Last night at about 10:30pm, as the winds roared outside and you could just feel the cold moving in to Houston, my wife turned to me and said, “I’m so tired of winter. When is it going to warm up?” I’ll have some more words on this later in the post, but the short answer is that the second half of this month does appear likely to be noticeably warmer than our cold start to 2018.
Friday
Cold air will continue to blow into Houston today, but the winds won’t be quite so fierce as they were Thursday evening. Intercontinental Airport reported gusts of 38mph, with Galveston reaching 41mph, and College Station recording a gust of 45mph. Today wind gusts should remain in the 20s. Even so, it will be cold, with high temperatures struggling to reach 50 degrees under sunny skies. Lows tonight will be at or just above freezing in Houston, with a light freeze north of the city.
Saturday and Sunday
After the winds finally die down later on Friday, we’re going to be left with just cold, sunny weather. High temperatures on both Saturday and Sunday will only reach about 50 degrees, and Saturday night should see a freeze over the northern half of the region, with temperatures in the mid-20s over some places like Montgomery County.
MLK Day
As the onshore flow returns, we can expect warmer weather for Monday, with highs rising to around 60 degrees under partly to mostly sunny skies.
Next week
The reprieve from colder air will be brief, as yet another cold front moves through late on Monday or on Tuesday. This front will probably bring freezing conditions for some areas back for the middle of next week, and keep high temperatures in the 40s under partly to mostly cloudy skies. As the front moves through, we’ll have to watch for some freezing precipitation up north on Tuesday morning as well, but the details for that are pretty fuzzy. I do only expect rainfall only in the city of Houston itself.
Warming trend?
Next week’s cold front seems to be the last really strong front for awhile. While there are always caveats about long-range forecasts, it seems that the pattern will change, with more of the colder air getting shunted off to the east before diving south all of the way to the Gulf Coast. For this reason, it looks like beginning around Friday or Saturday of next week, we’ll see a string of warmer days in the 60s and possibly even low 70s, with warmer nights in the 40s and 50s. Looking a little bit further down the line, the seasonal outlook for February, March, and April shows a likelihood of above normal or near normal temperatures.
So the answer to my wife’s question is yes, this harsh (for Houston) winter is going to end. Probably as soon as about a week from now.
Noooooooooo 🙁
Glad this will make your wife happy, but I don’t want it to end. Then it’s just only hotter from there, and I swear each summer is harder than the last. I love the winter and the cold and wish there’d be more snow. Not saying I want the brutal Midwestern winters, but I take what we get down here and savor it.
Thanks as always for the great work, Eric and Matt!
I’m with you, Hunter!!!
From your comment to Eric’s special powers. Make winter (this style) stay!!!
Yup. I agree. I’m sucking up all this cold air for July, August, September, and yes….October.
I agree ! I love Houston winter!
Noooooo!!!! I don’t want the cold weather to end either. We are actually having a season between fall and spring. Albeit cold, it’s been nice. Please bring us colder weather!
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Eric, I hope for the sake of your marriage that you aren’t relocated to Minnesota.
“Really tired of this cold?”
No, that would be silly. It’s not like Houston is ever hurting for warmer weather. It’s been nice to actually have something resembling a real winter for the first time in a few years.
Amen!
I’m sorry people, but just because it’s too hot in the summer here for some, does NOT mean that we should celebrate and enjoy weather that is too cold and windy now! For those of us who must be out in it, there is nothing but misery and suffering ahead. I’ll take the heat over this any day. Eric, I for one certainly understand the viewpoint of your wife! Thanks very much for the impending better weather, and of course for what you do!
I am not tired of the cold and would like it to continue through February. It’s nice to see Houston get a winter (it’s still a stretch calling it a winter compared to the north).
It’s not very nice, because Houston was designed for the old times when it was warmer. It’s no fun to turn on your sink and only a few drops of water come out and your toilet is now a skating rink for the roaches. Houston was never meant to be this cold, so it’s not nice to see freezing temperatures.
??? Houston has always received cold weather sometimes. I believe the IAH average is 9 nights a year with a low of 32 or below, which seems on par with this winter if this is indeed the last cold spell. If anything, THIS winter is a return to the old times, with the last few we’ve had being freakishly warm.
You mean “Continue through September”, right?
Guess I’ll just have to enjoy this cold spell while it lasts.
To me it’s not just the cold it’s what usually goes with it in this area. Windy, wet and nasty.
Oh no! I love the cold! We have enough warm, I enjoy these few months of cold, especially since we haven’t had much of it the last few years. It makes me sad that once again we’ll have a warmer than normal winter.
So…can we get plants in the garden after next week?
That is a beautiful picture!
this makes me say “hmmmmm??”:
“I do only expect rainfall only in the city of Houston itself.”
Whatever those outlooks predict is always the exact opposite. So while we may see warm the last week of January, I predict Feb will be a cold one.
I hope you are right.
I love the cold. My grandson is 5 and has been begging to see snow for a few years. This year he got it. A cold winter is wonderful. I actually had to wear pants and coats, not shorts or sleeveless dresses, to parties this year. I’d rather put more on than take more off. And snuggling up to my husband to warm up at every given chance is nice too. We’ll be at 100 degrees before we know it. So we should just enjoy.
Fascinating image of the winds. Thanks for including. Very informative, artistic, and scientific all at the same time.
The wind is very terrifying. Ever since Harvey brought down the tree next door, very nearly fatal for me, I worry quite a bit about another tree falling. That tree must have weighed, by me estimate, at least 40,000 lbs, maybe much more. Trees in proximity to buildings need to be properly maintained, but most are not. Trees in the forest are a different story, but I am sure that many animals are killed and injured when a tree falls. I had an opossum in my yard that probably came from the fallen tree. I took her to the wildlife center but she didn’t pull through.
Well this is incredibly disappointing. I get that many are sensitive to this weather but we spend so much time in heat, why complain? This is a break from the hot muggy weather we are known for. Bleh.
We here in Alberta Canada are happy to share our cold with you. It is -40C with wind chill here today. How much of this cold would you like? Coming to Houston in a week or so. Hope it has improved by then.
“Notice the winds drawing cold, Canadian air all the way down across the United States and into Texas. ” 🙂 Those dastardly Canadians! Always causing problems! 🙂
But, we haven’t had to “shovel any winter weather.” That’s a big positive.