Rain chance drops Thursday but next week brings chance for daily downpours

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Some folks on Houston's eastside picked up nearly 2" of rain from the downpours Wednesday afternoon. The disturbance that created those downpours will move to our west Thursday, dropping rain chances down to 20%.

Temperatures will start off in the upper 70s then warm into the upper 90s. Lingering moisture from the disturbance will produce isolated thunderstorms during the heat of the afternoon. Most of us will stay dry, but where it does rain there could be a quick inch of rain. Any rain that does develop will be gone by sunset.

Is my county under a burn ban?

More than likely, yes. All the counties we service in Southeast Texas are now under a burn ban except for Chambers County. Statewide we have more burn bans in effect than at any time since the record drought in 2011.

How bad is the drought?

Drought levels vary across Southeast Texas. It's generally worse south of I-10 and slightly better north of I-10. These are some of the worst drought conditions we've observed statewide since the summer of 2011. We'll get our next update on drought conditions Thursday morning. This will include the impact of rains that fell toward the end of last week.

What can we expect for the weekend?

The weekend starts dry with near record hit in the low 100s. On Sunday a weak front will approach from the north to bring a 20% hope of a cooling downpour late in the day, but it will still get hotter than normal with highs close to 100.

Will we get any rain next week?

While we aren't in the business of making rain guarantees during a drought, there is a 20%-30% chance for rain most days next week! The heat ridge will slide west over the Rocky Mountains, and that will allow weak disturbance and some tropical moisture to collide over Southeast Texas. At this time we have a our highest rain chances at 30% on Wednesday and Thursday.

Is there anything worth watching in the tropics?

Bonnie has crossed over Central America and is now moving west through the Pacific as a hurricane. We are watching a Saharan dust cloud over the Atlantic Ocean, and no tropical development is expected in the Atlantic for the next 5 days. You can stay informed on everything happening in the tropics all season long with our daily tropical update.