Recent Rain Barely Boosts Lake Levels

Parts of North Austin and Round Rock received more than four inches of rain in last night’s storm. But Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan are only up a couple of inches. That’s because most of the rain fell downstream of the watershed.

Bob Rose is the chief meteorologist with the Lower Colorado River Authority. He says the recent rain has been great, but is no drought-buster.

“To really start re-filling the lakes, we kind of need an overall change in the whole weather pattern," Rose says. "Where we start getting more rain more frequently and the rain falls all across the area, including the Hill Country."

Rose says barring a well-placed tropical storm, that type of precipitation is unlikely this summer. Our best bet is the return of an El Niño pattern this fall.

But last week’s rain has been great for lawns and trees and may help keep us cooler through the rest of summer.

“This may help limit our high temperatures now as we move into August that maybe we won’t be seeing as many triple digits because the more moisture you have in the ground, the lower your temperatures are going to be," Rose says.

There’s still a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms today and tonight.