Good morning. It has only been 2.5 weeks since Houston experienced its last 90-degree day of 2019. But since then we’ve transitioned rapidly from late-summer weather into fall and now we’re teetering on winter-like weather (be sure and check the forecast for next week below). Anyway, I write that to say that I think today may be one of the region’s last 80-degree days for awhile and perhaps even the last such day of this year. Although that is certainly no guarantee.
Wednesday
We’ll see some high clouds today, but for the most part we can probably expect mostly sunny skies throughout today. Given the sunshine, and flow of warm air, we can probably expect high temperatures to nudge up to around 80 degrees today, or a bit warmer for some inland areas. Lows tonight will generally fall into the 60s—how far will depend upon your distance from the coast.
Thursday
Clouds will build Wednesday night, and Thursday should be a mostly cloudy affair. Highs should generally get into the mid- to upper-70s ahead of the cold front. There is still some question when the front will push into Houston, but I’d guess it will reach northern and western parts of the metro area by late afternoon, and push off the coast by or before midnight—but don’t hold me to that timing. Another question is rainfall. If there’s any agreement in the models it’s that the better chances lie south of Interstate 10, and closer to the coast. I still think most of the region will see between 0.5 and 1.0 inch of rain on Thursday and Thursday night, with the isolated potential for 2.0 inches or more for some areas near the Gulf.
Friday
This will be a cool, cloudy, and gusty day during which high temperatures may struggle to reach 60 degrees. We may also see some very light, scattered showers as well, although those probably will have moved on. Friday night will be chilly, in the 40s for most.
Saturday and Sunday
The weekend forecast keeps flipping around, I know. But right now we’re back to partly to mostly sunny days with highs in the low 60s on Saturday, and around 70 on Sunday. Lows will moderate but still be cool. Fingers crossed for a fine fall weekend!
Monday and beyond
Veteran’s Day will likely see the passage of another cold front, probably around the middle of the day. This system will be bringing a large mass of cold air into the Continental United States, but there is some question as to how much of this air dives south into Texas—and our happy little home on the Gulf of Mexico—versus getting shunted more eastward away from Texas. I don’t have any confidence in forecast model solutions at this point, so I would guess we’re looking at nighttime lows of around 40 degrees by Tuesday and Wednesday mornings of next week, but they could definitely go lower than that. Also, with the possibility of some lingering precipitation Monday night, I wouldn’t entirely rule out the possibility of some sleet or a wintry mix just north of Houston, but I’d strongly bet against that for now.
The weather for the rest of next week will depend on the amount of cold air that gets funneled into Texas.
Based on what I’m reading here and other places, am I correct is my assessment that rain should (mostly) hold off downtown until the later afternoon or evening?
Come on winter weather!
I can safely forecast that Dec. 31st will be the last chance for an 80° day this year.
I dunno, a couple of years ago it was 84F and muggy on Christmas Day.
woosh
It never used to be this cold in Houston until about the last 10 years.
I dunno. I remember some pretty nasty deep freezes back in the ’80 and ’90s.
Houston has always had the potential to get very cold its just typically few and far between. When i was in 5th grade, circa 1994/1995, there was a deep freeze and Houston was shut down for 3 days. We lost power and it was a like a big camp out because we had to use the fire place and all sleep in the living room and had to cook over a camp stove outside. My friends and I made 20 bucks picking up frozen limbs from peoples yard.
Well, particularly the 80s. 1983 Christmas will never be forgotten nor pre-Christmas 1989. Don’t think it has ever been that cold since then.
Yeah, the whole state power grid was in real trouble Christmas of ‘89 when it was freezing in Dallas and in Houston. It gets cold here and always has (of course, one’s definition of cold can vary). But, yeah, like others have said, we get cold weather (and sometimes snow). The glory here is that it doesn’t last and moderates pretty quickly
I remember playing softball a couple of weeknights in November, 1991, in Pasadena and the temperatures for both nights was in the 40s, probably high 40s.
It was November, 1990 and not 1991.
Guys, I’m hoping you’re right. Yesterday night my A/C kicked on for the first time 5 seconds after my head hit the pillow. That’s doubly silly since the attic was 72 degrees and should have been cooling the house instead of heating it up.
Definitely. Cooking and baking are large contributors to heat indoors as well.
The downside of having a well-insulated house is that it’s hard to bring to outside temperature during the relatively few days we’d love to have a house full of fresh air.
That’s what windows are for.
Windows and fans, lots of windows and fans. Unfortunately there are people that don’t live in great areas where they can’t feel safe to sleep with the windows open due to lots of noise or potential for crime.
Also, it’s still quite humid down by the coast, which can be unpleasant to sleep in.
A “high” of 13 F in Fairbanks, AK yesterday. I’m OK with even with a strong cold front.
What happened to Fall? Seems it goes from Summer to Winter. YUK!