Weather in Houston in December

A good month. December works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. Highs average 17.9 °C, lows 6.6 °C, and rain falls on 9 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

December ranks 5 of 12 in Houston: past the worst of the year but short of March, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 9 days, 3 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 17.9 °C days and 6.6 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 3 nights fall below freezing. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 28.8 °C and the coldest night fell to -4.1 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 63 mm — roughly 66% of the month's rain in one day.

December is moderately variable: 25 mm in the driest year against 183 mm in the wettest, around an average of 96 mm. Roughly two Decembers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 7 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 80%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 22.4 °C in November, 17.9 here, 16.5 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in December

December sits at the dark end of Houston's year — 10.2 hours of daylight against 14 at midsummer, holding steady all month. Sightseeing days are genuinely shorter, and an itinerary built for summer will not fit.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 30 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage.

How busy it gets

Peak season. Expect the highest prices of the year and to be booking well ahead.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

December in Houston versus nearby

If Houston is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Corpus Christi is a better bet in December — 3.1 °C warmer, 4 days less rain. San Antonio is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 3 days less rain.

So: December works, with March the better month by 8 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Houston

See all twelve months in Houston, or where else to go in December.