Austin weather is about to turn wetter after midnight Wednesday, when showers and thunderstorms are projected to move into the area as temperatures slide into the mid-60s by Thursday morning. The change ends a quiet start to the week and opens the door to several days of scattered rain chances.
That shift matters now because today and Tuesday stay mostly dry, with mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies and highs in the low-80s. Winds run 5 to 15 mph through both days, with Tuesday bringing occasional gusts up to 20 mph before clouds thicken Tuesday night and the rain chance starts building.
Wednesday brings the first clear sign of the pattern change. Skies are expected to stay mostly cloudy and warm, with highs still topping out in the low-80s and winds hovering between 15 and 20 mph, gusting as high as 30 mph. By late night, the atmosphere is expected to be primed for showers and thunderstorms to move in, setting up a wetter stretch from Thursday through Saturday.
Even then, the rain does not bring a cool-down that lasts. Temperatures are still expected to top out in the low-80s on Thursday and in the mid-80s on Friday and Saturday, which means the region will sit through a rainy stretch that feels more humid than chilly. The bigger question is not whether rain returns — it does — but how much of it actually falls while scattered storms remain in the forecast through the end of the week.
By Saturday afternoon, rain chances are projected to taper off, though isolated showers may linger into Sunday. Sunday is expected to be partly cloudy with a few isolated showers possible and highs in the upper-80s, with heat index values feeling more like the low to mid-90s. Monday stays warm as well, and next week turns hotter and stickier still, with humidity ramping back up and heat index values likely well into the 90s for nearly all of the week.
The hottest days of next week so far are expected to be Tuesday and Wednesday, when highs reach the upper-80s and low-90s and the heat index climbs into the mid, possibly upper-90s. For anyone hoping the return of rain will reset the air, the forecast points the other way: the showers are brief, the warmth holds, and the real change by next week is the kind that makes the air feel heavier, not cooler.
