Houston says goodbye to colder air, and hello to our hold friend, the 80s

Originally published at: Houston says goodbye to colder air, and hello to our hold friend, the 80s – Space City Weather

In brief: In today’s post we say goodbye to colder weather and hello to warmer conditions for awhile. Houston will see gradually increasing temperatures and humidity over the next week. However, cooler weather does appear to be on the horizon. I also explain why we hold our annual fundraiser in November.


Overall pattern

Temperatures this morning are generally 15 to 20 degrees warmer than on Tuesday, signaling that our brief incursion of Arctic air is over. Lows across Houston are generally in the mid- to upper-50s at sunrise, and this will likely be our coldest air for at least the next week as high pressure returns to dominate our pattern. We can expect mostly sunny skies and highs in the low- to mid-80s to prevail for awhile. This general pattern should prevail until the middle of next week, at which time a stronger front may be in the cards.

Wednesday

After today’s moderately chilly start, we will see high temperatures climb into the lower 80s this afternoon. We also will see more pronounced southerly winds, with gusts perhaps pushing as high as 20 mph. There will be a few clouds this afternoon, but mostly sunny skies will generally be the order of the day. With the warmer overall flow, temperatures tonight will only drop into the low- to mid-60s, so another step up even from this morning’s lows.

Thursday and Friday

Our warmer pattern continues. Expect highs mostly in the lower-80s, but some inland locations could push the mid-80s. Skies will be mostly sunny with the southerly winds noted above, and warm nights in the 60s. With dewpoints in the 60s the air will be modestly humid, but nothing too oppressive.

Saturday and Sunday

The weekend should bring a continuation of these trends. High temperatures will nudge upward, into the mid-80s for most locations. Skies remain mostly sunny and the models have trended downward with rain rain chances. For now I’d go with maybe 10 percent on Saturday, and 20 percent on Sunday. So very low, and probably not a factor in outdoor activities this weekend. Nights remain warm.

Temperatures will go up before they come down. (Weather Bell)

Next week

The first half of next week appears likely to be warm and muggy, with highs in the mid-80s and humidity levels creeping upward. This will lead to warmer nights as well, in the upper 60s, which is uncharacteristically warm for November. We may start to see a few isolated showers as well. Most of our model guidance is still pointing toward a stronger front arriving some time during the second half of next week. This should bring elevated rain chances in the Wednesday and Thursday time frame, followed by cooler temperatures. But the details of this front remain shrouded with some uncertainty.

Tomorrow I’ll dig a little deeper into this, and also hazard our first (and very tentative) forecast for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Fundraiser

We hold our annual fundraiser in November, because it is typically a quiet weather month. Matt and I very deliberately don’t seek any donations during the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season because we don’t want to appear as though we are trying to capitalize on bad weather. But just know that if you support the site now, you’re ensuring that we can provide quality information year-round, in the good weather times, and in the inevitably bad weather times. For more information on how to donate or purchase merchandise, please visit this page.

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It is definitely soupy out. That was way too fast. :upside_down_face:

Got another umbrella from you guys this time! Happy to support and I’m thankful I can. Thanks again for your excellent work!

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Ran in tights yesterday because, well, not many opportunities here to do so and it was barely within my threshold to do so. Back to shorts and singlet today. I guess the mosquitoes will be happy. :face_vomiting:

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You just know this is going to mess up all our subtropical plants. They’re going to think that snap of cooler air was winter, and start growing again…

Unfortunately most of the winter is probably going to be comprised of these one day cold fronts with weeks of muggy 80s in between.

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Agreed. I’m calling it now that the weather is probably going to be trash on Thanksgiving as usual.

Yesterday morning was 37 in the League City area with light frost on the roofs. Ended up mowing and cleaning up the backyard during the day off, and watering everything like summer due to the drought, ground needs moisture. Never done anything like that after a frosty morning

I haven’t looked at the data, but subjectively it feels like the past dozen or so T-givings have been muggy >80F washouts. I’ve kinda given up hope.

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Still bummed out that I missed the chance to get one of the 10th anniversary t-shirts during Fall Day. I adore that logo. Any chance it could be added as an option on customink since shirts are going to be on the menu all winter?

Pretty please? :pleading_face:

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Ugh. And we still need rain, too. Get on it, guys.

How long until you can forecast Christmas having a high of 82 degrees?

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Low and high temps in Houston on Thanksgiving since 2010:

2010: 48°/83°

2011: 47°/63°

2012: 50°/77°

2013: 31°/55°

2014: 43°/67°

2015: 66°/77°

2016: 49°/74°

2017: 38°/66°

2018: 49°/66°

2019: 61°/73°

2020: 50°/76°

2021: 53°/73°

2022: 61°/71°

2023: 40°/56°

2024: 51°/73°

So since 2010, the average low on Thanksgiving is 49° and the average high is 70°. This nearly matches the 1991-2020 climate averages for late November.

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Glad to know my memory for misery is a bit miscalibrated! It feels like those 70F+ T-givings really stand out, though. ugh.

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5 of the last 6 over 70F stinks!

I remember in 2010 it was warm and miserably muggy that Thanksgiving and then a blue norther came in at like 10pm and rapidly dropped temperatures with strong northwinds.

Any comments on the aurora due to current sun activity? I think if I squint that I imagine seeing a faint blood red tint to the northern horizon dispersed by local light pollution.

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