HOUSTON – Houston, have you enjoyed the rain these last few days?

I know it certainly does and the area’s lakes, rivers and bayous love it too.

The rain pattern looks to continue at least through the first part of the week and we may also experience a few stronger storms early Tuesday morning.

Election Day could be a difficult time for many of us.

Monday

First of all, let’s move on to Monday. I expect Monday to be a lot like the weekend was. Dull, perhaps a few peaks of sunshine with isolated to scattered showers and storms moving through the region.

Rain chances will increase as we progress through Monday, peaking overnight and early Tuesday morning as a cold front approaches the area.

Threat of severe weather

Before we go any further, I want to mention the possibility of a few storms being stronger, perhaps even becoming severe Tuesday night. The graphic above represents severe weather forecasts from the Storm Prediction Center. It is in effect from Monday 6 a.m. until Tuesday 6 a.m. You can see that the Houston area is at marginal risk for Level 1 severe weather. That means one or two storms could become severe. A higher risk of severe storms exists in Central Texas and North Texas, where a Level 2 slight risk and a Level 3 increased risk have been indicated in yellow and orange.

I want to point out that the different color shades only indicate where the strongest storms are expected to occur, not necessarily how strong they are. So you could have equally strong storms in the green as in the yellow and orange, but the number of storms should be fewer.

That being said, we expect the worst threat to remain further north. However, we could see strong gusty winds accompanied by storms that arrive with the cold front early Tuesday, possibly coin-sized hail, and while the risk is extremely low, I would not rule out never the possibility of a brief tornado, especially in the north. from the immediate Houston metro.

Tuesday

Around 1 a.m., scattered storms will be present in the area as the cold front begins to move toward Houston. We will need to monitor each of these storms to see if we can be on the stronger side.

As the 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. period approaches, a line of storms will approach Harris County from the west. These storms can be accompanied by gusty winds, lots of lightning and very heavy rain. If you are traveling to work during this time, allow yourself extra time and be aware of changing conditions.

As of 9 a.m., storms will still be present in the area, although they appear to be a little less powerful than earlier in the morning. However, for many people in the area it looks soggy, so take it easy and be careful on these wet roads.

By midday it looks like we will still have some showers and thunderstorms as the cold front tries to take its time moving out of here.

Preview

So to recap what we expect on Monday and Tuesday:

• Monday looks like this weekend, gloomy with a few hints of sunshine. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will be present, increasing their coverage as we head into the overnight hours before a cold front arrives.

• There is a threat of severe weather starting Monday afternoon, but I expect the greatest chance of seeing severe storms to occur early Tuesday, as a line of storms approaches the area from the west. Gusty winds, lightning and heavy rain will be the main threats, with the outside risk of hail and perhaps a brief tornado.

• Tuesday looks to be soggy for most of the day, although storms are expected to be weaker throughout the day as the cold front attempts to pass through.

We’ll have more data as we get closer to Tuesday so we can determine a little better what to expect.