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Shoshana wrote:No hail, .25" rain. Awesome.
Did it hold together long enough to get to y'all!
Statement as of 5:35 PM CDT on August 27, 2009
... A Severe Thunderstorm Warning remains in effect until 600 PM CDT
for eastern Travis County...
At 533 PM CDT... NWS meteorologists continued to detect a severe
thunderstorm capable of producing penny size hail... and damaging
winds in excess of 60 mph. This storm was located near West Lake
Hills... or near Austin... moving southeast at 15 mph.
Some locations in the warning area include Rollingwood... Sunset
Valley... del Valle... Pilot Knob and bergstrom.
Lat... Lon 3035 9794 3045 9782 3026 9754 3011 9776
time... Mot... loc 2235z 318deg 15kt 3032 9781
Statement as of 4:51 PM CDT on August 27, 2009
... A strong thunderstorm was affecting Burnet... Travis and Williamson
counties...
At 450 PM CDT... NWS meteorologists are tracking a strong thunderstorm
5 miles west of Leander... or 8 miles northwest of Cedar Park... moving
southeast at 20 mph.
People in northern Travis... southern Burnet and southwestern
Williamson counties... including the following locations... Leander...
Cedar Park and Anderson Mill... should monitor the weather situation
closely. Listen for possible warnings and be prepared to take
appropriate action should severe weather threaten.
Dime size hail... and winds 40 to 50 mph are expected with this storm.
horselattitudesfarm wrote:Ouflow boundary coming Southeast from San Marcos pushed out a juicy healthy storm-cell that dumped over an inch of rain on our farm last night. Yeeeaa!! It formed around Luling and moved southeast right over our farm and over the town of Gonzales....a very local event indeed.
They showed that cell on our weather last night. It was quite healthy. I also know Gonzales a little since I have been there several times for events at our churches retreat South of the city. Glad you finally got some rain too!!
horselattitudesfarm wrote:Ouflow boundary coming Southeast from San Marcos pushed out a juicy healthy storm-cell that dumped over an inch of rain on our farm last night. Yeeeaa!! It formed around Luling and moved southeast right over our farm and over the town of Gonzales....a very local event indeed.
A1A wrote:Anybody have some long range Jimena forecasts? Seems like we get more rain from Pacific Hacne remnants than we do from Gulf Hcanes.
Shoshana wrote:I was wondering the same thing about Jimena
We wound up getting .40" overall from the rain this week. That was nice.
It really feels different these last few days.
Weather service: No rain for Austin from hurricane
By Andrea Lorenz | Monday, August 31, 2009, 05:30 PM
Hurricane Jimena, which is expected to hit western Mexico late Tuesday or early Wednesday, won’t be bringing rain to the Austin area, said meteorologist Robert Blaha with the National Weather Service in New Braunfels.
The southwestern United States and western Mexico are expected to see precipitation from the hurricane, but not us, Blaha said.
In recent months, the trend has been for the Austin area to get rain from the north, not from the west, he said.
There is a 20 percent chance of rain for Austin coming from the north on Friday and Saturday, Blaha said.
Drought killing native trees
Foresters say the best ways to take care of trees is to water them weekly and use mulch.
By Miguel Liscano
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, August 31, 2009
When Sharon Drinkwine and her husband, Bob, moved into their new Sunset Valley home in October, she noticed the leaves on a large live oak tree in their backyard were looking a bit brown.
After a few days, she called a local forester who said the problem might be oak wilt, a fungus that blocks a tree's water conducting system. Within months, the oak was dead.
Though she consulted with seven different tree experts, none could say conclusively what killed the tree, Drinkwine said. But they did agree on one thing.
"The tree was definitely weakened by the drought," Drinkwine said. "We have other trees on the property and they're not looking all that great either."
Drinkwine's dead tree isn't alone.
Arborists and foresters say trees throughout Central Texas, even native species such as live oak and hackberry, have succumbed after being ravaged by the long drought and intense summer heat.
"I have not seen it to this extent in my lifetime," said Jim Houser of the Texas Forest Service. "We're even seeing cedars (Ashe junipers ) dying. They can exist on sunbaked, rocky plantscapes. And we're seeing them die all over the place."
Walter Passmore, the City of Austin's urban forester, said hundreds of the city's estimated 300,000 trees have died this summer. The city plans to cut down 49 trees in Zilker Park this month that officials say were killed by the drought.
And Don Gardner , an arborist who runs a consulting company in Austin, said he's had so many calls about sick trees that it's difficult to keep up with the work.
"Many of our well-established, well-adapted native trees are dying," Gardner said. "From last year to this year, it's really kicking in."
Houser said the death of a tree is usually attributable to a number of factors, sucha s disease and insects. Stress from the drought and heat is often the fatal blow, he said.
However, he said, many of the trees dying lately appear to have been in good condition.
"Apparently completely healthy, vibrant oaks are going down," Houser said. "There is just absolutely no water in the soil. There's just no water there."
To improve the health of trees, foresters recommend soaking them with about five gallons of water for every inch of trunk diameter each week. Houser said to apply water under the tree's canopy and do it slowly so it will soak in.
They also recommended spreading mulch in the tree's root zone to insulate soil, prevent evaporation and prevent harm from extreme temperatures. The mulch also reduces weeds and grass, so the tree will absorb more nutrients from decomposing organic material in the mulch, the foresters said.
Foresters say residents should look for insect infestations and bark falling off as signs that a tree is sick or dying.
Passmore said trees that die on city property are cut down and turned into mulch. Trees that die on private property in urban areas are typically cut down as well to avoid damage from falling over.
Back in Sunset Valley, Drinkwine said she's installed a rainwater collection system to help save her other trees.
And she said she's letting her dead live oak stand, for now at least.
"We really love the look of it," Drinkwine said. "So, we're going to plant wisteria around it, and vines."
mliscano@statesman.com; 246-1150
in our back yard. She ran up to it before I even saw it.
Maybe today will be the day my yard gets a sip of water, my utility bill started to cost as much as re planting the entire front and back yard with new grass next year. Sorry yard, I have to eat first 
southerngale wrote:I have a request. I'm coming to Austin on Saturday and we're going to be outdoors all afternoon, with nowhere to escape for A/C. lol Could you please ask your local NWS to lower the high for Saturday? A few days ago, it was like 93 I believe, then last night, it was 94. I'm thinking... ok, that's not too bad, it could be worse. Now it says 97! I'm scared to look tomorrow. Unless there's a pool to jump in nearby, I just about die when I'm outside for long periods when it's so hot. Yeah, yeah, I know where I live.
... and best case is we get some rain!
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