Spring returns and the rest of this week will be glorious for Houston

Good morning. After a torrid day on Tuesday, when Houston tied a record high of 88 degrees set back in 1897, spring returns to the region. We’ll see moderate temperatures for now through most of the weekend.

Wednesday

A cold front swept through Houston during the pre-dawn hours, bringing a few scattered showers. But mostly it was a dry front, heralded by a wind shift to the northwest. At Bush Intercontinental Airport the relative humidity dropped from 89 percent at 2:30am to 59 percent at 6am.

So it will go for much of the region today, with highs in the mid-70s, much drier air, and breezy, northwesterly winds. Gusts could reach 25 or 30mph today before dying back tonight after sunset. Lows tonight should fall into the upper 40s for inland areas, and mid-50s along the coast.

Thursday and Friday

As I’ve been suggesting, the end of the work week will be spectacular for early April. Look for mostly sunny skies, highs in the upper 70s, and lows in the mid- to upper-50s.

(Space City Weather is sponsored this month by The Mole, a Jonathon Price novel.)

Saturday and Sunday

The weekend is still going to be really nice, with high temperatures around 80 degrees, but lows are going to start creeping back up just a bit as the onshore flow returns and bumps up moisture levels. Still, skies should remain partly to mostly sunny for your outdoor enjoyment this weekend.

Early next week

The sunshine party will end sometime later on Sunday or more likely Sunday night, and all of that returning moisture will set the stage for some possible rain showers early next week. I’m still not overly impressed by the potential for strong storms, but I do think it’s possible the region will see some heavy rainfall. Right now I’d say there’s a healthy chance of rain during the Monday through Wednesday period—but whether its mostly light rain, or we get 1 to 3 inches is to be determined. Highs will be back in the low 80s.

Posted by Eric at 6:50am CT on Wednesday