Wake up, September has ended. But October is starting out no different

Originally published at: Wake up, September has ended. But October is starting out no different – Space City Weather

In brief: Today’s post starts out with lyrics from Green Day, which should say something about the invariability of our weather in the days ahead. But anyway, September has ended, October is here, and our eternal watch for fall-like weather continues.

September ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

Those are the opening lines of Green Day’s iconic song “Wake me up when September ends.” It actually has nothing to do with summer or weather (it’s about the death of the singer’s father), but the lyrics were running through my mind yesterday. In Houston you very well know August is always going to be scorching. You know September is going to be hot too, but with one or two fleeting fronts there is some hope for slightly cooler nights.

By October, well, that is when we can have some expectation of starting to see real cold fronts that knock nighttime temperatures into the 50s. Some days in the 80s with dry air. Alas, here we are on October 1, 2025. And there is no sign of such a front. In fact, the first 10 days of the month look very much like September. So maybe go back to sleep for awhile longer, everyone.

Wednesday and Thursday

These will be fairly hot and sunny days, especially for October. We are unlikely to set high temperature records, but the city will flirt with them. In central and southern areas, highs should reach the lower 90s, but for inland areas north and west of downtown, highs could reach the mid-90s. This is partly because afternoon dewpoints should fall to around 60 degrees. So it will be a slightly drier heat, as we’ve seen the last couple of days. Winds will be light, from the north at about 5 mph. Lows will be in the lower 70s. Rain chances are basically zero.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

With a more easterly flow setting up for this weekend we will see humidity levels increase somewhat. We are not going to feel summertime humidity levels, but it will still be sticky compared to what we’ve experienced the last several days. This increased moisture level should take a little bit of the top off of daily highs, with the region reaching the upper 80s to lower 90s. Skies should be mostly sunny. Nights will be slightly warmer, in the low- to mid-70s. And there will be some slight rain chances on Friday and Saturday, perhaps getting up to 30 percent or so by Sunday. Basically, if you live south of Interstate 10 there’s a puncher’s chance of a passing shower, with the best odds right along the coast. If you live further north, you may be better off playing the lottery.

Next week

To be honest, not much appears to change for the majority of next week. What you see this weekend you’re likely to see for much of next week. Maybe that begins to change toward the end of next week. But also, maybe not.

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It used to bother me impatiently watching and waiting for the first cool front to come in October. But thanks to global warming I realistically don’t expect one until November now as October has evolved into September’s little brother as far as temperature. If we do get one in October we’ve hit a mini lottery.

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To be fair, we did get a few good cold fronts in October of 2023, which resulted in below normal temperatures for that month. This included a winter like cold front that blew in on the 30th, with highs in the 40s all day with cold blustery north winds. Halloween was legit chilly with highs in the 50s and lows dropping in the 30s Halloween night. That is quite rare for October.

However you are correct that the effects of global warming are definitely increasing the duration of our summer seasons on average. Abnormal warm periods that used to be a fluke decades ago occurs almost every year now.

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Alas, no fall weather in sight. I’m trapped for still more weeks in this morass of heat and humidity.

But the best thing about the end of September still awaits, the NHL season starts Tuesday!

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I should watch more hockey. I’ve been to a single game at the Toyota Center and it was honestly one of the best times I’ve ever had. And the action is crazy-fast—guys were flying on and off the bench even during plays! And there was a fight! I mean, what more can you ask for?

Teams named after seasons seems lame for this region. Like “fall” - everything drying up and dying but still hot and humid. Who could be for that. Could we have team “rain” or team “tropical lush” or some such?

One of the most annoying weather maps - the one where all the rain falls on the Gulf. Buh.

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