It may finally be time for Houston area residents to officially unpack their winter clothes, blankets and other cold-weather essentials from storage as temperatures are expected to drop near freezing Thursday and Friday night.
According to Jimmy Fowler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service that serves Houston and Galveston, the first light freeze of this winter season could occur in areas closer to George Bush Intercontinental Airport and up toward Katy.
The weather is expected to dip lower outside the inner loop, closer to between 32 to 34 degrees. Temperatures in Downtown Houston are likely to stay slightly above the freezing threshold in the mid-30s.
“We typically do get freezing temperatures at least once per year. So far, this winter, we haven’t hit 32 degrees yet,” Fowler said. “But we have approached pretty close to it, getting down to 33 degrees twice.”
This cooler weather occurred at the beginning of the year in February and, more recently, in mid-December.
Fowler said the region usually sees an average of 11 days of freezing temperatures across the winter season – December through February. Usually, the first freeze day is early December. However, this can vary as the earliest was in late October 1989.
“It is on the rarer side that we are after the average start date, but it’s just the average,” he added. “There are going to be years where we are ahead of time and years where it happens later.”
Although uncommon, Fowler said there are years when it did not freeze during winter. It occurred three times in 1906, 1931, and 1956, respectively. He added that there is no indication that it won’t hit freezing this year – but it could be possible.
“Typically, December and January will be the chillier months of the winter season, and it will start warming up in February, so we still have all of January to get down to freezing,” he said.
According to Fowler, residents should not be concerned about issues with their pipes as meteorologists are not seeing signs of a hard freeze either Thursday or Friday night. However, the cooler temperatures will be potentially harmful to any vegetation, so he recommends bringing in or wrapping any outdoor plants.
He said this includes those living in high rises inside the loop, who may have plants outside on their balconies. Fowler added that despite expecting the weather to remain within 35 to 36 degrees in the city, the higher up in the air, the chillier it can get.
Temperatures are expected to increase slightly into Saturday and Sunday, in time for New Year’s celebrations.
Fowler said New Year’s Eve night will likely be warmer than usual, with temperatures staying in the mid to upper 50s across the region. Light rain showers are possible and may usher in 2024 along Galveston’s coast around midnight.
Houston area residents will stay dry while flocking to their New Year’s festivities as it is expected to be partly to mostly cloudy across the region.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
