Good morning. We’ve seen a healthy lineup of thunderstorms across the coastal areas this morning, including a good soak for the city of Galveston. The temperature on the island, thanks to rain, dropped to 77 degrees. According to the National Weather Service, this is the first time the temperature has dipped below 83 degrees since July 1. We expect other parts of the greater Houston area to see some showers today and Friday before the heat and high pressure return this weekend.
Thursday
Skies will be partly sunny today as atmospheric humidity levels increase and high pressure remains far enough to the northwest to allow clouds to form. Showers and thunderstorms will become more likely this afternoon, with storms moving from northeast to southwest. Local temperatures will very much depend on the extent of this cloud cover later today, and whether we will see showers this afternoon and evening. In general, we expect areas south of 1-10 to stay between 91 and 95 degrees, with inland areas likely to see 95-99 degrees, with some locations like College Station likely reaching 100 degrees.
The chances of rain are around 40 percent, and these showers will be unpredictable, with brief, intense showers possible and straight-line winds within thunderstorms. Storm chances will decrease overnight. Winds will be light, mostly from the southeast.
Friday
Friday should be similar to Thursday, although with probably better chances of rain closer to the coast. This day is probably the best chance our region will have a high of 95 degrees or below. This hasn’t happened since July 1st, and probably won’t happen again for the next 7-10 days.
Saturday and Sunday
The weekend should see the return of highs in the 95-99 degree range across much of the region, with far inland areas possibly reaching 100 degrees. These days will be mostly sunny, although we will probably have about a 20 percent chance of an afternoon shower.
Next week
Unfortunately, it looks like high pressure will continue to build up in the area again next week, pushing area-wide highs back into the 100s again, and rain chances below 20 percent each day. If you’re wondering when this pattern will break, I’m not sure I have a great answer. Instead, we have to remind you of something perhaps depressing: We still have our warmest month yet to come, August, when these high-pressure ridges are typically even more powerful. We hope you will have some rain today in your neighborhood.
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