Posted: Sun, 9 Oct 2011 09:52 AM - 14,371 Readers

By: Farzad Mashhood

Some of the heaviest overnight rain in Texas came to nearby Llano, where as of 6 a.m., a monitor was reporting 6.35 inches of rain.

The Llano River, which has been trickling along — and at times coming to complete halt — all summer long, was flowing at more than 10 times the rate that it normally does. Flow peaked 7,410 cubic feet per second earlier today, passing a record for Oct. 9 of 1,610 cubic feet per second.

The National Weather Service had not received reports of flash flooding in Llano or anywhere else in Central Texas. It is likely because the drought has left the ground so dry that it can soak in more rain than normal, forecaster Joe Baskin said.

By 10 a.m., Cedar Park received 2.46 inches of rain and Round Rock got 1.54 inches. Bee Caves was reporting 2.49 inches by 9:15 a.m. Marble falls got 4.12 inches of rain by 8:30 a.m. Dripping Springs saw 3.48 inches of rain by 7 a.m.

The heaviest rains remained south and west of the Austin area, according to rainfall data. For example, Bastrop, east of Travis received about an inch of rain by 8:30 a.m.

Earlier: Austin received an additional inch and a half of rain overnight, taking a nibble out of the region’s drought conditions.

Clouds and spotty rain will remain in town for the morning as heavier rains are expected in the afternoon and into the evening, the national weather service said.

“We’re still expecting some rain today, but right now is going to just be a lull period until the afternoon,” weather service forecaster Marianne Sutton said.

Austin remains under a flash flood watch until 6 p.m., the first watch since September 2010, Sutton said.

With the cloud cover from the lingering storms, don’t expect highs to pass 80, Sutton said.

Normally, with rain like this, we would have likely seen flash flooding already. But, because the drought has left the ground so dry and eager for water, the ground can hold more water before flooding begins, Sutton said.

As for how much of an impact the rain will make in the drought, the 1.68 inches of rain Camp Mabry received between midnight and 9 a.m. is coming in the face of about 15 inches less rain than normal this year, Sutton said.

Local lakes and rivers have been flowing faster and gently filling from the overnight rain as well. According to the Lower Colorado River Authority, Lake Travis is rising right now, but still more than 38 feet below its historical October average and more than a foot below last week’s levels.