HOUSTON – Temperatures will be in the upper-40s Wednesday morning with rain showers pushing in from the SW.
Wednesday’s Forecast:
Wednesday will be cold, cloudy and wet. Frankly, it’ll be very unpleasant outside. Rain chances will be increasing through the day pushing in from the coast. Rainfall totals don’t appear to be all that heavy, a quarter to a half of an inch will be possible for locations south of I-10.
Right now, rain totals don’t appear to be all that heavy - It’s always a good idea to take it nice and slow on the roadways. Hydroplaning can happen on just damp roads - so even though Wednesday’s numbers are low - hydroplaning is always a possibility.
Next Big Cold Front:
Temperatures will warm back up into the upper 60s by the end of the week, however, another cold front will bring a reinforcing shot of COLD Canadian air late Saturday night into Sunday. This will bring shower and storm chances Saturday afternoon.
The cold front will bring very cold air from Canada. Nearly the entire United States is expected to be below normal around MLK Day.
Houston Marathon Forecast:
When thousands of runners and walkers take to the streets of Houston this Sunday they will need to be bundled up! Temperatures at the starting line will be in the upper-30s but it will feel like the lower-30s. Temperatures will warm to the upper-40s through the morning.
For most runners, those are pretty ideal temperatures - not too hot and not too cold. The biggest factor, as any marathoner or even casual runner will tell you, is if you’re fighting a headwind, which makes for a much more difficult run during those 13.1 or 26.2 miles.
This year we will be dealing with pretty strong winds coming from the north behind our cold front. For the entire race you can expect a steady wind from the north around 15mph. This will be a nasty headwind for half marathoners between miles 9-11. This will cause a headwind for full-marathon runners between miles 11 and 12 and also for miles 13-18.
Wintry Precipitation Chance:
We will see the Arctic air spill into the region all day on Monday through midweek. Both long-range models, the American and European, show a coastal system scraping up our coastline sometime Monday/Tuesday bringing a surge of warmer, Gulf moisture into that very cold environment.
The American Model: This shows a scenario where most of Houston will see a wintry mix of sleet and likely some freezing rain, and plenty of icy roads. Not a good sign.
The European Model: The European is a little more aggressive (and colder) with the wintry stuff. This scenario shows more snow than wintry mix or ice but that would also have enormous impacts IF this holds.
Either of these scenarios are possible as temps will likely be in the mid to low 20s for most of the morning hours starting Monday morning through Wednesday morning. More than enough to keep the ground frozen and icy!
WHAT WE DON’T KNOW:
These are just initial scenarios that WILL change over the next few days so any discussion about who will see snow/sleet/freezing rain is futile at this point. But, the likelihood of seeing some type of wintry scenario is becoming more likely.
Best advice a week out is to get some preparations in place for your plants (bring them in) and a dry, warm place for outdoor pets. The Stormtracker 2 Weather Team will continue to track changes as they come in and pass them along on all our platforms! Stay tuned!
10-day Forecast:
Temperatures are closer to average this week. Late in the week, temperatures warm above average into the 70s. The warm-up is brief. A cold front moves through Saturday night, bringing rain chances and a temperature drop, making for a chilly Martin Luther King Day.
Another arctic plunge is headed our way for early next week which is looking more and more like we’ll see temperatures heading into the “hard freeze” territory for Tuesday and Wednesday morning. While it’s too early to say for certain if we’ll see any wintry precipitation with it, you can definitely start to plan to bring in your pets and plants starting on Monday!
