HOUSTON – Winter weather is coming. Expect thunderstorms, cold, and perhaps, even freezing rain.
A strong cold front will move through the region early Thursday, dropping temperatures at or below freezing, according to the National Weather Service Office-Houston/Galveston.
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Though forecasters predict the front will bring the coldest air of season, they do not expect that the strong winter cold snap will rival the record-breaking winter freeze of February 2021.
“While cold, this is not comparable to the Winter event last February in either strength or duration,” the National Weather Service Office-Houston/Galveston wrote in a presentation.
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While speaking with the KPRC 2 Weather team, Jeff Evans, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service Office-Houston/Galveston explained the differences in depth.
“By 9 or 10 a.m. on Friday morning, Houston will go back above freezing again, so really we’re looking at maybe 10 to 12 hours below freezing for a big part of the area,” Evans said.
By comparison, temperatures in the Houston area were below freezing for about 44 hours during the 2021 winter weather event.
Another significant difference between the coming cold snap and the wintry weather of February 2021 -- magnitude, Evans said.
“We had 12 degrees in parts of Houston,” Evans said. “My house had 14 degrees last February. (Now) we’re talking about 14 to 15 degrees warmer than that so it’s still below freezing, we’re still looking at some upper twenties in parts of the Houston area for Friday morning and then again on Saturday morning, so that’s still enough that, especially for plants and pets, you don’t want to keep those outside. It’s on the margins there, the upper twenties, for pipes so check your sprinkler systems and undo your hoses and things of that nature, but no this is nothing like the several days below freezing in the really, really hard low, low teens. That is not what we’re forecasting for the next few days.”
Watch the KPRC 2 Weather Team’s full discussion with the National Weather Service below.
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