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Houston weather by month: averages, rainfall & climate trends

Sprawling across the flat Gulf Coast plain, Texas's largest city pairs its energy-capital and space-program swagger with a steamy subtropical climate: long, humid summers and a wary eye on the hurricane season. Houston weather by month: average temperatures, rainfall, records and how the climate has changed since 1940.

Today vs average

−9.0°Fhigh well below average

71° / 51°Today
80° / 61°Average
see today in detail →

How it's changed

+3.0°Faverage temperature, 2016–2025 vs 1940–1949average temperature vs 1940–496frost days a year now (2016–2025) · 6 in the 1940sfrost days a year · 6 in the 1940s135days above 86°F a year now (2016–2025) · 92 in the 1940sdays above 86°F · 92 in the 1940s+3.0°F vs the 1940s · see how it's changed →
Weather by montha typical year, averaged over the full recordJanuary, rain 4.0 incheshigh 63°low 45°February, rain 3.4 incheshigh 66°low 48°March, rain 3.5 incheshigh 72°low 54°April, rain 3.9 incheshigh 78°low 61°May, rain 4.4 incheshigh 84°low 68°June, rain 4.1 incheshigh 89°low 74°July, rain 3.8 incheshigh 91°low 75°August, rain 3.7 incheshigh 92°low 75°September, rain 4.4 incheshigh 87°low 71°October, rain 3.4 incheshigh 81°low 62°November, rain 3.9 incheshigh 72°low 54°December, rain 3.9 incheshigh 65°low 48°wettest month May, 4.4 inches · 46.4 inches a yearsee month by month →

Right now

What it's doing today vs the historical average for this date.
Mostly clear

Right now

54.1°

50°feels like
70%humidity
45°dew point
6 mphfrom N
UV index0.0
sunrise07:25sunset18:47day length11h 22m
TodayOvercast71°51°
MonOvercast78°55°
TueOvercast81°63°
WedClear85°67°
ThuClear86°68°
FriClear87°69°
SatClear85°70°

On this date: October 18

Today (forecast)
71° / 51°
Average for October 18
80° / 61°

High well below average · −9.0°F

  • Record high: 93.7° · 2007
  • Record low: 43.2° · 1948
  • One year ago: 91° / 74°

Every October 18 in history, coldest to hottest

▲ Daily highs▼ Daily lows

Dots show daily highs (top) and lows (bottom) for each October 18 on record (n = 87). Outlined dots are today's forecast.

Area we sample

Each city's history comes from one ERA5 grid cell, about 28 km across, shown by the dashed box. Near mountains or coasts, conditions can vary across the cell.

Location & data

Historical weather for Houston is sampled from the ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at 29.76°N, 95.36°W, with daily records since 1940.

Coordinates
29.76°N, 95.36°W
Time zone
America/Chicago
Period
1940–2026
Data source
ERA5 (ECMWF)

Last 30 days

29 of the last 31 days were warmer than the historical average for that date. Average difference: +4.0°F.

Each bar is one day, from morning low to afternoon high. Warm-colored bars are days whose mean ran above average; cool bars ran below. The dot inside the bar is the daily mean. The shaded band is the typical 10–90% range expected for that date. Average = the day's mean temperature averaged across every year of record (1940–2026) for that calendar date.

This date over the years

One dot per year, showing the mean temperature on this calendar date. Dots are warmer or cooler than the long-term average (dashed line); the shaded band is the typical 10–90% range, and the highlighted dot is today's forecast. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Weather by month

Average temperatures and rainfall for each month: a typical year, from the full record.

Climate overview

Houston has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) typical of the U.S. Gulf Coast. Through most of the year prevailing south and south-easterly winds draw heat and tropical moisture off the nearby Gulf of Mexico and Galveston Bay, making summers long, hot and intensely humid. The land is flat and low-lying, which, together with that abundant moisture, leaves the metropolis exposed to heavy downpours and slow-draining floods.

Houston has suffered more flood losses than any other U.S. city, and its modern history is punctuated by tropical disasters: Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, the catastrophic flooding of Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, and the Memorial Day and April floods of 2015 and 2016. Hurricane Rita in 2005, Tropical Storm Imelda in 2019 and a powerful derecho in May 2024 underline how often extreme weather tests the region.

August brings the year's peak warmth, with afternoons typically reaching 91.6°F and nights around 74.8°F. On about 175 nights a year, the temperature never drops below 68°F. At the other extreme, January brings afternoon highs of about 62.8°F and typical overnight lows of 45.3°F.

The yearly total for Houston comes to about 46.4 inches; monthly amounts range from 3.4 inches in February up to 4.4 inches in May.

The record here starts in 1940, and since then the annual mean in Houston has climbed 3.0°F from the first ten years to the last ten. The count of days past 86°F has risen from roughly 90 a year to 135 between the record's first and last decades.

Sources:en.wikipedia.orgbritannica.comweather.gov

Climate graph (climograph)

August is the warmest month, January the coolest: a yearly swing of 30°F. Wettest month: May (~4.4 in). Whole year averages ~46.4 inches of rain.

Bars = average monthly rainfall (right axis). Lines = average daily high and low (left axis). Average = each month's value averaged across every year of record (1940–2026).

Rainy days by month

About 101 rainy days a year: most in August (~11), fewest in October (~7).

Bars = average number of days with ≥ 0.08 in per month. Hover for the monthly rainfall total.

Monthly wind

Average daily peak wind at 10 m, by month.

Monthly solar energy

Average daily incoming solar energy in megajoules per square metre: the record's own proxy for how sunny the month is.

Houston month by month: what to expect

Typical conditions for each month, averaged across the full record (since 1940). Daylight is the time from sunrise to sunset. Record high/low are the most extreme values in the ERA5 dataset (modelled since 1940), so they can differ from official weather-station readings.

MonthAvg highAvg lowRainRainy daysDaylightRecord highRecord low
January62.8°45.3°4.0 in810.3 h83.2° (2022)5.7° (1949)
February66.1°48.3°3.4 in711.0 h86.8° (1986)9.0° (1951)
March72.2°54.2°3.5 in811.8 h90.0° (2013)22.2° (2002)
April78.2°61.2°3.9 in712.7 h93.7° (1963)33.8° (1987)
May84.2°68.2°4.4 in913.5 h97.5° (1998)44.1° (2013)
June89.2°73.6°4.1 in913.9 h105.9° (2013)54.9° (1984)
July91.1°75.1°3.8 in1013.7 h103.8° (1998)62.6° (1967)
August91.6°74.8°3.7 in1113.1 h107.5° (2023)60.1° (1949)
September87.5°70.8°4.4 in1012.2 h107.6° (2000)48.6° (1967)
October81.1°62.1°3.4 in711.3 h96.0° (2024)31.8° (1993)
November71.7°53.5°3.9 in710.5 h88.8° (1988)25.8° (1951)
December65.3°47.8°3.9 in810.1 h83.7° (1956)8.9° (1989)

How it's changed

Year-by-year signals from 1940 to today.

Climate stripes

Annual mean shifted from 1940–1949 to 2016–2025 by +3.0°F.

Each vertical stripe is one year. Color encodes how much that year's annual mean differed from the long-term average. Average = each year's annual mean compared to the average of all years (1940–2026). cooler ← → warmer

Annual mean temperature

Long-term trend: +0.33°F per decade.

One point per year, showing the temperature averaged across the whole year. The dashed line is the least-squares long-term trend. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Seasonal warming

Mar–May is warming fastest: +0.42°F per decade.

Each faint line is one three-month period's average per year; the bold dashed line is its long-term trend. Different parts of the year often warm at different rates. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Hot days vs frost days

Days ≥ 86°F per year: 92.4 early in the record → 134.8 recently. Frost days: 6 → 6.

Thin lines are raw yearly counts; thick lines are the smoothed trend that removes year-to-year noise. The hot-day threshold is auto-picked per city so the line actually moves. Average = a centered 5-year rolling average to smooth weather noise.

Yearly hot & cold extremes

All-time high in 2000, all-time low in 1949: 107.6°F / 5.7°F.

One point per year: the single hottest and coldest day recorded that year.

Annual rainfall

~46.4 in/year on average. Last decade: +25% vs that average. Long-term trend: +1.16 in per decade.

One bar per year of total rainfall. Dashed line is the long-term average. Average = the average annual rainfall across every year of record (1940–2026).

Day-by-day grid

Each tiny square is one calendar day across the full record, about 30,000 days per city. Use the mode switch above the chart: Anomaly colors each day by how far it ran from the historical average for that date (red = warmer, blue = cooler), Daily mean temp shows the absolute mean temperature for the day (useful to see seasons and heatwaves), and Precipitation shows daily rainfall (useful to spot wet/dry seasons and droughts). Average = the long-term average for that calendar date (1940–2026).

Frequently asked questions about Houston

Which is the warmest month in Houston?
On long-term average, the warmest month in Houston is August (mean daily temperature of about 82.4°F) and the coolest is January (about 52.6°F).
How does today's temperature in Houston compare to the historical average?
On October 18, 2026, Houston is forecast to reach a high of 71.4°F and a low of 50.9°F. The long-term average for this date (the full record since 1940) is a high of 80.4°F and a low of 61.1°F, so today's high is 9.0°F cooler than that average.
How much has Houston warmed since 1940?
Comparing the first decade of the record (1940–1949) with the most recent (2016–2025), the annual mean temperature in Houston is about 3.0°F warmer.
How much does it rain in Houston?
Houston receives about 46.4 inches of precipitation per year on long-term average, with May typically the wettest month.
What is the average temperature in Houston?
Over the full record (since 1940), the annual mean temperature in Houston is about 68.9°F. The warmest month is August and the coolest is January.
What are the average temperatures in Houston by month?
Average daily highs and lows for each month in Houston (°F, full record since 1940): January 63°/45°, February 66°/48°, March 72°/54°, April 78°/61°, May 84°/68°, June 89°/74°, July 91°/75°, August 92°/75°, September 87°/71°, October 81°/62°, November 72°/54°, December 65°/48°.
What is the weather like in Houston in summer?
June to August is summer in Houston, and it is hot. Expect 89–92°F by day and 74–75°F at night, with August the warmest month. Rain falls on about 10 days a month, adding up to around 3.9 inches.
What is the weather like in Houston in winter?
December to February is winter in Houston, and it is mild. Daytime highs sit at 63–66°F and nights at 45–48°F; January is the coldest month. Rain is steady at around 3.7 inches a month, spread over roughly 8 days.
What is the weather like in Houston in spring?
March to May is spring in Houston, and it is pleasantly warm. March is still 72°F in the afternoon and 54°F at night, May already 84°F and 68°F. Rain falls on about 8 days a month, adding up to around 3.9 inches.
What is the weather like in Houston in autumn?
September to November is autumn in Houston, and it is warm. It cools from 87°F by day and 71°F at night in September to 72°F and 54°F in November. Rain is steady at around 3.9 inches a month, spread over roughly 8 days.
How many days a year does it rain in Houston?
On long-term average, Houston has about 101 days a year with at least 0.08 inches of rain or snow. The annual total is roughly 46.4 inches.

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