A spectacular mid-week before a chance of storms returns Friday

Houston experienced a round of storms during the evening hours, and then again after midnight as a cool front swept through the area. Now those storms are moving offshore. We will have a couple days of drier air before we do the possible-storms-thing again with a stronger front this weekend. The weather for Mother’s Day itself looks sublime.

Wednesday

Winds have shifted to come from the north or northeast, with drier air filtering in behind. This should allow for skies to clear this afternoon, setting the stage for a pleasant day with highs in the low- to mid-80s. As the Sun sinks toward the horizon later today, temperatures should follow with it downward. Lows will drop to around 60 degrees in the city of Houston—warmer along the coast and cooler inland. Skies will remain clear.

Thursday

As high pressure moves east on Thursday, the onshore winds will return. But this won’t happen right away, so we can expect another pleasant day. Look for highs in the low- to mid-80s even as winds swing to come around from the southeast. A few clouds may develop Thursday night, but the real effect of the onshore flow will be felt in temperatures. They should hold at about 10 degrees warmer than Wednesday night.

Friday

The first half of Friday should be warm, and muggy, with temperatures in the 80s. But a fairly strong May cold front will on the way, and bringing an increasing chance of showers and thunderstorms with it. The front likely will reach Houston some time during the middle of the day or afternoon, and eventually work its way off the coast Friday night. As for showers, the best chances look to be near the coast, and we may see a few stronger thunderstorms. Rain accumulations don’t look overly impressive—probably less than one-half inch for most—but give us a day or so to fine-tune totals.

Saturday

Some slight rain chances will linger into Saturday, and while we may see some sunshine, I expect clouds for much of the area at least until late afternoon or early evening. Highs probably will remain confined to the low- or mid-70s, definitely a rather cool day for May. Saturday night’s lows will be impressive for May, dropping well into the 50s for most areas except the coast.

Mother’s Day

Can you beat dry air, a high of around 80 degrees and light winds for Mother’s Day? I would suggest that in May, you could not.

Next week

For now it looks like we will see a gradual warm-up next week, with highs climbing into the mid- to possibly upper 80s by Wednesday or so. At that point the forecast becomes a bit more difficult to nail down, with a chance of rain returning and likely more cloudy days on the horizon.