based upon observed conditions this morning.
GFS ensemble model forecast. (Weather Bell/Space City Weather)
What’s depressing is that the range of lows forecast by the GFS model for Sunday morning, January 15th, runs from about 63 to 73 degrees, and the corresponding dewpoints are nearly as high, meaning we’d be looking at a humid race day too. This is about the worst-case scenario, barring fire-and-brimstone-type thunderstorms with tornadoes thrown in.
