Weekend forecast

Weekend forecast A gorgeous Saturday ahead with cooler temps, lower humidity & sunny skies. We quickly warm back up on Sunday. Plus, a look at the increasing drought numbers. From Space City Weather - FRIDAY - *Highs today should reach the mid- to upper 80s across the Houston area with mostly sunny skies. *Tonight will be another mild evening. *However conditions should begin to change tonight, likely around or after midnight, as winds shift to come from the north-northeast and bring in much drier air. *As a result I expect temperatures to drop into the upper 50s by Saturday morning, with noticeably lower humidity. SATURDAY - *Saturday morning may see gusty winds up to about 25 mph, but these should start to fade by the afternoon hours. *As for high temperatures, this will depend on the extent of any lingering cloud cover as skies will eventually turn fairly sunny. *I expect highs will get into the mid- to upper 70s with low humidity. *Saturday evening looks exceptional, and then most areas outside of the urban core should drop into the mid to upper 50s on Saturday night. SUNDAY - *Just as quickly as the front came in on Saturday, it's likely to ease out on Sunday as the onshore flow resumes. *Highs should reach around 80 degrees with mostly sunny skies and rising humidity levels. *Lows on Sunday night will only fall into the low to mid 60s. ....... DROUGHT UPDATE: A deepening drought - We've been talking about drying soils a lot here because the state of Texas, particularly the eastern half of the state, has had such a dry winter and start to spring. At the beginning of October, last year, just 23.6 percent of Texas was in a 'moderate' drought, and only 13 percent in a 'severe' drought. Those numbers today, respectively, are 84.5 and 55.5 percent. For the greater Houston area the problem has been building this winter, but until recently was not acute. As days lengthen and warm up, that is now changing, and areas of 'severe' and an even worse category, 'extreme' drought now encroaching upon Harris County. Much of Chambers, Waller, and Fort Bend counties now find themselves in an 'extreme' drought. I am concerned about this because the next six months or so represents the warmest period of the year, with the Sun reaching a much higher angle in the sky, meaning that droughts develop much more quickly. Typically we see springtime rains in Houston (and don't look now, but we're only a couple of months from the opening of the Atlantic hurricane season), but for now the overall forecast shows no drought busters. No one wants flooding, of course. But we could use some rain events in the coming weeks.