Slight chance of storms as a cold front pushes into Houston this afternoon

In brief: Houston faces the slight possibility of some thunderstorms as a cold front pushes into Houston this afternoon, with drier air following. A stronger push of cold air on Wednesday will bring the coldest night of the season for most locations, making it feel more seasonal as we get closer to the holidays.

Low temperatures on Monday morning were 20 to 25 degrees warmer than normal. (Weather Bell)

November will feel more like November soon

For mid-November it is an incredibly warm morning, with temperatures generally in the mid- to upper-70s. We are running about 25 degrees above normal for this time of year for morning lows. And if you’re thinking, golly, I’d like it to be feel a little bit more like the holiday season, you’re in luck as a front will arrive today. A push of colder air on Wednesday will make things downright chilly during the second half of the week. Also, please don’t forget that we’re in the midst of our annual fundraiser, during which your support keeps Space City Weather going all year long. You can find more information here.

Monday

Houston will see scattered, mostly light showers this morning in advance of a front moving in from the west. Highs will reach around 80 degrees, or a bit above. A line of storms should push into western areas of Houston, including Katy, by around 2 to 4 pm. At this time it looks like this line of showers will be falling apart as it pushes into Houston during the next hour or two, but I’m not ready to entirely rule out some stronger thunderstorms and the possibility of damaging winds. Still, the overall threat from this frontal passage appears to be pretty low. The showers will be clear of the area by around sunset or shortly after, with somewhat drier air pushing in. Lows tonight will drop to around 60 degrees.

Tuesday

This will be a sunny day, with moderately drier air and light winds. Most areas should see highs in the upper 70s. Lows will drop into the 50s on Tuesday night, but the more noticeable trend will be stronger winds after midnight, from the northwest. This will herald the arrival of a secondary push of colder and drier air.

Wednesday

Said winds will peak during the early morning hours on Wednesday, gusting up to 25 mph or higher before relaxing during the afternoon or evening hours. Skies will remain sunny throughout. Lows on Wednesday night will generally drop into the 40s in Houston, and this should be the coldest night of the week.

Low temperatures will bottom out on Thursday morning. (Weather Bell)

Thursday and Friday

These will be pleasant and sunny days, with highs of around 70 degrees, and lows around 50 degrees with cooler conditions in outlying areas. Humidity will be low.

Saturday and Sunday

The sunshine party continues this weekend, and there are zero concerns for any outdoor activities you may have planned. Humidity will be on the upswing, but still quite a bit lower than is normal in Houston. Look for highs in the mid-70s on Saturday, and about 80 degrees on Sunday. By Sunday night lows will only be dropping into the 60s.

Next week

We’ll start out warm next week, but at some point a cold front should arrive. The timing for this front is critical, of course, with Thanksgiving on the horizon next Thursday, and the possibility of some rainfall with the front. In tomorrow’s post I will dig a bit deeper into the forecast for Thanksgiving Day in Houston, when hopefully there will be a little more clarity.

48 thoughts on “Slight chance of storms as a cold front pushes into Houston this afternoon”

  1. Ya’ll are great! If you had a mosquito forecast we would be in fat city. It was a brutal weekend in that regard out here!

    • I’m an outdoors kind of guy. I am covered in mosquito bites. In November. Sigh. There really is no enjoying this place anymore. It sucks year round.

    • Not sure where “out here” is, but here in Magnolia, there was no sign of mosquitoes. We were outside, off and on, from 6.20am till dusk.

      • LaPorte excursion this weekend and while there were mosquitos, it was minimal. didn’t even need bug spray.

        • “Out here” is west Houston in Bear Creek Pioneers Park. Mosquitos are site-specific critters. Low wind, shade and trees are their spot (and my spot). Walk to an adjoining field on a sunny day with a breeze = fewer mosquitos. And their big – pinch them with your fingers big.

          • 🤣🤣 Reptiles sure are beneficial for getting rid of pests. Both in gardens and in governments, I guess!

        • I didn’t need to apply bug spray before going out to take my long walk, because the mosquitoes haven’t been bothering me enough to put up with the smell and gooiness of the bug spray..With that said, I did indeed find a mosquito in my hair upon arrival back home…Call it like it is, there are a lot of mosquitoes out there…This November has been ridiculously warm and muggy..

    • Yes! Mosquitos everywhere still! They are swarming our front door in the Heights and I’ve killed three in my house that landed on me just this weekend. We should not have mosquitos in November! Or our A/C running for that matter.

  2. Although it was 71°F with Dew Point 70
    and Humidity 89%, the morning walk (6.20am) here in Magnolia was pleasant, because of the 3-5mph winds.

    It’s currently drizzling out now (7.40), but won’t last long, because it’s a sliver of a rain cloud. Hopefully, we’ll see more. Yesterday, we got about 1.5 hours (not all at once) of a decent downpour.

  3. Can we get some information as to why this front now appears less cold than predicted just a few days ago?

    • For some reason this entire fall, The computer models have just been simply getting it wrong. The models keep predicting that the polar jet stream will shift towards the south and send us a much cooler Canadian airmass but that never ends up happening. Instead the jet stream remains in a zonal flow north of Texas and we end up getting the tail end of each cool front with more mild Pacific air attached.

      We have been stuck in a very West to East upper air flow this fall thanks to a rigorous positive Arctic Oscillation. So much so that we are currently experiencing our warmest fall on record because of it. We have always had periods of unusual warmth take place during the fall, but never for this long before.

      In order to end this seemingly endless warmth we need the jet stream to dive far to the south over the mid and eastern United States with a sharp ridge over the Pacific Northwest. This will kind of happen this week but it will be shortlived. We will already be back in the 80s for highs by next week.

      • Same! They were claiming just a few days ago that we would have highs in the upper 50s on Wednesday, now it’s upper 60s at best and I fully except it to get warmer than that. I do not trust weather forecasts as far as I can throw em anyways but especially with cold fronts.

    • I’m not sure why stores in Houston even bother selling coats or sweaters – we just don’t need them. The weather in Houston is so unpleasant (along with the traffic, terrible drivers, overpopulation and concrete everywhere) that I truly can’t understand why people move here. Jobs, I guess but certainly not for the quality of life.

      • I suppose this kind of thinking is why people suffered so much during the freeze we had… everyone just owns like two hoodies and a pair of sweatpants… meanwhile I’ve got snow gear and was just chilling, only really worried about the house, during the whole freeze.

    • If your referring to temperatures than that is simply not true. It was far cooler last November and the November of 2022. Both of those Novembers averaged below normal. Yes there was about a week stretch of highs in the 80s in early November of 2022 but we had a long stretch of chilly and cold weather during the 2nd half of the month that made up for it.

  5. I saw a longrange forcast map showing that we are going to see well above normal temperatures between the 21st and December 1st so enjoy the 2 day cooldown later this week.

  6. I remember one fall, I was outdoors with my kids (teacher) and this magnificent fall front descended on us in under five minutes – the sky was autumn metal gray (not that spring gray) – the temperature dropped by 20 degrees and we were all laughing and excited. There was so much laughter and happy anticipation. We could barely get lined up for all the happiness.

    🌬🍂🍂💜🍂🍂

    • I don’t know how long ago that happened for you but we had a cold front bring very similar conditions to what you are describing on Octbober 11th 2019. Most falls we get atleast one cold front like that but it usually occurs during the evening or overnight.

    • What a wonderful memory. Thank you for sharing that. I have core memories from my high school days of fall fronts coming through and I remember there was always a wonderful fall smell that came with them.

      A few years back, I was out in the country on a day a winter front was supposed to be coming in. I was watching migratory geese overhead when the cold air arrived, the wind suddenly changed direction, and they all turned with it. Then the cold wind reached me on the ground with such force that it made me laugh. That was magical to witness.

      • Yes! I love that fresh smell our first few fall fronts bring. I don’t know what causes that smell but i have always loved it.

  8. It sure is telling that I am sitting on my backporch and still hearing cicadas in mid November. I don’t remember ever hearing cicadas this late in the year but maybe it has happened this late before I don’t know for certain. What I do know for certain is that since 2010 we have had our hottest summer on record twice and our hottest winter and now our hottest fall on record. I wonder if anybody notices the trend yet

  9. The funny thing about this is that the weather forcast I saw on the Houston news was claiming that we would have highs in the 60s for like 5 days in a row starting on Wednesday with lows in the 40s. Now it’s one day of maybe upper 60s and then back to the 70s on Thursday. By the weekend it will already be back in the 80s with lows in the 60s and they didn’t even have the guts to admit how radically wrong they were again. I will no longer take any forcast seriously that claims we are going to see a cold front worth a crap anymore.

  10. I love Houston. I live very north Houston almost in Conroe. I lived here all of 2020 and then came back to live here with work in May 2024. It is a noticeably warmer fall Season but it’s warmer all over the country. even up north they would be covered in snow already but it hasn’t even snowed or is just starting to now. So it’s not just been warm in Texas by any means.

  11. Congratulations to Eric and Matt on winning the Houstonian of the Year award! This is so well deserved!!

  12. I was just looking at the article in Houstonia and I have to say, as much as I love Houston, thunderstorms, and other crazy weather, they’ve got a point: “In 2024 alone, we faced a derecho—a term many of us didn’t even know existed until we were cleaning up the debris from one—and Hurricane Beryl, along with the usual spots of flooding, drought, storms, refinery fires, and unplanned power outages that have come to mark our day-to-day.”

    But with the difficulties come the heroes! Only Houston has Eric and Matt! Even if one might not love Houston weather otherwise, y’all make it worth it!

  13. Wonderful surprise up here in Magnolia!! It has dropped to 60°F, and will be falling some more :).

    Was just outside for a while, doing nothing, and suddenly the temp dropped. We would go for another walk, but the rain is falling nicely now – not a drizzle as usual, but a nice downpour!! Temps anticipated into the upper 40’s later. Patience, as they say.

    • I agree, Thunderstorm Lover. At least Texas weather keeps it interesting. And yes, Aggie! You beat me too it! That temperature drop the others were reminiscing about from times gone past just happened here in the almost Katy area.

Comments are closed.