It will be warm in Houston today, and then it won't be again

[WeatherBot]

Originally published at: It will be warm in Houston today, and then it won’t be again – Space City Weather

In brief: In today’s post we discuss Houston’s brief run at normal high temperatures today, and then look at blustery (but dry) cold front arriving Thursday evening. This will lead to a cold weekend, with the chilliest temperatures coming on Sunday morning.

Briefly reaching normal highs

If you were wondering, Houston has already sailed through the typically “coldest” period of winter. This occurs from January 6 to January 14, when the average high is 63 degrees, and average low is 43 degrees. By late January we’ve already reached an average high of 65 degrees for the month.

However, you may have noticed we’ve been quite cold of late. Houston’s high temperature has not reached 65 degrees in more than a week, and after doing so today (probably) it won’t again until next Monday or Tuesday, at least. So enjoy today’s brief taste of “normal” January weather before another front arrives tonight.

Thursday

We are seeing some patchy fog again this morning, but this should dissipate fairly quickly as sunny skies prevail today. With southerly winds we are going to see temperatures warm nicely into the 65 to 70 degree range this afternoon. A cold front should push into the area this evening, likely between 8 pm and midnight. As there won’t be enough moisture aloft to support showers, I expect this to be a dry front. However its passage will be noticeable as winds will quickly pick up from the northwest, gusting up to 25 mph, or perhaps higher. Lows tonight will drop to around 40 degrees in Houston, with cooler conditions for outlying areas.

Friday

Skies should be partly to mostly cloudy on Friday, with highs generally in the lower 50s. We’ll also have those persistent northerly winds, which will still be gusty at times. A light freeze is possible in Houston on Friday night in Houston, with temperatures likely dropping into the 30 to 33 degree range.

Saturday

A secondary surge a colder air arrives on Saturday, and accordingly this will be a very cold day. Look for sunny skies and highs in the low 40s. Temperatures will bottom out on Saturday night, with lows likely in the 25 to 30 degree range in Houston, with cooler conditions for outlying areas. A hard freeze will be possible, but temperatures should be a few degrees warmer than what the region experienced earlier this week.

Sunday

Conditions will be a little warmer on Sunday, with sunny skies and highs in the vicinity of 50 degrees. Lows on Sunday night probably won’t freeze in Houston, but it will be close; and a light freeze will be possible further inland.

Monday

We’re going to warm back up into the 60s next week, and this time there will be time for moisture to return to the atmosphere ahead of the next front. The overall pattern is not exactly clear, but from Tuesday night through Thursday I expect a decent chance of rain, with overall accumulations perhaps somewhere on the order of 0.5 to 1 inch. Temperatures cool back down by Friday or so of next week, but at this time a freeze seems unlikely.

[Beowulf63]

Need some practical advice: can I uncover plants in clear lake area? Or is Saturday cold still a risk to the flora? Thanks

[kinglyam]

I’m leaving my sensitive stuff near downtown covered until Sunday, for what that’s worth. By that I mean mostly my citrus, since the tropicals didn’t stand a chance, like usual.

[kinglyam]

I realized last night that that Millennials and Gen Z (and whoever is coming after) will never really experience what “normal” means.

Once upon a time (i.e. early 90’s and before), you could expect if you had a “normal” high and “normal” low, you’d be within 5-10 degrees of that all month. If it was colder than normal, that was because the entire month was colder, not because you had a sudden arctic blast that dropped high temperatures 40 degrees in 24 hours.

[Weather]

Mine are back out to get warm air and sun, even watered them. Kept them close to garage on side of house (warm brick from sun) instead of long trek back on patio, so to make it a short run back into the garage Friday evening. Sunday morning will be too cold and damaging.

[Timbuktres]

This is normal for them, it’s just not our normal.But I know what you mean.

[richbeat]

@kinglyam You’ve touched on something I’ve been wondering about, and that is how climate change is affecting the polar vortex. Seems to me there is something possibly going on. I can’t speak for other parts of the country but here, to have two arctic fronts in a week’s time drop temperatures below or near freezing is something I don’t “think” has happened at least since I’ve been here (almost 39 years.)

[rflores23]

Remember when once a year or once every 18 months wed have a pretty bad flood or rain event? In the last 10 years besides harvey, those events are now non existent. Ive been in the same house for nearly 6 years and i believe there have been maybe 10-15 times i would consider heavy rain was in my area.

[MichaelVJozwiak]

I have lived in Houston since 1956. I remember the ice storm of 1991; however, that was during the weekend, a Friday night and/or Saturday night into Sunday morning event. Someone mentioned somewhere recently about an ice storm in Houston in 1997. I really do not remember two Arctic blasts a week apart before 2021, but I could be mistaken.

[lee]

I remember 1989—I think it was 1989?—when we blew all the record lows out of the water and dipped down almost to single digits. We were bringing water in buckets from the neighbor’s swimming pool just to flush the toilets. Man, that sucked, lol.

[Joseph]

Yeah, that would have been on December 23rd 1989 when it dropped to 7 degrees at Bush Airport. Earlier that same year in February Houston dropped below freezing for 4 consecutive days between the 4th and 7th.

[Joseph]

There is some growing confidence from climate scientists that climate change is causing the polar vortex to destabilize more often due to more warm air intrusions into higher latitudes and more stratapheric warming events as well.

Not enough data has been collected to 100% conclude that is the case but it is looking more likely in recent years. While we still can get harsh coldsnaps, unfortunately it looks like our window of temperate temperatures between the cold and heat extremes will continue to shorten in the future.

[Joseph]

In late January 2014 we had 2 harsh Arctic blasts about a week apart. They weren’t 2021 style Arctic blasts but they were still very cold for our standards with highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s.

[richbeat]

@Joseph Thank you. How quickly I forget!