Taking stock of how cold it’s been in Houston this winter

As of 7 am CT a cold front has swept through most of the Houston area, bringing an end to the warmest late December streak of weather in the city’s history, an unprecedented five days of 80-degree weather during the Christmas to New Year’s period. As we swing back toward colder weather here’s a look back at the coldest temperatures across the region this season, so far.

Map of the lowest temperatures so far this winter. (Brian Brettschneider)

 

Notably a few parts of Texas, Louisiana and the southwestern United States have yet to experience a freeze this year. Now let’s zoom in on southeast Texas, where you can really see the effect of warmer waters in the Gulf of Mexico and Galveston Bay on land temperatures. A small slice of the coast has yet to freeze, and that’s unlikely to change in the next week or 10 days.

Lowest temperature of the season for the greater Houston area. (Brian Brettschneider)

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Houston going for a record fifth consecutive 80-degree day in December

The heat continues. Tuesday marked the fourth straight day of high temperatures of 80 degrees or greater in Houston, and the third record high in three of the last four days. According to data from Matt, That has happened five times before in the city in December (1933, 1956, 1995, 1998 and 2012), but all of the previous streaks came before Dec. 20. Today we’re likely to get our fifth—which has never happened in more than 120 years of records—before some cold weather sneaks into the region.

Today

You know the drill. Foggy morning, partly to mostly cloudy skies, and warm with highs around 80 degrees. Houston will experience one more very un-winter-like day before change finally arrives on Thursday. Looking outside, it dawns on me that for Houston, a White Christmas means fog rather than snow.

Dewpoint temperatures at 6am CT on Thursday morning. The front finally arrives. (Weather Bell)

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Houston ties its second warmest December day on record

This month’s anomalously warm weather continued on Monday, with a record high of 84 degrees. How abnormal is that? Just one day—one single day—has been warmer than that in all of the Decembers in more than a century of weather records of the city (Dec. 3, 1995, 85 degrees). The average temperature on Monday, 78 degrees, was 25 degrees above normal. Fortunately, this can’t, and won’t, continue for much longer.

Today

After a foggy start this morning (a dense fog advisory remains in effect until 9am CT), highs today should max out in the upper 70s. Mostly cloudy skies, and some scattered showers, should limit temperatures more than anything. A front will approach the region from the northwest, but should stall out before pushing into the city itself. This should help lows fall into the mid-60s tonight.

High temperatures on Tuesday morning are about 25 degrees above normal for eastern and southern Texas. (Weather Bell)

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A brief reprieve from the warmth, and possibly a wet New Year’s Eve

Well that … was a warm Christmas. Although we didn’t quite reach the record set in 2015 (83 degrees), the official high temperature on Sunday was 80 degrees. That gives Houston back-to-back Christmas holidays of 80 degrees or higher. And we’re not going to cool down for a few days still, alas.

Monday

Lows this morning are starting off at around 70 degrees for most of Houston, which is more typical for September than December. And today is going to end up feeling a lot like Christmas Day, with partly to mostly cloudy skies, southerly winds (although not as gusty) and highs near 80 degrees. There will be the possibility of scattered showers again, but accumulations should be slight. Lows tonight will again fall to only around 70 degrees.

Half of Texas is quite warm today, but the other half is cold behind a front that’s not going to make it all the way to Houston. (Weather Bell)

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