Houston, Texas 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

895
FXUS64 KHGX 250554
AFDHGX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
1154 PM CST Wed Dec 24 2025

...New DISCUSSION, MARINE...

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Very warm and humid conditions continue into the weekend.
  Temperatures will be in the vicinity of records, and a few
  isolated records may be tied or broken.

- Through the weekend, expect nightly visibility reductions due to
  fog and sea fog, especially across the bays and coastal areas.
  The main threat for fog will be during the nighttime and morning
  hours. Afternoon fog should generally retreat offshore, but will
  quickly return to the coast towards sunset.


- Strong cold front late Sunday night into Monday morning to bring
  much colder conditions Monday-Tuesday before gradually warming
  back up towards average heading into New Year`s Eve.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 1154 PM CST Wed Dec 24 2025

Then one foggy Christmas Eve,
Santa came to say (ho ho ho)
`Rudolph with your nose so bright,
Won`t you guide me sleight tonight?`

And yes...I really did strongly consider just pasting the lyrics
to Rudolph in here and calling it a discussion. It would be a
surprisingly not too terrible summary!

The primary focus of the first half of the forecast remains on the
near-record heat, high humidity, and nightly episodes of dense fog
in the area, with an extra emphasis on the fog near the coast and
over the waters. This is...not really going to change very much in
the short term, and will likely carry on through most of the
weekend with little change.

Now, we are still looking for the ridging in place to begin to
break down modestly in advance of the next front, but we are still
looking at ridging so strongly above climatologically normal this
time of year that it`s simply not going to change the environment
very much. There is maybe a little more hope for fog (big emphasis
on little). But with winds veering more to southwesterly this
weekend before the front arrives, we will be getting winds that
aren`t as favorable for big intrusions of sea fog. And...that flow
does generally tend to be not quite as saturated, which model
fields kinda...sorta...imply Friday and Saturday night? It`s not a
real clear signal, so it`s probably more likely that this may just
modestly improve the fog situation rather than clear things
outright, but after this many days of the fog machine, I`ll take
what I can get at this point.

The price for this? Well, if we do get some modestly drier air
moving in just above the deck for the weekend, that will mix down
in the afternoon and help temps warm up a bit more efficiently in
the afternoon. Again, given the lack of broad change in the
environment, the impact will be modest, but we could see highs
around or just above 80 degrees get a little more widespread
on Friday and Saturday, and might be enough to pick off another
record or two.

Ultimately, nothing will change significantly, and the hot temps
and fog threat will not be out of the picture until a whole new
airmass comes into the region behind a cold front. And,
fortunately, that`s just what we`re looking at happening late
Sunday! As the front moves through, we can look for some scattered
showers and perhaps even a stray storm along the front, but the
big story here is the temperature change. All signs point to a
big temperature shift with this front, and highs from Sunday
(assuming the front arrives late enough to not mess with those
highs) to Monday could be in the ballpark of 30 degrees! And that
sounds really cold, until you remember where we`re coming from.
But with our heat perch so high to begin with, the resultant place
we land at is something seasonably chilly, 5ish degrees below
average. But whatever scours out the heat and humidity and gives
this native Wisconsinite even a seasonable SE Texas stretch to end
the year, I will take it!

Of course, it`s not just about magnitude, but also duration. Mid-
level ridging, but well weaker than what we just experienced,
should build in for the mid-week. As a result, Monday through
Tuesday should be the chilliest part of the week for us, with a
gradual warming trend keeping things right around seasonal
averages to close out 2025 and open up 2026.

&&

.AVIATION...
(00Z TAF Issuance)
Issued at 522 PM CST Wed Dec 24 2025

High humidity and daytime heating led to some isolated light
showers developing between SGR and CXO this afternoon, but this
activity will quickly end after sunset. Then, the main forecast
concern for the remainder of the period is the return of yet
another IFR to LIFR night due to low clouds and dense fog. These
conditions have already returned to GLS where CIGs are down to
200ft and dense fog has reduced visibility down to 1/4 - 1/2mi.
These conditions will spread further inland through the next
several hours with LIFR conditions reaching HOU around 05z and
then IAH around 06z. CLL and UTS may prevail as IFR with CIGs down
to 600ft and patchy fog reducing visibility down to 2-4mi, but
temporary periods of IFR to LIFR conditions will reach up there by
10z. Conditions improve through the day with clouds and fog
scattering out/lifting through the morning. MVFR conditions return
for most inland locations by 15-16z and then VFR by 17-19z, but
patchy fog may linger at GLS into the early afternoon. Fog and low
CIGs are expected to return Thursday night.

Light south winds will prevail through the night, increasing in
speed to around 6-9kt during the afternoon on Thursday, then
dropping below 6kt again by sunset.

Fowler

&&

.MARINE...
Issued at 1154 PM CST Wed Dec 24 2025

Fog has roared back across the nearshore waters and into the bays
this evening, with dense spots seen on numerous webcams and
observations around the coast. Light onshore flow will keep fog
in the forecast through the weekend, with the best chance of
widespread fog occurring after sunset, through the overnight
hours, and into the morning. With winds shifting a little more
towards southwesterly this weekend, the poorer fetch may help
partially disrupt the fog machine...but with dewpoints not
expected to decrease much along with the wind shift, this is
probably more in terms of getting some better improvement in the
afternoon, and will not be able to clear fog out on its own. No,
the fog threat will not be ended entirely until a strong cold
front pushes offshore Sunday night into Monday morning, bringing
strong winds and building seas in its wake. Gales may occur on the
Gulf waters, and will become the next weather focus after this fog
event comes to a close.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
College Station (CLL)  64  80  64  81 /   0   0   0   0
Houston (IAH)  66  81  65  81 /   0   0   0   0
Galveston (GLS)  65  73  66  73 /   0   0   0   0

&&

.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...Dense Fog Advisory until 10 AM CST Thursday for TXZ200-214-
     235>238-300-313-335>338-436>439.

GM...Dense Fog Advisory until noon CST Thursday for GMZ330-335-350-
     355.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...Luchs
AVIATION...Fowler
MARINE...Luchs