Strong cold front and windstorm arrive, but warm weather returns for Christmas

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- After record breaking high temperatures yesterday, a cold, blustery day is hitting the area today and tomorrow. The strong cold front arrived overnight with a line of showers and storms, and sent temperatures down into the mid-50s shortly before sunrise.

This time, the wind will be a bigger story than the cold. Winds behind the front will blow out of the northwest at 25-35 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph near the coast. Gale warnings are up along the coast for this morning and 'low water advisories' have been posted for Galveston and Matagorda Bays, as the strong winds shove water out of the bays and into the Gulf. Tides will run 1-2 feet below normal, which will make navigating the bay and ship channel more treacherous.

Once the winds settle down tonight, expect a widespread light freeze across southeast Texas tomorrow morning as astronomical winter officially begins (5:12am local time).

The run up to Christmas looks very warm after that, but a strong cold front arriving on or around Christmas Day will make it feel like winter again later in the week. There is still a tremendous amount of uncertainty with the timing and strength of the winter storm next week. Stay tuned.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Weather »

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Colder weather is headed to Houston!

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A cold front is coming, so don't let it take you by surprise on Monday morning.

The coldest air since mid-February is on its way to Houston, but don't expect to feel any cold air while you're out and about this weekend. First we'll have to endure record warmth, bouts of morning fog, and a few afternoon showers.

It now appears the cold front will move through southeast Texas late Sunday night and early Monday morning with a line of storms, gusty winds, and much colder temperatures.

You'll need your warm winter coat next week as temperatures drop down near the freezing mark.

Stay with ABC13 Eyewitness News all weekend long for the latest weather information. And keep weather at your fingertips with our free ABC13 apps for your iPhone, iPad and Droid devices.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Weather »

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Endeavor's final journey delayed due to weather

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Houston will host a real space shuttle for the last time this week, but bad weather has postponed its arrival and cut its stay in half.

Inclement weather pushed back Monday's planned flight from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Ellington Field in Houston.

NASA says Endeavour is now scheduled to leave Tuesday and will spend only one day in Houston instead of two.

Endeavour will be flown on a modified 747 to its new, permanent home at the California Science Museum in Los Angeles. On its journey west, the shuttle is doing low flyovers of sites that contributed to the space program.

Houstonians will be able to view the shuttle while it is parked at Ellington Field. We will continue monitoring for scheduling changes and update you when an arrival time estimate is released.

It's the final flight for the shuttle and the last time anyone will have the chance to see a shuttle ride on the back of a modified 747.

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Last-second shoppers brave cold, wet weather

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The weather on Saturday did not keep people from doing their last-minute shopping.

Local grocery stores and shopping malls saw an influx of shoppers looking to get that final item crossed off their lists.

They were using umbrellas, ponchos and even bags to try and stay dry as the final shopping hours ticked away.

Good parking spots are always hard to come by on Christmas Eve, but it seemed worse this year as shoppers were trying to stay as dry as they could.

"One thing you can depend upon in Houston is rain during Christmas," shopper Aaron Burros said. "I was hoping for snow this year. I'm from up north myself. The rain is good."

"I wish it wasn't raining. I would have probably worn something a little nicer," Tonye Carlton said. "I'm in the Christmas spirit and I'm just happy to be out with my family."

As last minute buyers dodged raindrops outside some stores, others went from shop to shop inside the comfort of the mall.

"I always do last minute. It's a tradition I have," shopper Jerry Smith said. "I'm always out here the last day of the shopping season. Always save one thing for last."

"Last minute thing is not always good because it's hard to make those decisions," Daniel Quijano said. "But what can you do, you know? It's the thought that counts so let's be jolly about it."

"This is my first year to ever shop on Christmas Eve and I was lucky because I drove in and got a great parking spot," Ellan Adams said.

Whether it was the first time or an annual tradition, most of the last-second shoppers seemed to dodge parking lot puddles with a smile.

"It's a beautiful day to be out," Bill Donelson said. "Sort of 'Christmas-y,' you know? Festive."

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Houston Weather: SE Texas gets a soaking

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- It's hard to believe, but it's been at least four months since our area has seen a storm system even comparable to what we saw on Thursday. So the all the rain was really a sight for sore eyes.

The front moved through parts of the Houston area with high winds and brief heavy downpours in the afternoon hours, but it was a welcome inconvenience for many drivers.

"I think we don't realize how much it effects us, how much it helps us," said driver Valerie Hernandez. "Everyone's complaining about the drought and the brown grass, so I hope this brings green again. It's springtime and we miss it."

But the rain also made for some slick conditions on the roads. One pickup truck driver careened off the roadway and ended up on railroad tracks near Highway 90 and Grand Parkway.

And at one Heights-area neighborhood, a big tree came crashing down. "The husband had reported this tree to the city two weeks ago because a branch fell off, and she requested that the city needed to cut the tree," Heights homeowner Minerva Garcia said. Fortunately for the Heights-area homeowners, the tree fell at the right angle and caused minor damage. "Thank God it didn't fall on the house," Garcia said. "It looks like it damaged my fence." At the storm's peak, CenterPoint Energy reported more than 35,000 outages, but that number quickly dropped once the storm moved off past us. [Check current outages] At the airports, Bush Intercontinental and Hobby Airports had multiple flights to Dallas, Midland, McAllen, Alabama, Louisiana and Mexico canceled. Delays at the airports ranged from 30 minutes up to more than five hours. [Check airport delays] Even with Thursday's rain, it will take a lot more of it over a lot longer time frame to bust our current drought.

"That would be 12 to 18 inches of rain over a 30-day period," said Eyewitness News Chief Meteorologist Tim Heller. "The trick is we don't want it all to fall at once."

So until we get a month's worth of rain, the drought is not going away.

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