Posted: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:54 AM - 20,078 Readers

By: Andrew Horansky

On Friday the leaves along Lady Bird Lake looked like a New England autumn. The rowers on the water only completed the picture.

Wendy Dietrich walked her infant grandson through the park. The bright, yellow canopy of leaves above them reminded her of home in Ohio.

“It’s wonderful,” Dietrich said. “Just to get out.”

Days of rain and cool temperatures have brought a unique texture to Central Texas. Leaves have changed and plants are sprouting.

At Austin’s Green Gate Farms, Skip Connett said he took a risk when he planted so-called ‘cover crops’ last month. They included peas, oats and rye.

“It was a big gamble,” he said. But now, the ground is once again fertile.

“December has been a gift, this is Christmas early for us,” he said. “I’ll have great crops in the spring.”

Typically December is one of the driest months of the year in Central Texas. This year, it has been the second wettest month. Though the recent rain was not enough to fill up lakes or end the drought, KVUE meteorologist Albert Ramon said it is helping.

“We’ve picked up just under three and a half inches, which is great,” he said. “But keep in mind our deficit is 16 inches, so we’ve made only a tiny ding in this historic drought.”

Ramon said the wettest month of the year so far has been May. If December receives a quarter of an inch of rain or more, he said that record will be beaten.