Storms possible Wednesday night, cooler for the weekend

On this Christmas Eve morning, I want to take a moment to thank all the people who work in retail, at restaurants, deliver packages and perform other services during the long holiday hours. This is hard work, especially at this very hectic time. Thank you.

Monday

Our clear skies—that Moon has been something else the last few nights—will now give way to partly to mostly cloudy skies for most of this week. The culprit is the weak cold front that eased through Houston early on Sunday. After moving offshore it stalled, and it is now moving back onshore as  “warm” front. This will help set the stage for warmer, and more humid weather until later Thursday.

We should still see some sunshine today, and highs probably will get up into the mid- to upper-60s with easterly winds. But by this afternoon or evening, skies should turn mostly cloudy, and I only expect areas well away from the coast to fall below 60 degrees.

Christmas Day

The holiday will dawn warm and gray, with some fog possible as warm air moves over the ground. The day may be fairly dreary, with light, spotty showers possible and 99 to 100 percent cloud cover. Highs probably will get into the low 70s, despite the clouds, which is really quite warm for a December day without direct sunshine. Is there any good news? The only real good news is that stormy weather will hold off until at least Wednesday.

Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday will start off a lot like Christmas Day, but we expect southerly winds to kick up during the middle of the day. This will be another cloudy affair, with increased rain chances (50 to 60 percent) throughout the daytime hours. However, we expect mostly light rain during the daytime, with the more serious activity holding off until Wednesday night.

By this time an upper-level disturbance should move into the area, and force upward motion in the atmosphere. Damaging winds are the primary threat, but we also can’t rule out some tornadoes with this system (any tornadoes that do form are likely to be short-lived). Rain totals with this system are likely to amount to 1 to 2 inches in the city and coastal regions, with 2 inches or more possible north of Harris County and further inland.

Rain chances should fall off by Thursday morning, with some clearing skies as a front approaches the area. Highs likely will get to around 70 degrees, but lower dewpoints should make for a fairly pleasant afternoon. Temperatures Thursday night should get down into the low 50s for most of Houston.

Friday and the weekend

This period looks cooler in the wake of the front, with highs mostly in the 50s to 60 degrees, and overnight temperatures in the 40s and 50s. Friday should be sunny, but expect clouds to return on Saturday, as warm air higher in the atmosphere moves over the thin, cooler layer at the surface. This could very well lead to some additional rain showers over the weekend, but accumulations don’t appear to be overly significant at this time.

Merry Christmas!

This site will take a break on Christmas Day, but be back on Wednesday to look ahead to the potentially stormy weather on Wednesday night, and we’ll also take a look at New Year’s Eve weather. The early outlook, unfortunately, includes the possibility of rain showers.

Until then, Merry Christmas to you and your family from ours!