Posted: Fri, 29 Jul 2011 04:47 PM - 12,813 Readers

By: Farzad Mashhood

Tropical Storm Don will probably make landfall near Corpus Christi late tonight to early Saturday, making it the first storm of the season to hit Texas. Rain is likely to hit Austin early Saturday, but it won't be drought-squelching.

A tropical storm warning was issued Thursday from Port Aransas to Port O'Connor. In addition to heavy rains and flooding, National Weather Service meteorologists warn that Don brings the threat of damaging winds and isolated tornadoes.

So far, Corpus Christi-area residents haven't flooded stores to buy supplies, the Corpus Christi Caller Times reported Thursday. But Walmart stores there have ordered a truckload of batteries, flashlights, water and other emergency supplies just in case, the paper reported. City, Nueces County and state officials have begun coordinating emergency services, according to the paper.

The storm is expected to bring some welcome rain to southern and coastal Texas before daybreak Saturday and possibly through the rest of the weekend. The weather service said Thursday afternoon that Don probably won't strengthen to hurricane status and will begin dissipating as it heads northwest, eventually petering out over the Edwards Plateau.

Austin will likely miss the bulk of the storm's rainfall, getting about 1/2 inch to 1 inch of rain. Major flash flooding is not expected.

"Right now, Austin is right outside the cone of where (Don) will go," weather service forecaster Chris Morris said. "In all likelihood, the storm will go just south of Austin."

Bob Rose, the Lower Colorado River Authority's chief meteorologist, said he thinks the storm will remain a rainmaker, bringing with the precipitation "at least a one-day break from the triple-digit heat."

Urban areas hit by intense rain could see some localized flooding, Morris said. The storm's core — projected Thursday afternoon to travel to the south of San Antonio and then move west toward Del Rio by late Saturday night — may down powerlines and trees that sit in soil weakened by the drought.

The heaviest rains of 3 inches are expected just north of the storm track; isolated areas may get up to 7 inches of rain. Rural areas hit hard by the drought could see lots of runoff, the weather service said. The storm will generate winds of about 30 miles per hour with gusts as high as 45 mph, Morris said.

The rains will be nowhere near enough to end the drought, Morris said, adding that the Austin area would need several downpours to recover. Austin is more than 14 inches below normal rainfall for October through June, the driest period for those months on record.

Austin Energy is monitoring the storm to see whether it needs to increase the number of standby repair crews for the weekend, spokesman Carlos Cordova said.

"Going off the current forecast, we're not expecting severe weather that could lead to many outages," Cordova said.

If forecasts change and call for flooding or dangerous winds, Austin Energy will staff extra crews for the weekend, he said.

The Texas Department of State Health Services recommends that those in the path of the storm review their emergency plans, especially residents in coastal cities more likely to be harmed by Don.

*  Story Contributed by: Farzad Mashhood