Weekend begins with miserable weather

AUSTIN (KXAN) - While drought-stricken Central Texans appreciate the rain, visitors arriving for South by Southwest and the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo are finding the weather fairly miserable.

Temperatures Friday didn't warm above the middle 40s, with wind chill readings in the 30s most of the day. In addition, heavy thunderstorms brought small hail and a daily record 1.25 inches of rain to the Austin area.

Rain and thunderstorms are forecast to continue through much of the weekend.  Saturday will be particularly dreary, with fog, drizzle, occasional heavy rain, and a few strong thunderstorms, compounded by another day of unseasonably cold temperatures. Afternoon high temperatures are only forecast to reach the low 50s Saturday.

The nearly stationary storm system responsible for the wet weather will begin moving out of Texas Sunday. This should bring an end to the rain Sunday morning. Some sunshine Sunday afternoon is expected to warm temperatures back to 70 degrees.

Then, look for some nice, warm weather early next week, with highs each day in the upper 70s to 80 degrees.

By the middle of the week, some showers may return to the area, as a southerly flow of moist air will return from the Gulf. This will result in mostly cloudy skies, with some off and on showers continuing for the rest of the week. More rain and thunderstorms will be possible by next weekend, though it is not expected to compare to the storm Central Texas is experiencing this weekend.

• Jim Spencer's Weather Blog