Posted: Tue, 6 Dec 2011 09:36 AM - 19,283 Readers

By: Patrick Beach

The weather system that dropped a slow, chilly rain over Central Texas starting Thursday has moved on to the Gulf of Mexico - but not before delivering close to 4 inches of rain in some lucky Austin-area locales and a bit of unexpected snow in the northern Hill Country late Monday.

Williamson, Blanco, Burnet and Llano counties were expected to get flurries through 3 a.m. today, the National Weather Service reported. The white stuff, which fell after rain was slow to taper off when the cold front arrived, was not expected to stick.

National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Blaha said snow this time of year is not unusual. The earliest recorded snowfall in Central Texas was Oct. 30, 1993, he said.

The weekend rain was the result of the upper-level low-pressure system that produced those freakish winds in Southern California last week meeting a cold front traversing the Great Plains. Energy off the low pressure ahead of the front "gave us sporadic rainfall across the Hill Country to the east," said meteorologist Joe Baskin in the weather service's Austin-San Antonio office in New Braunfels . It's an event that typically happens only once or twice a season, Baskin said.

The bulk of the rain fell east of Interstate 35 and north of Interstate 10. In Austin, rain totals for Thursday night through Monday morning were 1.78 inches at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and 1.82 inches at Camp Mabry.

Baskin is betting on a "pretty strong freeze Thursday morning," meaning you'll want to tuck in all those plants that enjoyed the slow drink.

The Panhandle area had reported between 2 and 5 inches of snow, Baskin said. Schools in the Odessa and Midland area called off school for the day. Oncor utility crews worked to restore power to about 1,600 customers Monday, mainly in West Texas.

Like the Austin area's last significant rain in early October, this rain came slowly, allowing it to sink in, Baskin said. That means little or no impact on lake and river levels . Another 2 inches within the next week might make some difference in the lake levels, but Baskin said he doesn't see anything promising for in next 10 days.

*  Story Contributed by: Patrick Beach