C/S TX Weather: Seasonal with some rains

[Shoshana]

OK, now that's plain silly.

Wednsday forecast @ wunderground? 20% chance of rain and "Hurricane Gustav"

[Portastorm]

OK, now that's plain silly.

Wednsday forecast @ wunderground? 20% chance of rain and "Hurricane Gustav"

No Gustav for us ... we get the subsident north wind with lower dew points and hotter temps. I suppose it beats what our neighbors to the east got today, so I will not complain.

[Shoshana]

And there went Ike....

off to our east.

[Portastorm]

And there went Ike....

off to our east.

I cannot even begin to describe my unhappiness about this! Everyone I know was talking today about how we didn't even get one drop of rain from Ike. Not one drop! Our terrible drought continues ... as does our excessive water bills for lawn watering.

We should have known better last night when it was clear that Ike's western and northwestern sides (not talking eyewall here but further out) were dry and unimpressive. No rain, a few breezes, some clouds, that's it. Nada.

[Shoshana]

And the cold front arrived!!! It's cool and breezy

... and dry.

Amazing. What are the odds: Dolly, Edouard, Lowell, Ike. Floods in all parts of Texas.

And we're still in a drought. Not that we want floods!

But the 70's are a lovely change from the 100+ weather!!!

[gboudx]

Hard to believe you guys in ATX didn't get any rain from Ike. Here on the east side of Dallas, we got a little over 2" of rain. The western part of the storm basically came right over us and it rained non-stop for about 5 hours.

[Shoshana]

Not a drop. We saw the clouds build in and the wind changed direction but that was it. West side of the storm was much drier than in a 'normal' hurricane and that front that dragged Ike northward just before landfall zipped him up I45-ish and he never got very far west.

Since I've lived here (around 10 years) we seem to get more rain from Pacific systems dying out over top of us - like Lowell did to Lubbock than from Atlantic systems like Ike because of the NE turn so many take..

Drought map (latest avail)

[Portastorm]

Well ...seeing that I just got my front and back yard sprinklers going this fine Sunday morning, I'm reminded that we are now 10 inches below normal for rainfall for the year here in Austin, Texas. This graphic says it all.

[Portastorm]

Two weeks later, AUS is now at 11.25 rainfall deficit at the airport reporting station and 12 inches at the city reporting station (Camp Mabry). The severe drought continues ...

[Portastorm]

At about 1:15 a.m. this Tuesday morning, the grass/plants/flowers/trees/people (at least who were awake) screamed: "Rain, glorious rain!!"

Well sure, it was only between a half inch and an inch but what the heck, it is rain!!!

I hope this is the beginning of a nice wet period for drought-stricken areas of Texas, like the Austin metropolitan area.

[Shoshana]

Yup, we got .75" here at our house. First time we've had non sprinkler water in the gauge since I bought it before Ike. The grass has greened up a whole lot just from this one rain.

I'm hoping this signals the beginning of a cooler wetter fall!

[Portastorm]

Hey, hey ... things are looking up a bit. We got about 1.75 inches of rain in the last 24 hours here in southwest Austin.

[Shoshana]

We got less than 3/4" ... about .65"

Better than 100+F and nothing!

[Portastorm]

Sunday morning perusal of the local climatology shows both AUS reporting sites to be averaging a precipitation deficit of 12.89 inches. Unfortunately the drought continues with no signs of rainfall in the next 7 days. Not good. Not good at all!

Here's the latest drought map:

[Portastorm]

Today marks the fourth or fifth cold frontal passage in Austin in the last few weeks that has amounted to nothing more than a trace of rain. I am growing more convinced by the day that someone in my fine city must have angered The Almighty!

Our rainfall deficit is now 14.5 inches for the year. It's getting quite serious now.

[Shoshana]

More cold fronts, no rain. The drought is spreading.

Got a little drizzle that didn't register a few days ago.

Fire Weather.

[Shoshana]

And the drought gets worse - now Central Texas is in an "Exceptional Drought"

From the AP:

SAN ANTONIO - The parched area between Austin and New Braunfels has reached an "exceptional" level -- the most severe drought category -- according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters, who reclassified the area Thursday, said there's little prospect for rain in the area, meaning nearby communities probably will succumb to exceptional drought levels.

"When I saw the area that came out, I was kind of surprised that Bexar County was not included in it," said Marianne Sutton, a Weather Service meteorologist in New Braunfels. "I wouldn't be surprised if in the next couple of weeks it expands even further."

The area has had less than half the usual rain this year and is headed into the driest time of the year.

The U.S. Climate Prediction Center expects below-normal rainfall through at least February.

[Shoshana]

A month later and we're still in a Exceptional Drought.

Possible rain early this week but ....

So far the weather has been warm and dry or cold and dry. Add windy to various days.

[Portastorm]

As of January 30, 2009, we are now ending the 17th month of drought in Austin. It is so bad now that we've earned a place in the record books as a Top 3 drought according to Camp Mabry’s records (dating back to 1856):

1) 19.79 inches -- September 1955 to January 1957
2) 21.75 inches -- September 1916 to January 1918
3) 23.66 inches -- September 2007 to January 2009

Over this 17 month stretch, Austin averages about 47 inches of rain, meaning that there’s only been about 50 percent of normal rainfall.

[srainhoutx]

Good new Portastorm...
FLOOD ADVISORY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
651 AM CDT THU MAR 12 2009

TXC021-287-453-491-121345-
/O.NEW.KEWX.FA.Y.0005.090312T1151Z-090312T1345Z/
/00000.N.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
651 AM CDT THU MAR 12 2009

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A

* SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR...
NORTHERN BASTROP COUNTY...
LEE COUNTY...
TRAVIS COUNTY...
WILLIAMSON COUNTY...

* UNTIL 845 AM CDT.

* AT 644 AM CDT MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS WERE FALLING AT RATES
APPROACHING AN INCH AN HOUR. RAINFALL FROM YESTERDAY AND OVERNIGHT
HAS BEGUN TO SATURATE THE SOIL AND AREA CREEKS ARE RESPONDING.
PERIODS OF HEAVY RAINFALL THIS MORNING WILL RESULT IN MORE RUNOFF.

IT IS HARD TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLOODING AT NIGHT. IF FLOOD
WATERS RISE ACT QUICKLY. DO NOT STAY IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS.