Posted: Sat, 30 Jul 2011 04:40 PM - 13,219 Readers
By: Claire Osborn
A few drops of rain are all that Central Texas is likely to see from Tropical Storm Don, which was downgraded to a tropical depression Friday night.
The storm earlier this week had raised hopes of bringing much-needed rain to the Austin area, but on Friday it was expected to move farther south across Texas.
"Don is coming in south of Corpus Christi, and most of the heavy thunderstorms are on its southern side," said Bob Rose, a meteorologist with the Lower Colorado River Authority. "It's going around Brownsville and marching up the Rio Grande plains toward Laredo."
Don was expected to reach land late Friday or early today, and a tropical storm warning was in effect from the mouth of the Rio Grande north to Matagorda.
On Friday, a few isolated showers from Don dropped up to a quarter of an inch of rain in the Austin area, and there is a 20 percent chance of showers today, Rose said.
Earlier this week, forecasters said it was possible Don could bring Central Texas 1 to 2 inches of rain. But that now looks unlikely since the storm changed course, Rose said.
Almost all of Texas is in extreme drought, and a few inches of rain from Don won't cure that, but at this point any moisture is appreciated.
It would take about 20 inches to bring lakes Travis and Buchanan and the area's aquifers to normal levels, Rose said.
There is no chance of rain in the forecast Sunday or for the rest of the week, Rose said.
South Texas on Friday braced for long-awaited rain and what some saw as a practice run for storms to come.
Luis Canales of McAllen thought Don might be good practice for people in an area familiar with hurricanes.
"In a way, this tropical storm is a pre-test for an actual hurricane," Canales said as he roped a grill and patio furniture to his brother's camper trailer at Isla Blanca Park on Padre Island. "It helps sharpen us up for what we need."
Lightning flashed in the distance above a darkening Gulf, but the beach remained packed Friday afternoon on Padre Island. Surfers carried boards to the water, and children frolicked in sand. People on parasails glided behind boats in the Laguna Madre. Traffic backed up across the causeway connecting Padre Island to the mainland, but it appeared to be due more to construction than the volume of vehicles. No one appeared to be boarding up windows or taking other precautions associated with stronger storms.
In Harlingen, about 40 minutes inland, county employees loaded sandbags for residents. The area has many flood-prone neighborhoods that fill up just from summer thunderstorms. Hurricane Dolly in 2008 left many neighborhoods in waist-deep water for days. Still, 2½ hours after distribution began, only five people had picked up sandbags.
The Padre Island National Seashore closed its beaches late Thursday. Nueces County, where Corpus Christi is located, restricted primitive camping on its beaches, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Del Mar College and the University of Texas-Brownsville closed.
Another system is forming in the Atlantic, but it is too early to tell whether it might bring rain to Central Texas, Rose said.
The busiest part of the Atlantic hurricane season is August and September, Rose said. The season has already been busier than usual, with four named storms instead of the usual two by this time of year, he said.
