Houston's Weather (Brownsville, Galveston, The Woodlands: how much, tornado, live)

[Cypress Boy]

Here's a detailed sumary of Houston's weather.

1. Summer: Summer in Houston is of course HOT & HUMID (90's for highs are common on most days during the peak of summer & the 100's although not that common are reached sometimes so far this summer Houston has not officially reached 100). Daily summer time isolated thunderstorms are not uncommon especially in June (Are wettest month) but keep in mind when I mean daily summer time thunderstorm's I mean pop up storms which are thunderstorms that "pop" up or form during the heat of the day (They usually don't last any more than 15 minutes at the most and that's if there's thunderstorms that day. Sometimes (especially in June) the heavy rains and runoff from this storms can cause minor street flooding. While some years were above average as far as rainfall some years were below average in rainfall in other words drought's in the summer time are not on heard of. An of course Tropical Storms & Hurricanes do hit the area from time to time.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Fall/Winter: Fall in Houston is when the transition from hot muggy weather to cool weather takes place. In early fall we start to see are first cool fronts which bring temps to the 60's for highs and the 40's-50's for lows (COOL but NOT COLD) as we go into November fronts sometimes clash with the warm air and cause Severe thunderstorms (Houston has seen some of it's worst severe weather outbreaks in November for instance the tornado outbreak of November 2003 which spun up over 20 Tornados in a matter of hours in the Houston area( Even though Tornados are not that common they can happen any month and season of the year). As we go into late Fall & the beginning of December Houston usually see's it's first freeze by the 12th of December. Snow is rare in Houston and when it does snow it usually doesn't accumulate. Around here the more North & West you live your better chances of seeing any type of Frozen precipitation & hard freezes. You would be suprised how much of a tempeture difference there is in the area, some nights in the winter Downtown may be in the 40's while the Northern suburbs (Cypress,Tomball,Spring,The Woodlands,Conroe,Humble ect...) May be close to freezing or freezing. Mainly not because there to the North but more of what we call the Heat Island Effect which is when city's are warmer than the surrounding suburbs because of all the concrete and buildings in the city which helps to absorb heat and not allow the city to cool as fast and as much as the suburbs do. The suburbs cool faster and easier because of the pine forest's in are northern suburbs and less buildings and concrete that help for the heat to escape during the nighttime and allowing it to cool more than the city. So the Northern suburbs do have a better chance of getting frozen precipitation than the city. And high's in the 30's once or twice a year are not uncommon.
   
   Spring in Houston is when the tempetures start to warm up and Tornado season begins severe thunderstorms are not uncommon during the spring. Every once in a while we may get a light freeze in the northern suburbs during early Spring. As you can see the weather in Houston can change from the 80's to the 40's and 30's in a matter of hours. I just wanted to make this topic so people can get farmilar with Houston's weather and climate.
   

[TGM]

Let me sum that up for you.

Its HOT - period. Sometimes during the months that other people are having winter, it gets cooler at night.

[FL-NC-AZ-TX]

I think the most amazing weather statistic for Houston is the fact that in 1895 we actually had a blizzard! Supposedly the storm dumped 2-3 feet of snow within a two day period on the city and it took about 2 weeks to melt! Could you imagine the impacts that would have if it happened again today! That same storm also dumped 6" in Brownsville, 16" in Galveston, and 9" in New Orleans.

Unless this ever happens again though, for the most part Houston is hot with coolish (but not cold) winters; the exception being a few days when the high stays below 45F or there is a hard freeze. Since 1895, there have only been 26 other accumulating snowfalls (and only 2 since 1990; a trace in 1996 and 0.1-1" in 2004).

I think Cypress Boy did a good job in summing it all up.

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

I wish we did have fall and winter here!!! It's over 90 on Oct 3rd We have two seaons HOT and maybe not so hot.

[etexbill]

Hey, it snowed on Galveston beach just a few years ago.

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

Originally Posted by etexbill

Hey, it snowed on Galveston beach just a few years ago.

Yes it did Christmas 2004, but it doesn't make up for all the HOT Christmas's in the past or the one to come.

[FL-NC-AZ-TX]

Originally Posted by I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA

Yes it did Christmas 2004, but it doesn't make up for all the HOT Christmas's in the past or the one to come.

hopefully not! lol. I hope this christmas is a cold one. I have been hearing this could be a chilly winter, so let's hope our few cold days come around the holidays.

[txgrl]

Originally Posted by etexbill

Hey, it snowed on Galveston beach just a few years ago.

And wouldn't you know I missed it. I was up north and it didn't snow there lol.

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

Originally Posted by FL-NC-AZ-TX

hopefully not! lol. I hope this christmas is a cold one. I have been hearing this could be a chilly winter, so let's hope our few cold days come around the holidays.

Oh I hope you are right!!!! I LOVE COLD weather!

[randtbrown]

Originally Posted by TGM

Let me sum that up for you.

Its HOT - period. Sometimes during the months that other people are having winter, it gets cooler at night.

I agree.

I think the above post was a little giving. It may not reach 100, although I am pretty sure we have hit it this year, but it doesn't matter. What matters is the HEAT INDEX, which is OVER 100 often in teh summer. Who cares waht the temp really is, when it feels like 105 then it might as well be 105. It is October and I'm still hot in shorts.