In brief: This post discusses the month of August, and why it is the worst month of the year for weather in Houston. It also delves into our hot and hazy weather ahead, and takes a peek at a tropical system that’s near Puerto Rico and may be a rainmaker for Florida next week.
A word about August
This month is named after the Roman emperor Augustus, who is considered by some historians to be Rome’s greatest ruler, and by others a tyrannical usurper. His greatest crime, however, is renaming this month after himself. Prior to that little matter of self-aggrandizement, the month was called Sextilis. That would have made an interesting naming choice for our hottest and steamiest month.
In any case, August is the worst month because it is the hottest month of the year in Houston. And we typically vacillate between the extremes of drought and flood, sometimes within a matter of hours. There is no happy medium. There is no break from the humidity. There is only August. It is also the month, alongside September, when we are most vulnerable to landfalls from major, destructive hurricanes. Now my colleague Matt Lanza will argue that September is worse. Why? Because September can also be hot, and there is the often false hope of a a cool front. But let me tell you, Lanza is dead wrong. I have lived through enough Septembers in Houston to know that we very often do get our first front in September, and it feels glorious.
Anyway, August is here. It’s always hot. It’s always humid. Let us fervently hope it is hurricane-free.
Thursday
There will be plenty haze again today, which will fade the blueish nature of the sky, as we continue to see an influx of Saharan dust. This haze, at varying levels, should remain with us through Saturday or so. Otherwise, beneath high pressure, we should see sunny skies and hot temperatures in the mid- to upper-90s. Winds will be light, out of the south or southeast, at 5 to 10 mph this afternoon. Lows tonight will only drop into the upper 70s. And humidity—well, you should know whether to ask about humidity in August.
Friday and Saturday
Temperatures will likely peak these days, with high temperatures likely in the upper 90s for much of the metro area. As mentioned above, we should still see a fair bit of haze from dust. However, beyond the haze we’re going to see sunny skies and rain chances below 10 percent. These will be good beach days or otherwise suitable for outdoor activities near water.
Sunday and Monday
A weak front is going to near the Houston region on Sunday, and this may bring a few more clouds. (Although I’m still going to bet on mostly sunny skies). Rain chances will be a little bit higher, but still on the order of only about 20 percent daily. Temperatures may fall back a degree or two, into the mid- to upper-90s. Still, it’s going to be plenty hot.
Remainder of next week
We’ll continue to see hot and mostly sunny weather for much of next week, with highs in the mid- to upper-90s. There’s the slight potential for some sea breeze showers each afternoon, and maybe some slightly better rain chances toward the end of next week. But I’m not sold on that.
The Tropics
I’ll have more on the The Eyewall later this morning, but the forecast for a tropical wave that is now nearing Puerto Rico continues to fluctuate. For now it looks like a weaker system will move into the eastern Gulf of Mexico and eventually move north toward Florida. Then it may spin around awhile before finally lifting north. This is very likely not an issue for the Western Gulf of Mexico, but is definitely something to watch for Florida and parts nearby.
The south has the burden of July/August, the north February/March
True, true. I consider March to be the finest month of the year in Houston.
Add me to “Team Bah August”. And, I agree that March is Houston’s best month for weather.
😂So two well-qualified meteorologists don’t agree on the “worst month?” I guess that means that “the science is NOT settled.”😂
Thanks for your August history etc. Your right in your comments about September. I agree that September can be only hot, but at least it’s a time we can hold out hope for a bit of coolness.
I’m with Matt. For those of us who migrated to Houston from northern climes, September is 100% worse than August.
Everyone expects the nonstop sultry conditions in August. September is tough because back home (Upstate NY) you can expect crisp mornings, changing foliage, and just overall fantastic weather. In Houston, September is nothing more than an extension of August – even if you do get a cool front as mentioned by Eric, you can perhaps expect slightly drier air for a couple days max with highs still pushing 90F. Sorry, Sept doesn’t do it for me here.
You’re not alone. We did a poll a couple of years ago, and a solid 30 percent of respondents said September was worse. (You are all wrong, lol).
Agree… Even as I enter my eighth year living here, I still pine for real fall in September. Sigh!
When I was younger, I played tennis in Houston in July and August — mid-day on the courts at Rice and St. Thomas. Just drink plenty of water and Gatorade. And people are playing golf and enjoying the weather here in January and February. You can’t do that when the ground is frozen and you have two feet of snow and ice on top.
This is a to each their own type of thing! Personally, I feel like I can’t enjoy the outdoors at all here in the height of summer… But I don’t mind layering up for a nice cold weather hike! I know that’s a personal preference though. 🙂
I’ll always fondly remember the two a days of football practice in August. What doesn’t kill you, blah, blah, blah.
The GFS has this thing playing an amped up game of hokey pokey in the eastern Gulf. Onshore/offshore/onshore & lots of fuel. I feel sorry for those folks.
What would need to change for the tropical wave to shift West and create destructive weather in Houston? In other words, are there realistic scenarios where high pressure in the Southeast US gets strong and drives this system into the central TX coast, delivering the wet side of the system to Houston?
I can’t tell if this guy hates August or not
Yes, this post is pretty subtle!
Sometimes we do get a “teaser front “ in September that brings a brief touch of dry cooler air if we are lucky, but it never lasts more than a day. If you don’t go outside at the right time of day you might miss it. Then it is back to hot and humid until November. Anyone who has lived their whole life in Houston knows that summer lasts until Halloween. You knew summer was over depending on how much clothing you wore under your Halloween costume. That was when kids did something called “trick or treat “.
Eric, I’m gonna have to tell you you’re wrong. 😉 September is a liar, as it has the promise of things to come, but even if there is a front, as someone else said, it’s quick and if you miss it by sometimes hours, it’s done. And then back to the fire or the monsoon.
I’m a native as well, so there you go. 😀
True….to all above because you mention there is a chance for a front in September ( and I remember many), sure it may be quick and nothing more than a little dry air that cools the temperature for a few days. However none of you mention that possibility happening in August…..so I have to say August is the worst!
When I was a kid growing up in the 60’s, my late Father would always say he couldn’t wait for September because the cool fronts started coming in and the fishing got better . And if I recall correctly, by the time we went back to school after Labor Day, the cool fronts started showing up . Now it’s late September at the earliest
Still….it isn’t in August. I remember it being quite nice a few days after Hurricane Ike in 2008 and that was mid-September
Real Texans who are born and bred here call August…the “Dog days of summer” And we take it in stride and man up and take it. That’s your educational tidbit for the day, transplants.
Thats the kind of thinking that also get those who are not used to this heat , sick or worse. Stay hydrated and take needed rest and not try to “man up”
So, you don’t use air conditioning – since you are too busy ‘manning up’?
Hey Eric! Thanks for the always great read:) Two points, however:
1.) Don’t forget the freakish “hell freezes over” cold front during the August 1992 Republican National Convention. The front arrived just before the convention started and ended a day or so after the event closed. Tres’ freaky.
2.) August is the birthday month of moi;) To me, August means lots of carrot cake and friends!
You guys rock. Thank you for what you do!
August is also my birthday month. I hate it anyway!
Eric is correct. August is the worst.
July is mine, and this one blew, no pun intended. I hope yours is better!
Let’s just fast forward to October
AGREE!!!!
August is bad. But I recently looked at my electric bill history and September is always the month I used the most electricity. Just an observation.
The bill I pay in September is definitely the highest but I am paying for August in that bill.
I just hope that we don’t get hit with a hurricane. Hot and dry is fine.
Mr Lanza is RIGHT. We all know that August is going to be hellish. I despise it, but that’s a given. At least August is honest. September is worse because there is this hope for reprieve, but most often it just keeps smacking you in the face. Such a hateful tease.
Is the Saharan dust invasion a recent discovery ( like through satellite photos) or has this been recognized for a long time or is this a new phenomena?
Hi @dszabotx … do a search for “Saharan dust history” – a lot of articles. Needless to say, been around longer than any of us writing here 🙂
And if you search for “Saharan dust wiki”, then go to the Wikipedia page – lots of info.
I came across an article at Smith [dot] edu … they have a photo of a person in a car, captioned as,
“Saharan dust on cars in Texas (from Houston Chronicle, 2013)”. The car is covered with the brown dust.
September means the opening of Dove season in Texas. Enough to make it an exciting month for all of us outdoorsman
Definitely agree with that…..can’t wait.
If by “worst” months in Houston you mean oppressive heat and humidity I would not not even place September in the top three of the “worst”.
Statistically the mean average temp at IAH is:
June 83
July 85
August 85
September 80
In addition there is almost always a cold front during the last half of September that brings a bit cooler and dryer air. Then there are other things in September that make it a little better than those other three months.
1.) Football season.
2.) Oktoberfest beers are usually released
3.) Fall Day (most years)
So I actually like September and place it above June, July and August.
I agree 100%
September always averages cooler than August even the hot Septembers with no cool fronts. The sun rays start hitting us at a more diagonal angle in September because of the tilt of Earth. This means that we start receiving less energy from the sun which results in slightly cooler temperatures overall through September. The upper level heat dome usually starts weakening as well which opens the door for frequent rain and more clouds. This obviously has another cooling effect. Most Septembers we get our first cool front late in the month which can bring us our first few nights in the 60s and even 50s. So even though September is still mostly hot and humid, it is still cooler than August pound for pound. Last September was the hottest one on record for our area but it still averaged like 5 degrees cooler than last August.
sep 1-15 i think we can all agree is still august. any statistics are skewed by the random chances of late sep early fall fronts.
Just checked and the record high temp for hou is 109 on…sep 4th, tied with Aug 27th! So the feeling that the brutal heat almost gets worse as we approach sep is accurate.
That is true it was known as the great Labour Day Heatwave of 2000. But that was a freak one off event. And that same September we actually had multiple cool fronts with one of them bringing a record low of 49 on the 26th and 27th. Statistically speaking September is cooler than August even though there can still be very hot days through the first half.
Bay City had a record high of 104 on this day last year. That is definitely not going to happen today.
Can we just get the weather without all the negativity please? I’ve lived in the Houston/Galveston area six decades, and yes, we all know it’s hot and humid in August and September. But I don’t think “worst month” counts as a scientific or meteorological term; in fact, it sounds like hype coming from a supposedly no-hype source. Hearing folks complain about the heat gets pretty tiresome. Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to a beach day tomorrow with my kids and grandkids! Hooray for summer! 😁
My former USMC son says that the Iraqi name for August is translated as “Flame”. One of his two eight month trips to Iraq included the month of August.
Once a Marine, always a Marine.