Sweater weather has finally replaced sweating weather in Southeast Texas – and we are here for it. No more 90-degree days in Houston or perspiring while picking pumpkins in October. More importantly, Halloween this year won’t require rain-proof costumes but it will have a certain amount of fall chilliness.
After an especially blustery Wednesday, fall weather settles down and gets comfortable in Southeast Texas starting Thursday, with sunny skies and temperatures in Houston reaching 70 degrees in the afternoon. Although that is going to be several degrees below normal for Oct. 30, we are trending warmer this week.
Northwest winds will continue to blow at a restless 10 mph but they should become calm in the evening, the National Weather Service said. Under clear skies, overnight temperatures in Houston could sink to as low as 48 degrees before dawn Friday.
Temperatures in Houston will trend warmer over the next several days, according to the extended hourly forecast from the National Weather Service. (National Weather Service)
The gusty winds behind this week’s cold front will subside by Thursday night, but the danger of fast-spreading wildfires caused by weather conditions, particularly low relative humidity, will linger.
“Of course, the dry air will stick with us, so it’s still a smart idea to keep those fire safety habits with us through the week,” weather service meteorologist Sean Luchs said in a forecast posted online Wednesday.
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Halloween forecast
Houston on Friday will be sunny and see a bump in daytime temperatures as the afternoon high climbs to around 74 degrees, the weather service said. Those dry, chilly north winds in the wake of the cold front will be subbed out for warm, moisture-rich southeast winds out of the Gulf of Mexico in the afternoon, too.
By the time Halloween trick-or-treaters are ready to head out after sunset, temperatures in Houston will be solidly in the upper 60s. But those temps will quickly sink into the lower 60s by 9 p.m., and they’ll end up in the upper 50s by midnight if you’re coming back from any late-night Halloween parties.
Temperatures across Southeast Texas at 7 p.m. Friday, just as Halloween trick-or-treaters are planning to start canvassing for candy, will be in the mid- to upper 60s, according to the National Blend of Models, a composite forecast model. (National Blend of Models/Pivotal Weather)
“Looking out towards the weekend, we’ll see another trough (of low atmospheric pressure) dig deep into Texas, and give us another front and another opportunity for rain and storms,” Luchs said in the forecast. “This looks like a pretty vigorous trough, and something we may need to keep an eye on for a few stronger storms again.”
November rain?
Houston will kick off November on Saturday with a 30% chance of afternoon rain under an otherwise mostly sunny sky. Daytime temperatures will continue trending warmer, peaking at a seasonable 76 degrees, which would nearly match the climate-normal high for Nov. 1. Then at night, rain chances ramp up to 40% before 1 a.m. under partly cloudy skies.
“What looks like the key factor here is how quickly winds turn back to being onshore, and how vigorous moisture returns from the Gulf before we look at storms arriving Saturday into Sunday,” Luchs said.
Whether the storm activity turns severe or results in weak, scattered showers is hard to pin down this early in the work week, but forecasters are expecting any inclement weather to clear up by Sunday.
Houston on Sunday and Monday should both be sunny with afternoon high temperatures reaching 74 to 77 degrees. Skies will remain clear on both nights, the weather service said, with overnight temperatures falling into the mid-50s before dawn.
This article originally published at Finally fall in Houston: Calmer winds but Halloween trick-or-treaters won’t need umbrellas.