Back in August when we had blue skies and highs of 82, I was having visions of fall – my favorite time of year in muggy Houston. I knew we’d have more summer. I just didn’t realize it would last until November.
I mean, I know it has been hot, but, according to the Houston Chronicle, it has been REALLY hot in October – record breaking.
In their article, Houston’s October may be warmest on record, experts are quoted as saying this October will likely blow away all other Halloween months in the history of recorded weather.
The culprit apparently is a large high pressure system sitting out in the Gulf blocking the passage of cold fronts that normally keep us in the 70’s this time of year instead of the 80’s and 90’s. These are not uncommon this time of year, but one’s this strong most definitely are.
Fortunately, a reprieve may be on the way. A big cold front is headed our way early next week that forecasters believe will dislodge the weakening high pressure area and give us some cool weather…finally. High temperatures next Tuesday are forecast around 70 degrees.
Of course, that will be November and a whole month of cooler temperatures will be gone. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that this winter promises to be much colder than normal. The Farmer’s Almanac, one of the most trusted and accurate predictors of weather, is forecasting a much colder and wetter winter across the southwest and into Texas. It predicts the first “blue” norther of the year for Texas – essentially an arctic blast of cold air – around the first of December that could drop temperatures into the high 30’s or low 40’s for highs.
Most prognosticators have signaled a similar trend for our part of the country. At this point, I’d take a blizzard over the hot weather we’ve had in October. As Bill Murray said in Groundhog Day, “Anything different is good.”