Despite the rain, lake levels still lag

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The numbers look so promising.

Up to 10 inches of rain in some areas of Travis County on Tuesday. And that's on the heels of about 2 inches in some areas on Monday.

This must mean that that those parched beaches along Lake Travis are gone, or almost gone. Right?

Wrong, says Clara Tuma of the Lower Colorado River Authority. Much of that rain fell on eastern Travis County and on Bastrop County, well downstream from the Highland Lakes.  

• The seven-day forecast  

"Lake Travis has gone up a little, but not much," Tuma said in an email Wednesday morning. "There has been some heavy rain over the last couple of days, but the rain was isolated and resulted in streamflow quickly receding. So inflows to the lakes remained minimal."

She offered these examples:

• At 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Lake Travis was at 639.86 feet above sea level.
• At 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, the lake was at 639.70 feet.
• At 8:30 a.m. Monday, it was at 639.55 feet .
• At 8:30 a.m. Sunday, it was at 639.6 feet.

But there's still some hop, said KXAN chief weather forecaster Jim Spencer.

"Additional rainfall totals of 1-3 inches will be possible in some areas through Thursday, as the upper storm remains nearby," he said. "A few isolated spots could receive as much as 5-6 inches of rain. Rain chances will begin decreasing Thursday, but some widely scattered showers will still be possible through the weekend."