Much-needed relief may not last long

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Tuesday's storms were a welcome sight in Central Texas, as the rain provided some much-needed relief from the heat wave that has set record temperatures of more than 100 degrees for 10 days in a row.

Austin has hit 16 triple-digit days so far this year, making it the second warmest June on record. For many Austinites, the rain could not have come at a better time.

"I was really excited!" said Austinite Matthew Nelms. "My grass has been in a lot of trouble."

Nelms has been waiting for the rain and finally had a chance to put on his rain jacket Tuesday.

"It's been pretty good," said Nelms. "I've kept my rain jacket in my office, and it's been sitting there collecting dust for quite some time now."

The storms also brought a lot of lightning.

"Live Strike is used to pick up all the lightning detection from the National Lightning Detection Network," said KXAN First Warning Weather Forecaster Shawn Rutherford.

The First Warning Weather team was busy tracking the storms and the unusually high number of lightning strikes, which could have been triggered by the heat, a front or just how slow the storms were moving.

"When you have a storm roll through and you have a lot of high numbers, sixes, sevens and nines, it indicates lightning has struck more than one time at the same place," said Rutherford.

Unfortunately, the rain will not be enough to fix the Central Texas drought.

"We are in the worst category of drought possible," said Bob Rose, Lower Colorado River Authority meteorologist. "It's going to take a lot more than today's rain to really make a significant impact."

Rose said the rain provided a temporary cool-down, but it will not last long. He expects a return of triple-digit heat very soon.

"Today's rain will put a little bit of rain in the topsoil," said Rose. "It will help out temporarily, but it looks like we're going to go right back into the hundred-degree heat and dry-weather pattern fairly quickly."

Rose said it would take 2- or 3 inches of rain to get Central Texas out of the exceptional-drought category.

However, he said he is optimistic about the fall and winter seasons. Rose is anticipating wetter-than-normal weather conditions, because of evidence of an El Nino weather pattern.

Ocean water temperatures are indicating half a degree to one degree above normal, which signal an El Nino weather pattern.