Posted: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 02:52 PM - 10,058 Readers

By: Ashleigh Whaley

The rainfall that fell throughout the Highland Lakes over the weekend was a welcome relief from the intense heat that preceded it, but it wasn’t yet enough to quench the drought, although Lake Travis was boosted a foot.

“We needed the rain but would need much more rain to get us back to average levels,” said Emlea Chanslor of the Lower Colorado River Authority. “We encourage everyone to remember that we are still in a very serious drought and need a lot more to change that status.”

Marble Falls received 3.32 inches of rain last week at LCRA’s Backbone Creek gage, said Bob Rose, LCRA chief meteorologist. Four miles southwest of Marble Falls near Max Starcke Dam, 5.03 inches were collected and a gage on Lake LBJ at the 2900 Bridge in Kingsland measured 5.96 inches. Llano received 4.6 inches and Burnet received 1.83 inches. About eight miles southwest of Burnet, a gage collected 2.69 inches, he said.

When heavy rains began to fall Thursday, Marble Falls Fire Rescue personnel blocked off Avenue K between RR 1431 and Broadway to prevent the possibility of flash-flooding accidents at the low-water crossing, a spokesperson said.

“The level of Lake Buchanan has not changed,” Chanslor said. “There was a slight rise over the weekend, beginning Thursday, to 989.97 feet above sea level, but after releasing water on Saturday and Sunday to meet customers’ needs, the lake was measured at 989.89 feet.”

Marble Falls saw weekend temperatures peak at 76 degrees Saturday and 81 degrees Sunday, but residents can expect temperatures to rise to highs in the low nineties by Friday, he said.

“You’re looking at a slight chance for rain today, about 30 percent, but you’re not looking at high totals Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,” Rose said. “The end of the week is expected to be partly cloudy with highs around 88-99 degrees. You could see light rains and a cold front by Sunday or the beginning of next week.”