Today Houston will see some of its driest June air in years

Winds have shifted to come from the north this morning, and dewpoints are falling in the wake of a cold front passage. On Tuesday morning at 6am CT, the dewpoint temperature at Bush Intercontinental Airport was 75 degrees; this morning at the same time it is 55 degrees. The lower the dewpoint, the drier the air feels, and it makes quite a difference. There is a chance dewpoints in parts of the city could fall below 50 degrees later today and this evening.

To get a sense of how rare such a front is during the summer months of June, July, and August, consider historical dewpoints in June. Matt compiled how many times the dewpoint has fallen below 50 degrees at Bush Intercontinental Airport, since 1980. Here’s the list of days, with the number of hours below 50 degrees:

• Jun 1, 1984 (5 hrs)
• Jun 11, 1988 (4 hrs)
• Jul 13, 1990 (3 hrs)
• Jun 9, 1996 (1 hr)
• Jun 1, 2012 (4 hrs)

So if you’ve been wondering why meteorologists are making a big deal out of a “front” that only knocks high temperatures down into the low- to mid-90s, the answer is very dry air. It will have a meaningful effect on both humidity and temperatures this evening when you walk outside.

Wednesday

Nearly all of Harris County missed out on rain showers as the front moved through this morning, as they ended up developing east and south of the region. High temperatures today will go up into the low-90s with sunny skies. Winds will blow from the north at 10 mph. Lows tonight will drop into the 60s for most of the area—heavenly for mid-June to be sure—but we’ll probably remain above the record low for June 11 of 61 degrees, set in 1976.

Thursday and Friday

Northerly winds will prevail over the region to end the work week, and this should make for continued warm days, in the low 90s, with nights falling down to around 70 degrees. Things won’t be quite as dry as they were on Wednesday, but it will still be really nice for June.

Saturday and Sunday

We’ll see a slight warming trend this weekend, with highs building into the mid-90s and lows pushing up into the 70s. But it won’t be full blast, in terms of humidity, quite yet. Skies should be mostly sunny.

Next week

A full-blown ridge of high pressure will establish itself over the southern and eastern United States next week, and this will set us up for a period of hot and sunny weather. Look for highs to climb into the upper-90s later next week, and I wouldn’t be shocked if the temperature hit 100 degrees. It’s going to be that kind of heat. Also, as the onshore flow reestablishes itself, expect plenty of humidity to return, with summer feeling like summer in Houston.

Our next real rain chances appear unlikely to return before next weekend, circa June 20.