Good morning! Lows bottomed out in the upper-30s and low-40s across much of Houston this morning, and I think this probably will be our coldest weather until October, or possibly even November in the region. Significantly warmer conditions are on the way after today, with a return to highs in the low 80s by Wednesday or so.
The good news is that the passage of a strong front on Friday, with a combination of winds and rainfall, really helped to knock down tree pollen and mold spore allergies over the weekend. We have definitely come through the worst of the spring time allergy season for oak trees and its messy, yellowish pollen.
Monday
Today will be our final chilly day, with highs likely only topping out around 60 degrees as a cold air mass remains in place and skies are mostly cloudy. However, change is on the way as winds will shift to come from north-northeast to the southeast. This shift will moderate lows on Monday night, likely keeping most of the region in the low- to mid-50s.
Tuesday
Tuesday will be warmer, with highs generally in the low- to mid-70s, and more partly to mostly cloudy skies. Southerly winds will start to become more pronounced, picking up to 15 or 20 mph. Low temperatures will only briefly drop below 70 degrees in the metro area.
Wednesday and Thursday
These will be a pair of warm days, with highs ranging from 80 to 85 degrees, and partly to mostly cloudy skies. The southerly flow will be really noticeable, with wind gusts up to 25 or even 30 mph due to a fairly steep pressure gradient. Overnight lows in Houston will only drop to around 70 degrees.
Friday
The region’s next front will arrive on Friday, and it should bring a healthy chance of rain showers into the region starting during the early morning hours. Accumulations look to be about one-half inch of rain north of Interstate 10, with lesser amounts to the south, but I would not bank on those amounts just yet. The front is not particularly strong, so high temperatures on Friday will still reach about 80 degrees, with lows perhaps dropping into the upper 50s on Friday night.
Saturday and Sunday
The first half of the weekend looks great, with mostly sunny skies and highs of around 80 degrees on Saturday. On Sunday, as the onshore flow resumes, we may see a few scattered showers, although I don’t feel overly confident in the details just yet. Most of next week should see highs in the 70s, with nothing too extreme on the way. Enjoy your springtime weather, Houston!
Did anyone else see sleet mixed in the the drizzle/rain Saturday morning? Around 7:30.
My wife reported the same in the Kemah area.
I saw that! Pearland area around 9:40
I first saw it around El Camino and CLC Blvd, also in the parking lot at the Kroger on El Dorado.
Out here in Sealy there was intermittent sleet mixed with light rain between 8 – 8:30 Saturday morning. It started coming down more consistently for several minutes, enough to just begin evenly covering the hood of my vehicle, but quickly disappeared once it all turned to rain.
Any word on the strong smells of er houston (especially the clear lake area and up the 45 corridor)? General consensus is the plants, but seems worse than normal. What’s keeping it so close?
There’s a nasty odor in the air in Sugar Land this morning. Not everyone seems able to smell it (lucky me). It is a bit like what one would sniff upon entering a bathroom someone had just used–so not the scent they add to natural gas but still pretty, ahem, fragrant. Anyone else experiencing this?
Sure wish this would have been a dead of winter time with this cold upper level low Matt was taking about this weekend….All that rain Saturday morning on radar in Texas would have been SNOW….The upper atmosphere was just right…This time, too warm at the surface…..Always something isn’t it Eric…
Snow? Especially in Houston? No thanks, much more trouble than it is worth, and we don’t have the plows and salt trucks to deal with it.
Eric, I keep hearing about El Nino coming back. In theory that should provide more wind shear for storms in the GOM this summer, correct, or am I just wishing ?
Many thanks to Matt for filling in last week and welcome back, Eric! Hope you had a great spring break! Houston loves both you guys (and Maria) ❤️
The yellow pollen everywhere is pine pollen. Oak pollen is too small to see, and is small enough to get into our airways. Pine pollen is too big to inhale, and is much less allergenic. Pine and oak tend to pollinate within a week or two of each other, so it’s easy to confuse.
I am also smelling a chemical smell in the air that I cannot identify this morning in the Richmond/Fulshear area. What is that? Cannot be healthy. I smelled it one evening about a week back as well.