Tropical Storm Alex

It is Summer 2010 and here they come - hurricanes, tropical storms, and rain! Living in Texas is never dull! Most Summers and Falls in Texas and the Texas Gulf Coast have at least one weather pattern that threatens the well-being of those who live near the coast. Tropical Storm Alex, soon to be declared a Hurricane, is headed towards Brownsville in South Texas or northern Mexico. It is not due to hit the coast until sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday morning, but the rains are already in the area. Six to twelve inches of rain have been forecast for the coastal area where Hurricane Alex lands. That's a lot of rain!

The upper atmospheric winds determine which way the storm goes. The weatherman just displayed several routes that Alex could still take in the next twenty four hours. Residents in South Texas are preparing for bad weather by buying bottled water, batteries and spare food. Power outages are common with these storms.

In Central Texas, where I live, it is beginning to rain. Sitting in a local Mexican food restaurant in north Austin, we observed the winds begin and the rain fall while we munched tortilla chips and hot sauce. By the time we left, streams of water were flowing in the parking lot. As we headed north, the drops dried and clouds hovered. The storm was moving northward from the coastal area.

The weather bureau is forecasting that this year will have more hurricanes than usual. This is a special year for this Texan as they have decided to use my first name on the official national hurricane list. Hurricane Paula. I never thought of myself in that way before -hmmmm.

Hurricane rains fill our lakes quickly. Lake Travis is down to 90% of capacity. A series of rainy days could fill it again. Our temperatures have been in the 90's for days. The hot winds have been blowing and drying out the land. We welcome the overflow of rain from Hurricane Alex, but pray for those who will experience the over abundance of rain on the coast and hurricane winds!

It is 24 hours later and Hurricane Alex has been upgraded to a Category Two Storm. The storm is predicted to hit land in Northern Mexico in about two hours or around 7:00 pm central time, June 30, 2010. Heavy rains have been forecast for the coastal lands as far as Louisiana and inland across Texas and Northern Mexico. Rain storms and wind are moving across the Texas Hill Country as the hurricane approaches the coast. Rain chances will be in the daily reports through Friday.

Hurricane Alex has come and gone. The winds from this Category Two Hurricane were not overly destructive, however the rains have been heavy. Northern Mexico has rivers that have overflowed their banks and lots of water destruction. In addition, parts of the Gulf Coast have been hammered with several inches of rain, causing flooding in low lying areas. The Texas Hill Country has had several heavy bursts of showers with residual rains for much of the days and evenings. Dark clouds have approached the area more than once, dumping lots of water onto the area lakes and surrounding areas. As of today, Lake Travis has risen three feet!

Last year as July began, the Texas Hill Country was reeling from a two year drought. The lakes were down by half and burning bans were in place to keep the fire works at bay.This year we are beginning July with nearly full lakes and lots of rain. Area grasses are a rich green color and the foliage is thick and lush because the rains have been sufficient to overcome drought damage. Hot temperatures in the nineties have been lowered to the seventies and low eighties these last few days, but the humidity has been off the charts. Alex has truly affected our summer here in the Texas Hill Country.