Strong storms could bring some heat relief Wednesday

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — This heat wave is about to break for a few days as the heat ridge slides west and stormy disturbances pass through Southeast Texas.

Wednesday morning starts off warm again with lows near 80. We’ll see more clouds in the sky as disturbances rotate around the heat ridge, and those disturbances will bring a chance for showers and thunderstorms. Some of those thunderstorms could turn severe with wind gusts over 60 mph and large hail. While we expect the highest rain chances in the afternoon and evening, the timing is a little difficult to pin down so stay weather aware.

High temperatures are more likely to peak in the upper 90s instead of triple digits, but the Excessive Heat Warning continues Wednesday as the heat index could still reach 113 or hotter. We know it always gets hot in Houston every summer, but this is extreme even for our standards, so please take all necessary precautions to protect yourself from heat illness. Stay hydrated, take frequent breaks when working outside, wear light colored clothing, and protect yourself from the sun.

How long will the rain chances stick around?

They stick around through Friday! Thursday actually brings the highest chance of rain at 40%. Then it’s back down to 20% for Friday.

How does the weekend look?

Over the weekend, the mercury starts to climb again as the heat ridge begins moving back toward Texas. It should be a dry weekend with highs in the upper 90s and heat indices near 110. The heat ridge will continue building back over Texas next week, which should bring us several more triple-digit days. In fact, early indications are that next week’s heat wave will be far hotter than this week’s heat wave.

What is happening in the tropics?

Tropical Storm Bret has formed in the central Atlantic and we are watching another tropical wave for possible development right behind Bret. It’s unusual for storms to form here this early in the season, and you can find out more about what that means for the months ahead on our Tropical Update page.