Barometer Bush

Do you know what you are looking at?  These bushes are called Cenizo or Purple Sage or the Texas barometer bush.  Why the latter?  The usually gray-leafed bush blooms with bright purple blossoms before it rains. 

These guys are absolutely covered today.  I guess they already know what those of us following the weather or accessing radar images online already know.  Tropical Storm Eddie (Edouardo is too formal for me) came on shore east of Houston today and is heading into Central Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tropical Storm Eduadro

Here is a radar image of Eddie at around 1:15 Austin time on August 5.  It isn't quite close enough to make out the classic tropical storm circulation, but the outer bands are almost here and we can really use the rain.

Austin is close to 10 inches short for the year compared to our average rainfall.  Lake Travis is almost 15 feet low and the ground is parched.  If this system, which is likely to be a depression rather than a storm by the time the center gets close to the Austin area, does what I hope it will, the lake could come up a few feet.  The trick is to have a bunch of rain dump west and northwest of Austin, where the contributing zone for Lake Travis is.

Back to the barometer bush, is it always right?  Nope, but it looks to be right today!

Edit on 11-2-08:  That cool little bush hasn't had much to bloom about lately.  The Austin area is in its second significant drought in three years.  We're 15 inches short on rain so far in 2008, Lake Travis is around 25 feet low and about the only good news is that fall is here and we don't have to water our yards so much with cooler weather here.  Lake Travis went from more than 40 feet low two summers ago to almost 20 feet above full last summer to where we are now.  Pretty amazing.