On Thursday afternoon, another round of thunderstorms rumbled through the Houston area bringing upwards of two inches of rain per hour amidst a flurry of downpours that stretched from South Texas to western Louisiana. All we can tell you is, get used to it.
A slow moving disturbance in the Rio Grande Valley will gradually push Gulf moisture into the area, particularly with afternoon heating. You may have noticed Thursday morning was pretty nice, if a bit on the warm side. By just after lunch, thunderstorms began to fire up off of the Gulf and move slowly northward through the region. This will be the pattern again on Friday.
By Saturday, storms will be even more widespread. Forecasters are calling for fairly heavy rainfall all weekend and into early next week with the worst of it perhaps between Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. It’s going to be a very soggy weekend, unfortunately.
And that pattern should continue into Monday and Tuesday, though with slightly less widespread as we get towards the end of Tuesday. The hope is that high pressure will begin to build over the entire area and allow us to dry out before next weekend.
Most of us should expect 3 to 6 inches of rain between Friday and Monday with isolated spots getting 10 inches or more. Obviously, this will cause hazards on area roadways, particularly during and immediately after a heavy downpour. And with the ground thoroughly saturated from rains over the last week, we’ll need to keep an eye on area creeks and bayous, particularly in low lying areas.
Hopefully, next weekend will be a little more conducive to outdoor activities. This weekend, stay inside and binge watch something because going out is going to be a mess.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2021.
