Rain, rain, come to stay
Hallelujah. The Highland Lakes area’s scorching summer is quickly cooling down thanks to consistent rainfall and lower temperatures that swept into the region this week. The precipitation and mercury are expected to continue falling across Llano and Burnet counties into the weekend, but wet weather out west could be of even greater benefit to the Highland Lakes.
Around three-quarters of an inch to 2½ inches fell across both counties, depending on location, over the week of Sept. 11, according to the Lower Colorado River Authority’s Hydromet. Even more rain is in the seven-day forecast, with high chances for showers and thunderstorms this weekend and moderate chances early next week, according to the National Weather Service.
The NWS also issued flood warnings for much of Central Texas, including Burnet and Llano counties, that went into effect Thursday, Sept. 14, and could continue through Wednesday, Sept. 20.
The steady rain across the Highland Lakes is welcome, but heavier amounts in the watersheds of the Llano and Colorado rivers, farther north and west, mean more water will flow into the lakes themselves.
Hydromet rain gauges registered over 3 inches at several locations in Mason County and widespread 1-inch-plus rainfall across Kimble, Edwards, and Sutton counties, which should feed into the Llano River watershed. The river is flowing at 9 cubic-feet per second over the Llano dam, which is low but better than zero cubic-feet per second like it has been at for the past few weeks.
Heavy rain also fell across San Saba, McCulloch, Concho, Menard, and Brown counties, which should feed into the Colorado River watershed and, ultimately, Lake Buchanan.
The current rainfall amounts are not enough to alleviate fire dangers, as the Keetch-Byram Drought Index still indicates both Llano and Burnet counties are in the 600-700 range, which means increased risk for wildfires and the possibility of intense, uncontrollable blazes.