Houston Weather at 6 P.M.: 72 Degrees, Friday Showers at 67 Percent, Halloween Turns to a Thunderstorm Code, Election Day Holds at 68

HOUSTON - Houston stood at 72.6 degrees, feeling like 73, under overcast skies on the station's live weather feed read at about 6:08 p.m. Friday, with the day's high of 77 already behind it and a low of 65.7 ahead. Friday's own code eased one step, from the heavy-rain code 65 it carried at 4 p.m. to rain-shower code 63, but its rain chance rose to 67 percent - the highest Friday figure the feed has posted all day. The last hour of early voting and the Friday-evening drive home are wet on this read.

Halloween Saturday changed grade on the same read. The day now carries thunderstorm code 81 at 79.4 degrees over 70.5, with a rain chance of 52 percent - replacing the light-rain-shower code 63 and 56 percent chance of the 4 p.m. read. A thunderstorm code is a different planning problem from passing showers: trick-or-treat routes should build in a place to wait out a cell, and outdoor parties should watch the sky rather than the clock. The feed has moved Halloween's rain chance between 34 and 56 percent all day; the code change is the evening's real news.

The rest of the week held its shape. Sunday and Monday remain the dry, hot bridge - overcast code 3 at 87 degrees both days, with rain chances of 3 and 1 percent. Election Day Tuesday holds thunderstorm code 95 at 80.6 degrees with a 68 percent rain chance, unchanged from 4 p.m. and still the highest figure on the board, before Wednesday and Thursday clear to code 0 at 81.7. The Weather Desk updates the file as the feed moves.