Saharan haze arrives late this weekend, rain chances return next week

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- We'll get to enjoy a bluer sky for most of the weekend, but starting late Sunday, a thick cloud of Saharan dust blows in. Thankfully this round of haze will only stick around for about a day, and we should get some haze relief early in July with the return of daily downpours.

Overnight lows will again have a tough time dipping below 80 in Houston. We'll have a party cloudy sky throughout the day allowing high temperatures to again reach the mid 90s with the peak heat index in the low 100s. With the heat ridge directly overhead, rain chances should be near zero percent.

What's in store for Sunday?

We'll get a slightly stronger southerly breeze, keeping lows near 80 and highs in the mid 90s. Enough moisture is back on Sunday to generate a 20% chance of isolated showers. While the sky may look fairly blue in the morning, the Saharan haze will start turning the sky more gray in the afternoon, and it could be particularly noticeable by sunset.

What is the early weather outlook for July 4th?

It's looking like a fairly typical summer day with a low in the mid 70s, a high in the low 90s, and a 30% chance of a shower or storm popping up, mainly in the afternoon. In this type of pattern where the storm chance is driven by the heat of the day, we are usually rain-free for the evening, so we expect firework shows will be a go!

What are you tracking in the tropics?

With the large plume of thick Saharan dust moving through the Caribbean and Gulf this weekend, no tropical activity is expected in the short term for the Atlantic, but it's a different story for the Pacific. Visit our Tropical Update page for a more in-depth tropical weather discussion and forecast.

13 ALERT RADAR MAPS:
Southeast Texas
Houston
Harris County
Galveston County
Montgomery/Walker/San Jacinto/Polk/Grimes Counties
Fort Bend/Wharton/Colorado Counties
Brazoria/Matagorda Counties

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