Anna Caplan
Today is expected to carry light precipitation with a chance of sleet for Houston, but get ready for Friday. Weather forecasters say the atmospheric conditions may be ripe for snow.
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While no accumulations are expected, Eyewitness News meteorologist Travis Herzog says today’s cold rain with sleet could give way to snow if enough moisture remains in the air.
Herzog says there may be a few hours early Friday when the cold air and moisture could overlap to make snow showers.
Areas south of Interstate 10 have a particularly good chance.
Meanwhile, the station’s chief meteorologist breaks it down further:
If the atmosphere is above freezing from the cloud layer to the ground, we get all rain. Even if the precipitation forms as snow in the clouds, the flakes will melt as they fall through the warm atmosphere.
If the air between the clouds and the ground is below freezing, we get all snow.
But if the air between the clouds and the ground is a mix of above freezing and below freezing air, we get a mix of precipitation. Snowflakes in the clouds can melt on as they fall through the warm air and then refreeze as drops fall through a layer of below freezing air.
And what about the old adage that says snow follows in a year when Houston gets a hurricane?
That may be faulty logic, says KHOU, simply because the area is overdue for snowfall: Houston averages a snowfall once every four years.
RELATED: Winter – or at least fall – is coming to Houston
The arriving cold front will keep temperatures low, although tomorrow’s scheduled sun should melt away any dreams of snowmen.
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