Near record cold Wednesday morning

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — An unusually cold April front has blown through, pushing temperatures will drop into the 40s just about everywhere away from the coast, and with the north wind gusting over 20 mph at times, wind chill factors will range from the mid 30s to the mid 40s.

The record low for April 21st is 42 set back in 1978. While the record appears safe, it will be unusually cold as the average low is 61 this time of year.

Sunshine should warm temperatures to near 70 in the afternoon as the northeast breeze holds steady at 10-15 mph.

How long will the cool air stick around?
With the sky staying mostly clear Wednesday night, temperatures will again dip into the upper 40s Thursday morning. After that it warms up back to more “normal” late April temps with lows only the mid 60s Friday morning.

When will we have another opportunity for rain?
A small rain chance will return Thursday as Gulf moisture rushes in ahead of another cool front. Widely scattered thunderstorms are expected Friday before the front ever gets here. Those thunderstorms on Friday could rotate and produce severe weather. Right now we have the rain chance Friday at 70%, but your chance of being near a severe thunderstorm is only 15%. The front will arrive Saturday morning, and then we will dry out for the rest of the weekend. Some of those storms could be strong, especially north of Houston.

How does the weekend look?
The rain should clear out pretty early Saturday, leaving us with lower humidity and lots of sunshine for the rest of the weekend. Temperatures will still manage to climb into the mid 80s Saturday despite the north breeze behind the front. Sunday looks spectacular with lows in the 50s and highs in the 80s.