HOUSTON – Houston, brace yourself! The bone-chilling weather is sweeping across southeast Texas this weekend.
(But come on, did it ever really leave!?)
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SEE ALSO: Cold air returns to Houston for the weekend!
So, here’s the deal...
The Houston area is expecting a chilly weekend ahead.
We’re about to see another stretch of cold air starting on Friday where temperatures will plummet to the lower 50s as the hard freeze moves in.
SEE ALSO: ERCOT issues notice ahead of cold front predicted to hit Houston area this weekend
The KPRC 2 Storm Tracker team forecasts that most of southeast Texas will experience strong north winds which will later bring a freeze on Saturday morning.
If you’re heading out to a Texans watch party, Saturday afternoon will be in the mid-40s.
Sunday will have a light freeze with highs in the 40s.
We will also have some unruly winds this weekend that’ll feel like you’re going to get blown over. Those are coming in from the north at 10-20 MPH with gusts of 30 MPH.
WHAT IS A “HARD” FREEZE?
When the temperature drops to 24° or below for two hours or more, that is considered a ‘hard’ freeze. That is most dangerous to pipes freezing (and don’t forget pool pipes!). As for plants, many of our Houston plants can stand freezing temperatures and some even to 27°, but any potted plants are best brought indoors. As for pets—if you don’t want to be out there in the cold, neither do they, regardless of temperature!
SEE ALSO: Prepare your pipes! Here’s how to get your home ready for hard freeze headed to Houston
HOW OFTEN DO WE GET A HARD FREEZE?
They are, obviously, more common from Conroe to the north and west. Houston (Bush/IAH) itself is on a rollercoaster for such freezes. About half of our winters since 1969 have experienced a hard freeze. In the past ten years, we dropped to 21° in January of 2014 again in 2017, and 19° in January of 2018. Then the big freeze of February 2021 we dropped to 7° and in December 2022 we dropped to 15°. We had no freeze AT ALL last year in 2023 which is the ONLY year on record that we did not at least drop to the freezing mark!
WILL WE HAVE A HARD FREEZE NEXT WEEK?
Yes, we will drop below 24° for an extended period Tuesday morning and, very likely, again Wednesday morning.
LOOKING AHEAD...
Starting Monday, southeast Texas moves into a storm track and it may be tough to get out of it.
It appears we’ll get round after round of rain falling almost every day through the end of the week. We already have a moderate flood threat Monday.
Our long-range models also are showing a tremendous amount of rain through Thursday.
We’ll keep you posted on this very important forecast here and on KPRC 2+. Don’t forget to download our free KPRC 2 apps on your phone or connected TV.
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