{"id":358396,"date":"2026-07-02T09:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/358396\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T09:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:56:08","slug":"houston-heat-stress-persists-ahead-of-july-4-what-can-we-expect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/358396\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston heat stress persists ahead of July 4. What can we expect?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img alt=\"In this weather satellite photo of Texas taken around 10 a.m. Wednesday, scattered clouds dot the skies in the eastern half of Texas, while a rain-making system of\u00a0low pressure hovers over the Big Bend region in far West Texas.\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\"   style=\"aspect-ratio:3 \/ 2\" class=\"x100 y100 opc bgpc ofcv bgscv block bg-gray200 mnh0px fill\"\/><\/p>\n<p>In this weather satellite photo of Texas taken around 10 a.m. Wednesday, scattered clouds dot the skies in the eastern half of Texas, while a rain-making system of\u00a0low pressure hovers over the Big Bend region in far West Texas.<\/p>\n<p>Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites\/CIRA and NOAA<\/p>\n<p>This current stretch of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/news\/houston-weather\/forecast\/article\/wednesday-heat-index-temperatures-southeast-texas-22326871.php\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hot and rain-free weather<\/a> that is overlapping June and July will persist through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/news\/houston-weather\/forecast\/article\/tuesday-forecast-saharan-dust-exits-rain-chances-22324953.php\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fourth of July<\/a> holiday, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weather.gov\/hgx\/\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">National Weather Service<\/a>. As we start a new month, a recap of June weather in Houston shows that the month defied expectations in some ways, but what can we expect in July?<\/p>\n<p>Taking a quick look at June weather data, a few trends emerge:<\/p>\n<p>June had zero days of 100-degree weather. Sure, the humidity made air temperatures feel about 10 degrees hotter than they actually were, but Houston air temperatures in 2026 at the city\u2019s official climate observation site, Bush Intercontinental Airport, peaked at only 97 degrees on June 29.<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>Milder temperatures prevailed. By averaging all the recorded daily high and low temperatures in June, you get an overall average daily temperature of \u00a083.7 degrees. That\u2019s only 0.7 degree higher than normal but also a full degree cooler than June last year, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weather.gov\/wrh\/climate?wfo=hgx\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">weather service data<\/a>. \u201cNormal\u201d values are based on climate averages taken from 30 years of data (1991-2020).<\/p>\n<p>Frequent rain events boosted rainfall.\u00a0Rare summer cold fronts and even a sideswipe by Tropical Storm Arthur led to nearly 8 inches of rainfall in Houston in June. The total cumulative rainfall for June this year was 7.82 inches, or about 1.8 inches higher than normal.<\/p>\n<p>Thursday forecast and this weekend<\/p>\n<p>Given June\u2019s numbers, will the relatively mild start to summer in Houston carry on into July? Let\u2019s start with the short-term forecast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>The weather service remains concerned about a moderate risk of heat danger Thursday and Friday, with peak heat index values, or humidity-driven \u201cfeels like\u201d temperatures across Southeast Texas ranging between 102 and 107 degrees (or 39 to 42 degrees <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/news\/houston-weather\/forecast\/article\/houston-weather-compared-cabo-verde-saudi-arabia-22318463.php\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Celsius for our World Cup international visitors<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>The heat risk increases\u00a0Friday and into the Fourth of July weekend, forecasters said, adding that peak heat index values this weekend could be between 105 and 110 degrees (or 40 to 43 Celsius).<\/p>\n<p>A broad ridge of high atmospheric pressure that had a strong influence\u00a0on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/news\/houston-weather\/forecast\/article\/houston-hot-texas-high-pressure-rain-22323530.php\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Houston weather in recent days<\/a> will continue to shift northeast Thursday, allowing rain chances to return to Southeast Texas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"The National Weather Service\u2019s long-range forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center have released a temperature outlooks this week that projects above-average temperatures in Texas in the first half of July.\" loading=\"lazy\"   style=\"aspect-ratio:3 \/ 2\" class=\"x100 y100 opc bgpc ofcv bgscv block bg-gray200 mnh0px fill\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The National Weather Service\u2019s long-range forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center have released a temperature outlooks this week that projects above-average temperatures in Texas in the first half of July.<\/p>\n<p>Climate Prediction Center\/National Weather Service<\/p>\n<p>Houston on Thursday has a 40% chance of afternoon showers under otherwise mostly sunny skies. Although daytime temperatures will peak at 93 degrees, the muggy air will feel like it\u2019s 101 degrees. Rain chances ease to 20% at night, <a href=\"https:\/\/forecast.weather.gov\/MapClick.php?lat=29.9784&amp;lon=-95.3424#.ZGPKqT3MK3A\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">forecasters said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs the ridge relaxes on Thursday, richer moisture will move into the region along with a subtle impulse,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/forecast.weather.gov\/product.php?site=HGX&amp;issuedby=HGX&amp;product=AFD&amp;format=CI&amp;version=1&amp;glossary=0\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">weather service said in a forecast bulletin posted online<\/a> Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Forecasters said they anticipated scattered showers along the Gulf Coast and parts of the Piney Woods, along with more rain across far eastern Liberty and Chambers counties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsolated to scattered showers are expected along and east of I-45 up to Madison County,\u201d the weather service said. \u201cRain chances look to briefly diminish Friday and Saturday and then increase Sunday afternoon and into early next week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"The National Weather Service\u2019s Climate Prediction Center is\u00a0anticipating above-average rainfall in\u00a0Texas during the first half of\u00a0July.\" loading=\"lazy\"   style=\"aspect-ratio:3 \/ 2\" class=\"x100 y100 opc bgpc ofcv bgscv block bg-gray200 mnh0px fill\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The National Weather Service\u2019s Climate Prediction Center is\u00a0anticipating above-average rainfall in\u00a0Texas during the first half of\u00a0July.<\/p>\n<p>Climate Prediction Center\/National Weather Service<\/p>\n<p>July outlook: What\u2019s a normal July in Houston?<\/p>\n<p>The weather service\u2019s long-range forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center this week are projecting above-average rainfall and temperatures in Texas during the first half of July.<\/p>\n<p>Houston, in particular, has a 35% chance of having above-normal rainfall and a 33% chance of near-normal rainfall in the first two weeks of July. What\u2019s normal for Houston in July? On average, Houston records about 3.8 inches of rainfall in July, with about 2 inches\u00a0of that in the first 15 days of the month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>However, Houston is much more likely to be\u00a0hotter than normal in July. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov\/products\/predictions\/814day\/interactive\/index.php\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Climate Prediction Center<\/a> is calling for a 48% chance of above-normal temperatures and a 33% chance of near-normal temps. Houston\u2019s average daily high temperatures in July are around 95 degrees, so we could easily start seeing days with 100-degree temperatures start to show up.<\/p>\n<p>Based on all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weather.gov\/wrh\/climate?wfo=hgx\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reliable Houston weather records<\/a> going back to the 1890s, the average date of the first 100-degree day of the year\u00a0is July 19. But since 2000, as the effects of climate change have become more apparent, that average date has moved up to July 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In this weather satellite photo of Texas taken around 10 a.m. Wednesday, scattered clouds dot the skies in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-358396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}