Hermine dumps loads of rain in central TexasPeople unfamiliar with Austin frequently ask me about the weather here. The questions are usually about heat and tornadoes.  What comes up in the conversations often also is flash flooding, which is probably the most serious weather threat here.  I have posted about Tropical Storm Hermine recently and need to do that again - because of flash flooding.

I saw rain off and on all day yesterday.  It was generally gentle and steady, but there were occasional periods of high wind and heavy downpours.  When I went to bed last night, the closest LCRA rain gage to me, at Mansfield Dam, had measured around 3 inches of rain.  But last night things really got active.  This morning, the rain gage at Mansfield Dam measured just short of 13 inches of rain. 

The Austin area had storms training over it last night that dumped in excess of 10 inches of rain in quite a few areas.  The Colorado River at Austin rose 17 feet in 4 hours.  Interstate 35 was closed due to high water around Georgetown.  Although the rain has subsided, more is on the way.  The Austin area could see another 2-3 inches and that will do nothing but flood low lying areas.

There have been a lot of road closures and schools either closed or with delayed starts.  Many high water rescues have also been reported.

The image above shows radar estimated rainfall.  The red areas indicate 5 or more inches.  The white area in north central Austin indicates 15 inches or more.  From the LCRA Hydromet network of rain gages it looks like the area to the west of Austin did not get as much rain as parts of Austin did, but several gages measured between 5 and 9 inches of rain.  The lakes are rising because of that.