HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A powerful weather system over the Great Lakes is pushing colder weather into Houston for the weekend, but an arctic front arriving before Christmas weekend could bring a pipe-bursting freeze back to Southeast Texas.
Colder air blowing through Southeast Texas this morning will set the stage for a chilly December weekend in Houston. We’re starting off cloudy with a few light showers, but will end the day with a dose of sunshine as clouds clear from north to south. Temperatures this morning are in the low 40s with wind chill readings in the 30s. While most of the afternoon is spent in the 50s, temperatures will plummet quickly after sunset, dropping to near freezing by sunrise Sunday. Patchy frost is possible in Houston with a light freeze possible outside of the big city. Sunday is the opposite of Saturday, starting sunny and ending cloudy. High temperatures both days will peak in the mid 50s.
When is the next chance for rain?
A weather disturbance will bring widespread showers and thunderstorms Monday. This system has washout potential with rain off and on throughout the day as temperatures hover in the 40s.
When will the arctic front get here?
We predict the front will arrive on Thursday, December 22nd, and when it does temperatures will quickly fall below freezing as the north wind howls above 40 mph.
Are we expecting a hard freeze or any frozen precipitation with the arctic front?
A hard freeze (temperatures below 24 degrees for more than two hours) is likely for most of Southeast Texas Friday morning and possibly even Saturday and Sunday mornings. For Christmas Day, we are calling for it to be among the top 3 coldest Christmas mornings in Houston’s recorded history. If you have plans to leave town for the holiday, you might consider winterizing your home by shutting off your water and draining your pipes before you leave just in case we do end up with a hard, pipe-bursting freeze. As for frozen precipitation, the front should pass through mostly dry, but there is a small 20% chance a disturbance arriving over Christmas weekend could drop snowflakes somewhere in Southeast Texas.
