Area gets needed (if ill-timed) rain

[TexasStooge]

By ANDREW D. SMITH / The Dallas Morning News

North Texas got exactly what it wanted – at exactly the wrong time.

People were just firing up their grills Tuesday afternoon when the rain hit Tarrant County. Sporadic showers continued until sunset, dumping as much as two inches on some Ellis County towns.

The rains had mostly ended before the fireworks began, but it was just a temporary respite. More showers are expected today.

"This system is a lot like the one that causes it to rain every afternoon when you vacation in Hawaii; it needs the sun's heat to generate the rain," said Steve Fano, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.

Black clouds distributed the much-needed rain haphazardly. As of 5 p.m., Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport had received more than an inch. Arlington, just a few miles to the south, had received only trace amounts.

Some 40 percent of North Texas got nothing at all.

The strongest early storms hit northwest of Dallas. The rain then moved over the city center and down into Ellis County.

Lightning accompanied much of Tuesday's rain. Mr. Fano saw a bolt start a small fire in Tarrant County. Another lightning strike, this one around 3 p.m. in Haltom City, set a house ablaze. No one was injured, but the city's Fire Department estimates the damage to be about $40,000.

Storms also knocked the lights out at about 4,000 Dallas-area homes and businesses. From that high-water mark at 4 p.m. Tuesday, TXU had whittled the number to 2,200 by 9 p.m., but the company could not estimate when the entire area would be back online.

The rain did reduce a risk that had worried many towns: fires caused by fireworks. But even in places that got drenched, the storms did little for the area's ongoing drought.

"We'd need to get about 20 inches to end the drought. We're not going to get that in one day, and we shouldn't want to," said Steve McCauley, a meteorologist with WFAA-TV (Channel 8).

Nevertheless, Mr. McCauley continued, "every little bit helps."