Another possible pre-dawn storm in Houston

Much like last week, we could see another batch of thunderstorms spread through during the pre-dawn hours tomorrow. Still a bit of inconsistency with the models, but between 4-8am looks likely for Houston (similar for Pearland). Thunderstorms won't have quite as much instability to work with as last week, but occasional to frequent lightning, gusty winds and very heavy downpours are a good bet wherever they hit. Much of SE TX and southern LA will likely be hit, but some areas might make it through the cracks in the bands of storms. Storms will spread east into LA as the morning wears on...likely hitting the I-49 corridor mid to late morning. One caveat is that northern portions of the broken band of storms could become stronger and move a little faster than the northern part. If that occurs, south-central LA could be hit a little earlier. Pretty typical rainfall with storms this time of year as a quick 1-2 inches of rain is expected. Locally, some spots could get above 2 inches in the stronger storms. Those stronger storms could also produce some locally damaging wind gusts so there will likely be a couple severe thunderstorm warnings. It won't be a widespread threat though.

Looking at the weekend, they'll be some more showers and storms likely Friday night or early Saturday morning. Potential thunderstorm intensity looking lower than tonight's storms. Showers could linger during the day Saturday which could keep things wet for outdoor activities. There is a possibility that showers and storms could stay to the south and over the Gulf which would keep it from impacting Saturday's activities.

Unlike winter and early spring where you have strong cold fronts and large storm systems, late spring forecasting is full of subtle features (weak front...weak disturbances) with a lot of possibilities (flooding rain and severe...or pleasantly dry). You need to keep you head on a swivel, but it is a great time of year to be a forecaster.