It has been one hell of a spring storm season. Pretty much every part of the Houston region has flooded to one extent or another, with some rivers and bayous reaching historical flood levels. And now, courtesy of Brian Brettschneider, here’s another amazing data point about this spring’s rain—the period of April 14 through June 12 is the wettest 60 days in Houston’s recorded history. Any year, any time.
Much of Houston has experienced some heavy rain this afternoon, with storms producing rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour. These rains have scuttled outdoor activities and led to some street flooding downtown, however they are largely proving manageable for the area’s drainage systems. The main hazard is lightning, so please do not venture outdoors unprotected during intense lightning events.
It seems most likely that these storms will wane this evening by or shortly after sunset, with the loss of daytime heating. Forecast models show another complex of storms developing over north Texas tonight, but it appears as though these will weaken as they approach the Houston metro area early Monday.
Later on Monday we may see some scattered thunderstorm development, but nothing like today. And then, by Tuesday, we’re going to be into a summer-like pattern where high pressure clamps down on rain chances, and increases highs into the mid-90s.
Posted at 3:45pm CT on Sunday by Eric Berger
Happy Saturday, everyone. It looks as though we’re going to remain in a summer-like pattern this weekend.
Early this morning saw some scattered showers and thunderstorms develop near the coast and move inland, primarily to the east of Houston. They’re now burning themselves out near Wallisville and Liberty. After this we should see a break during the rest of the morning. However with temperatures likely rising into the upper 80s to 90 degrees this afternoon I expect the seabreeze to generate some showers again today like Friday. I expect these storms to be somewhat scattered, but like on Friday could be intense where they develop. The most likely time for storms to develop is probably from around 3pm CT to shortly before sunset.
We’ll probably see more of the same on Sunday and Monday, before high pressure builds over the middle of next week and probably shuts off rain chances for awhile. It’s possible we’ll be in the middle-90s by Wednesday or Thursday, and starting to remember what summer in Houston really feels like.
At last, our long regional nightmare is over: Houston popped the cork on 90 degree days in 2016 on Thursday. Now we’re clear to rack up dozens of them.
It is Official… Houston Intercontinental Airport has reached 90 degrees as of 131 pm!
— NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) June 9, 2016
2016 will go down in history as having the 3rd latest first 90 degree day in Houston, just being edged out by June 12, 1970, and June 15, 1897. Like age, 90° is really just a state of mind around here. It still feels like summer. We will ease into this new reality where 90 degree temperatures can officially occur in Houston as modest rain chances flirt with us through the weekend.
TODAY
I suspect today will be somewhat similar to yesterday, with a scattering of showers or storms around in the afternoon (perhaps a downpour near the coast this morning). Temperatures will top off close to 90 degrees again, though we may fall a bit short. Storm risk today may not be quite as concentrated as we saw south and west of Houston yesterday, where over 2″ of rain fell in a few spots in Wharton, Matagorda, and Colorado Counties. But a few small clusters of showers or storms will be possible.
And just be aware that occasionally this time of year, you could see a brief funnel cloud or (along the bays/Gulf) a waterspout form. Likely nothing serious, but don’t be shocked if you see or hear reports of that occurring.