Nice thunderstorm last night left more than an inch of rain at the Rancho and cut the triple-digit trend. Almost three inches out at Lago Vista on Lake Travis.
Awoke to a surprising 72 degrees this morning. It’s in the low 90s this afternoon and forecast to stay there through Friday before the heat returns. Not enough rain to break the drought, certainly, but a good start.
Comments Off on One inch of cooling rain
Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Weather/Climate
Our heatwave is continuing, fueled by our drought, which the meteorologists say is the third worst October to April dry period since 1856—when the reliable record keeping began.
We’re in the 70s at night and 90s during the day, which is very unusual for April. Reason seems to be that the ground is so dry that, instead of absorbing some of the daily UV, it’s radiating it back into the atmosphere, heating up the air.
Brush fires are becoming common and high winds are making some of them dangerous. A neighborhood in Southwest Austin lost almost a dozen homes to a brush fire the other day. No fires yet where we live, though we do have some brush (in a dry creekbed) a block or so away.
So I have a garden hose connected out front at the rancho where I usually don’t have one. May, on average, is our wettest month. So maybe….
Comments Off on Our drought and brushfires
Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Scribbles, Texana, Weather/Climate
Tagged Austin brushfires, Central Texas drought, Central Texas heatwave in April
Lovely sound of thunder-boomers and flashes of lightning tonight as Mr. B. went off to bed. We got a little rain out of it. Quarter of an inch, maybe. More is promised. I don’t know about the neighbors, but I’m ready for the flash flood that usually follows a long Texas drought.
With more rain moving in to the Austin area tomorrow through Saturday morning, some folks are saying the Central Texas drought which began in October, 2005, is almost over. And the LCRA’s Bob Rose says our outlook is for near-normal rain for spring and at or above normal for the summer. Meanwhile, we’re already 7 inches above average for 2007. Lake Travis, meanwhile, is still rising.
Comments Off on Adios drought
Posted in Texana, Weather/Climate
Tagged Bob Rose, Central Texas drought, Lake Travis, LCRA
I said in the previous post that the drought was "savage," and then began to wonder if I was exaggerating. This might be a trifle hard to read as I had to compress it a little to get it on the page where I want it. But it shows that Central Texas, indeed, is in severe to extreme drought, and things haven’t improved in the four days since the graphic was made by NOAA. Driving around Lake Travis yesterday to get the photo below, I kept seeing signs warning about the potential for grass fires. Lots of houses back in the brush. Amazes me I have not heard of any of them burning up in grass or brush fires in at least twenty-eight years.
Comments Off on Texas drought
Posted in Weather/Climate
Anderson Mill marina at Lake Travis where the water is forty feet lower than it should be due to a long drought. That’s the lowest the lake-reservoir has been since 1964. The marina is half its normal size because half the boats and their docks have been moved into deeper water closer to the main basin. All that brown land and white rock on the left and brown vegetation and white rock in the foreground normally is underwater. Meanwhile, the drought gets more savage by the week, despite the El Nino that’s supposed to bring us beaucoup rain this winter. Hasn’t yet, although an inch or so is predicted with the passage of a cold front tonight.
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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Scribbles, Weather/Climate
Tagged Anderson Mill Marina, Central Texas drought, Lake Travis
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 